Issues and challenges on the reinforcement of good governance at Malaysia’s public universities from administrative perspective/ Mohammad Azuwadi Mohd Yasin and Marni Ghazali

The dilemma of administrators’ in fending off issues and challenges to reinforce the good governance of Malaysia's public universities is a critical concern that has significant implications for the overall performance. The main actors of administrative personnel known as registrars, bursars, and librarians are responsible for ensuring the efficiency and transparent management of the university's resources, policies, and operations, which are essential for maintaining and enhancing good governance. Registrars, bursars, and librarians often find themselves at the forefront of navigating complex governance-related problems, such as financial mismanagement, lack of transparency, and conflicts of interest. Thus, this paper aims to analyses the issues and challenges of university administrators to enhance university good governance. This research employed in-depth interviews with ten (10) key informants. The informants included the former Chief Secretary to the Government of Malaysia, the former Vice-Chancellor, the former Director of the Department of Higher Education, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, the former Registrar, the former President of the Association's Council, the former Bursar, and the former Chief Librarian. In addition, this research employed qualitative data analysis through thematic analysis using NVivo software version 14, revealing several issues and challenges, including human factors, rapid policy changes, and financial constraints. Finally, this research provides further insights into the concept of good governance. This investigation illustrates that public universities should implement different methodologies or strategies to increase staff engagement and participation, thereby enhancing their governance.