Author: Almas Satria
Thursday (11/25) Sultan Thaha Saifuddin Islamic Jambi State University (UIN) conducted a comparative study visit to the Universitas Indonesia (UI). This comparative study was held in the Floating room, UI Campus. The arrival of the group of comparative study participants from UIN Sultan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi was welcomed by the leadership of UI and its staff, namely Dr. Agustin Kusumayati, M.Sc., pH.D. (UI Secretary), Dra. Amelita Lusia, M.Si, (Head of UI Public Relations and Public Information Disclosure Bureau) Ranggalawe Suryasaladin SH, MH, LL.M (Head of UI Monev Section), and Alfrida Esther Madame Hutapea, S.Sos, (UI International Affairs Office Mobility Coordinator).
The event was opened with a welcome speech by the UI Secretary, Dr. Agustin. In her speech, Agustin said that in this comparative study UI will explain about the management process of the UI Office of International Affairs (KUI), ranking management, and also public relations activities to develop university reputation. Agustin hopes that the arrival of UIN Sultan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi can be beneficial for both parties.
Then, the rector UIN Sultan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi, Prof. Dr. H. Su’aidi, M.A., Ph.D, also gave a speech. In his remarks, Su’adi said that UIN Sultan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi is currently trying to change the scientific paradigm called transintegration of science by combining abilities in the fields of science or social humanities with the necessary religious knowledge and vice versa. Su’adi also said that their visit to UI was part of the MOU that had been agreed upon. More than that, the arrival of UIN Sultan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi to UI is in order to see firsthand how KUI works in efforts to internationalize universities, ranking systems, and public relations in developing university reputation and the obstacles contained therein.
Responding to this, the mobility coordinator of KUI UI, Alfirda explained the management carried out by KUI. KUI itself is generally divided into 3 divisions. The first division is the international cooperation facilitation division. This division covers facilitation of international guest visits, cooperation with overseas partners, initiation of cooperation documents with overseas partners, participation in international associations, and promotion for international target audiences. The second division is international mobilization facilitation. This division takes care of the exploration of cooperation at the beginning of the cooperation and makes an agreement regarding the cooperation to be carried out. The last division is the division that supports KUI as a whole. “Internationalization is an international process that integrates not only an international atmosphere but also cultures and dimensions with the aim of improving the quality of education and research and making a positive contribution to society,” Alfirda explained.
In addition, there are student exchanges to study abroad. KUI currently has collaborated with 54 countries and 388 universities, resulting in 316 MOUs and 344 AOIs.
The comparative study program continued by listening to the next presentation made by the Head of the Evaluation Monitering Section, Ranggalawe. Ranggalawe explained about the transformation bureau of risk management and evaluation monitoring (TREM). This bureau is a newly formed bureau since the current rector has served his term of office. This bureau takes care of matters related to the transformation of the university towards a better direction in a fast time. The bureau’s main tasks are to plan and oversee the university’s transformation process, carry out the evaluation monitoring function in place of the rector’s budget planning section, ensure the alignment of strategic goals across the university community, and manage the university’s primary data.
In connection with this task, the TREM bureau analyzes data collected from various units at UI to project UI’s position and prepare strategies to improve UI’s ranking so that it always rises every year. UI itself has a high ranking at the national and Southeast Asian levels in the international ranking system. As in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Ranking (WUR) 2022, UI was ranked 17th out of 76 institutions in Southeast Asia and ranked 1st in Indonesia. Then the next session was continued by the Head of UI Public Relations and KIP Bureau, Amelita. The Bureau of Public Relations and KIP is responsible for conducting partnership relations, disseminating information and publications, to public services and public information disclosure. Public Relations also has several programs, especially in social media to get positive sentiment about UI.
