Universiti Malaysia Sabah

University of Malaysia Sabah
Malay: Universiti Malaysia Sabah
Motto	Bertekad Cemerlang (Malay); Jawi: برتيكد چمرلڠ‎
Motto in English	Strive to Excel
Type	Public University
Established	24 November 1994; 30 years ago
Chancellor	His Excellency the Governor of Sabah Tun Datuk Seri Panglima Hj. Juhar Mahiruddin
Vice-Chancellor	Kasim Hj Mansor
Academic staff	1,056 (2020)
Undergraduates	14,637 (2020)
Postgraduates	2,939 (2020)
Address	Jalan UMS, 88400 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
Campus	Kota Kinabalu; Labuan; Sandakan; Kudat
Website	www.ums.edu.my

Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS; English: University of Malaysia Sabah) is a public university in Malaysia.^[1] It was officially established on 24 November 1994 as the ninth public university in the country. The university is located on a 999-acre site at Sepanggar Bay in Kota Kinabalu in the Malaysian state of Sabah. With Mount Kinabalu and the South China Sea as its background, UMS is often considered as among the most beautiful campuses in Southeast Asia.^[2]^[3]

History

In its early years of establishment, UMS operated from temporary borrowed facilities with the university's teaching and learning activities conducted at the Sabah Foundation Community College premises in Likas in 1995 and the Menggatal Telekom Training College in 1996. The initial UMS enrolment in 1995 was 205 students at undergraduate study level.

From June 1999 to May 2000, UMS shifted in phases to its permanent campus at Sepanggar Bay. In January 1999, the university expanded its academic reach to the Federal Territory of Labuan with the establishment of the UMS Labuan International Campus (Malay: Universiti Malaysia Sabah Kampus Antarabangsa Labuan, abbreviated as UMSKAL).

In the beginning, study programmes were offered by three schools - the School of Science and Technology, School of Business and Economics and School of Social Sciences – and the Centre for the Promotion of Knowledge and Language Learning, a liberal studies centre.

This number was subsequently expanded to include nine additional schools at the Kota Kinabalu campus namely the School of Engineering and Information Technology, School of Food Science and Nutrition, School of International Tropical Forestry, School of Education and Social Development, School of Psychology and Social Works, and School of Arts Studies.

In F.T. Labuan, programmes were offered through the Labuan School of Informatics Science and School of Business and International Finance. By 2002, UMS had established 11 programmes of study.

In 2003, the number of schools was increased to 12 upon the setting up of the School of Medicine. This was followed by the establishment of the School of Sustainable Agriculture in 2006 which subsequently relocated five years later in 2011 to the UMS Sandakan Campus, its current location.

Other notable landmark initiatives by UMS were the setting up of the Preparatory Centre for Science and Technology in 2010 and the launching of the UMS Hospital (HUMS) building project targeted for completion by end 2022.

2024 water supply protests

On early June 2024, UMS students organized a protest titled "Kami Mahu Air" ("We Want Water") over their administrators' negligence towards their campuses facing problems with water supply, which Sabah Chief Minister Hajiji Noor says is discrepant with reports from the Sabah Water Department but nevertheless his state government will look into.^[4] His deputy Shahelmey Yahya on the other hand has dismissed as "immature".^[5]

Academic Expansion

In conjunction with its 20th anniversary in June 2014, UMS embarked on a major academic transformation exercise whereby its 13 schools were restructured as 10 new faculties. UMS currently offers 115 academic study programmes at Foundation Science level (3), diploma level (6), undergraduate level (71), and at postgraduate diploma, masters and Doctor of Philosophy level (35). The university also maintained international collaborations within the ASEAN region, with Dr. Adi fahrudin from Indonesia serving as a visiting professor from 2015 to 2023.^[6]