This book presents study of AURA-Governance which was conducted in 2011. It highlights the readiness of the Universiti Sains Malaysia’s community to gear up to the expectation of quality of APEX in terms of (1) governance, (2) performance, (3) human resources, and (4) service quality during the APEX period. This research is a follow-up study of the pre-APEX transformation process study which was documented as a book entitled Excellence and Sustainability USM and the APEX Journey, Volume 1: The Road Ahead. In this book, the research findings are reported in four separate sections and the data presented in well-built graph, chart and table to ease understanding of the readers.

USM became the first institution of higher learning to be inducted in Malaysia’s APEX in early September 2008. With induction into APEX, the Ministry of Higher Education (MQHE) is expecting USM to be amongst the world‘s top I00 universities by the year 2013, and in the elite 50 by 2020. Excellence and Sustainability." USM and the APEX Jozlrney, Volume I: The Road Ahead charts the experiences of the University’s community (staff and students) drawn from the research findings of the APEX University Research Agenda (AURA) Project (2008-2014). AURA’s researchers focused on the pre-APEX phase (last quarter of 2008), the period prior to the implementation of the transformation plan. Basically, Volume I: The Road Ahead examines the readliness of staff (academic and non-academic) and students (undergraduates and postgraduates) in gearing themselves for the challenges ahead in the context of APEX.

This edited volume addresses the dynamic global contexts redefining Asia Pacific higher education, including cross-border education, capacity and national birthrate profiles, pressures created within ranking/status systems, and complex shifts in the meanings of the public good that influence public education in an increasingly privatized world.

"Is the university contributing to our global crises or does it offer stories of hope? Much recent debate about higher education has focused upon rankings, quality, financing and student mobility. The COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, the calls for decolonisation, the persistence of gender violence, the rise of authoritarian nationalism, and the challenge of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals have taken on new urgency and given rise to larger questions about the social relevance of higher education. In this new era of uncertainty, and perhaps opportunity, higher education institutions can play a vital role in a great transition or civilisational shift to a newly imagined world. Socially Responsible Higher Education: International Perspectives on Knowledge Democracy shares the experiences of a broadly representative and globally dispersed set of writers on higher education and social responsibility, broadening perspectives on the democratisation of knowledge. The editors have deliberately sought examples and viewpoints from parts of the world that are seldom heard in the international literature. Importantly, they have intentionally chosen to achieve a gender and diversity balance among the contributors. The stories in this book call us to take back the right to imagine, and 'reclaim' the public purposes of higher education"--