International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences, 4(12) 2017, Pages: 168-173 Contents lists available at Science-Gate International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences Journal homepage: http://www.science-gate.com/IJAAS.html 168 Transformation of university colleges to full-pledged universities: A proposed conceptual framework for Malaysian higher learning institutions Sara Asmawati Shariffuddin 1, *, Jamal Rizal Razali 2 1 Centre of Preparatory and General Studies, TATIUC, 24000 Kemaman, Terengganu, Malaysia 2 Centre of Modern Language and Human Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, 26600 Pekan, Pahang, Malaysia ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Article history: Received 12 December 2016 Received in revised form 5 September 2017 Accepted 8 October 2017 Transformation of higher education is inevitable and is persistently occurring around the globe. One of the prominent outcomes is the changes of higher education institutions. In Malaysia, among the major changes observed is the conversion of college universities to full-pledged universities. Therefore, this study reviews the requirements involved in transforming university colleges to universities, the key strategies implemented and the impacts it has on the academics. Three impacts of the transformation on the academics are identified namely the impacts on their identity, career and academic activities. Finally, this paper proposes a conceptual framework in investigating the issues and challenges related to transforming Malaysian’s university colleges to full-pledged universities. Keywords: Transformation Higher education institutions Higher education Institutional change University college © 2017 The Authors. Published by IASE. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). 1. Introduction *Globalization, internationalization, massification, higher education quality standardization, financing higher education, growth of private higher education sector, academic profession development, ICT application in higher education and expansion of academic research are the driving forces behind the transformation of higher education (Altbach et al., 2009). This transformation is inevitable and is taking the world by the storm. The transformation involves a multilayer reformation process via national policies set by the government to achieve the aims of tertiary education provision (Bleiklie and Kogan, 2006). One of the prominent impacts of the transformation is the change of educational institutions ( Kezar and Eckel, 2002). The changes of higher education institution (HEI) can be observed in the functions exerted by the HEIs, the management of the HEIs and the restructuring of the HEIs (Gumport, 2000). These falls back to the status of the HEIs and the direction which the HEIs plan to evolve and continue to be sustainable. The inability of the HEIs to transform and respond effectively to the industry and society needs make them irrelevant and perishable (Abdullah and Rahman, 2011). * Corresponding Author. Email Address: sara@tatiuc.edu.my (S. A. Shariffuddin) https://doi.org/10.21833/ijaas.2017.012.030 2313-626X/© 2017 The Authors. Published by IASE. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) In Malaysia, higher education has undergone a paradigm shift in improving its standard since the legislation of Education Act 1996. The Act becomes the foundation for the growth of Malaysian public and private HEIs. Public HEIs have been reformed and further categorized into their distinctive functions and status such as Research University, focused university and comprehensive university; and to date there are 20 public universities in the country (MoHE, 2007). Meanwhile, private HEIs also have grown in number and upgraded to university colleges and full-pledged universities (Da, 2007). By September 2016, there were 70 private universities (including branch campuses) and 34 private university colleges in the country (MoHE, 2016). The demand for higher education has forced HEIs in Malaysia to evolve and continue to improve the institutions according to the standard outlined by MoHE. Many college universities from both public and private HEIs are being upgraded to universities to accommodate the growing number of students’ enrolment in higher education. The reason behind the upgrade lies in the perception of many Malaysians towards college universities. College universities are often viewed as second-class academic institutions compare to the universities as suggested by Goi and Goi (2009). As a result, in 2007 six public university colleges were upgraded to full- pledged university status after few successful attempts to increase students’ enrolment in the respective HEIs. The status of the HEIs is crucial as it defines how the HEIs operated and the types of suitable changes can be executed in order to