Ching Mey (Susie) See
Hall of Fame Class of 2016
Ching Mey See’s contributions to the field of adult and continuing education are through her roles as the leader in community engagement initiatives at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) and the national Apex University and as a professional educational and counselling psychology practitioner with an active clinical practice.
See’s most notable achievements as a policymaker include developing and building the framework and strategies for a university-industry/community engagement agenda. She is also a leader in the University-Community Engagement Conference (UCEC), a biannual international conference that is co-organized with other universities from Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, and Japan. See is the prolific author of 16 books and more than 200 academic articles as well as keynotes and presentations of more than 350 academic seminar and conference papers. She is on the editorial boards of 11 international journals and chief editor of one. Her greatest contribution lies in her strong endeavors to build up the regional network, Asia-Pacific University-Community Engagement Network (APUCEN) . APUCEN cooperates with other regional and international bodies that engage students and staff to provide service beyond its walls in the true sense of extramural studies. APUCEN now has 72 members from 18 countries.
See’s advocacy of lifelong learning has encouraged university academic expertise and resources to reach out to external stakeholders, especially through multidisciplinary collaboration across the university’s niche areas and knowledge exchange with industry, civil organizations, and government agencies, in an effort to transform local and global communities for a sustainable future. USM embraces all forms of lifelong learning through distance learning programs, as well as education programs for senior citizens and persons with disabilities. Non-formal learning programs are encouraged and supported by See’s division. Her efforts include My Village Adoption Programs, where the university works in partnership with a rural community to support educational development and enrichment programs. Her research on the integration and inclusion of children with special needs into mainstream education in Malaysia is the basis for educational policymaking for this special adult continuing education population.
On the international front, See serves as regional vice president for the East-Asia International Play Association (IPA); executive council member, International Association for Counselling (IAC); regional director of Asia-Pacific, National Board of Certified Counsellors (NBCC); member of the board of directors, National Board of Certified Counsellors International (NBCC-I); board member, Asia-Pacific Association of Psychotherapists (APAP); and past president of the Association of Psychological and Educational Counsellors of Asia-Pacific (APECA). In addition to her standing in associations and organizations, she has mobilized teams of counsellors and psychologists to provide debriefing and counselling for victims of natural disasters and other crises. The most prominent instance was with survivors of the 2004 tsunami that devastated part of Penang Island. For her engagement with the community at large, Ohio State University awarded her their Alumni Citizenship Award in 2007 for having distinguished herself in service to humanity and having best exemplified the university's motto, "Education for Citizenship.”