Welcoming Message from Dean
It is my pleasure to welcome you to the UBD School of Business and Economics (UBDSBE).
You should feel proud to be affiliated with a university (UBD) which is ranked at 254 in the world QS ranking (2021), making it among the top 1 percent of all universities globally. UBD is also ranked 22nd in the QS Top 50 Under 50 world rankings announced recently. These are important achievements for a young 36-year old university.
UBDSBE is one of the first faculties created during the establishment of Universiti Brunei Darussalam in 1985. The Faculty has over 30 years of accomplished excellence in education and research within the areas of business, economics, accounting and finance and entrepreneurship. In sustaining this spirit of excellence a wide array of programmes are offered, including Bachelor of Business, Master of Business Administration, Master of Islamic Finance, Master of Management, Master of Logistics, Master of Applied Economics as well as Master by Research, and PhD programmes.
UBDSBE is dedicated in our mission to βto provide quality education and nurture innovative and caring leaders to contribute to the communityβ. The School strives to continually enhance the quality of teaching and research offered to our students, especially with our aim of becoming one of the leading business schools in the region. We are extremely proud of our over 40 dedicated lecturers and passionate researchers who breathe life and excitement into our modules and pursue scholarly research. Our adjunct staff share their industry experience. Our regular talks by international visitors provide an exposure to developments in the region and beyond. Students have the opportunity to gain wider exposure through Discovery Year (DY) especially, UBDβs exchange programs with some of the best universities around the world. The School is exploring more avenues in the region for students to experience exchange programs, industry exposure and community outreach programme (COP).
Let me also take this opportunity to highlight important initiatives the School has recently taken to further improve the teaching and learning environment and to be at par with the changing market needs for our graduates. As most of you know that starting January 2019, UBDSBE introduced Entrepreneurship as a new major in our Bachelor degree. This programme is designed to prepare our graduates equipped with entrepreneurial skills and ready to contribute to the national economic development. UBDSBE is also working hard to achieve AACSB accreditation, a prestigious accreditation of Business Schools around the globe. Our Bachelor of Accounting is already accredited by ACCA and now our students enjoy full 9 papers exemption for ACCA certification. Our programmes (both bachelor and graduate) are continuously revised and upgraded to meet the market requirements. The School has recently restructured Master on Business Administration (MBA) both in contents and delivery and the newly structured programme will start in August 2019.
Our second important priority is to produce high quality research. UBDSBE aims to focus on niche areas of research through research clusters including (1) Strategic Issues in Business; (2) Sustainable and Inclusive Development; and (3) Islamic Economics and Finance. Through these clusters as well as individual staff contributions, the School publishes research in the areas such as Management Information Systems, Theoretical and Applied Economics, Islamic financial reporting and governance, Islamic financial literacy, inclusion and sustainability, Performant of Islamic financial and economic institutions among others. The School also promotes collaborative, interdisciplinary, and technology-enabled research within the university and with renowned researchers and institutions around the world. I am pleased to share that after the success of 1st and 2nd International conference on business, economics and finance (ICBEF), UBDSBE is organizing the 3rd ICBEF to be held 1st β 3rd November 2021. I must commend the support and assistance we received from students without which such events are difficult to organise. I am also pleased to share that UBDSBE has already launched its own journal, Journal of Business and Economic Analysis (JBEA), and the first issue of the journal was published in December 2018. Volume 4 issued in August this year was published by World Scientific Publishing, an academic publisher that publishes 600 new titles a year, and 140 journals in various fields. It is Asia-Pacificβs largest international academic and professional publisher with 13 offices worldwide and global presence in more than 140 countries.
Our alumni are our greatest asset. Their continuous support to the faculty and current students, whether in the form of internships, job opportunities, participation in class as guest lecturers, curriculum development, ideas for research projects, access to data and contacts, and consultancy are highly appreciated. We also look forward to deepening our role within the community through student engagement in various projects and research conducted in partnership with Government, corporate and non-profit sectors.
Finally, I urge all incoming and continuing students to visit UBDSBE website, sbe.ubd.edu.bn. You can read about and hear from our faculty and students, learn about the cores and breadth modules, majors and minors offered by the four programs as well as discovery year, an important segment of our graduate program. It is also very important to know all the academic regulations and graduating requirements. I wish all of you a productive and pleasant stay in UBD/UBDSBE and the best in your future endeavors.
Dr Haji Masairol Bin Haji Masri
Dean
UBD School of Business and Economics