In an effort to realize mission towards Entrepreneurial University, Universitas Indonesia (UI) warmly welcomed the official visit of Queens’s University, Canada, in Meeting Room A, College Administration Center Building, Depok Campus, on Tuesday (18/10). During the visit, a cooperation agreement between the two universities was signed by the Head of Transformation, Risk Management, and Monitoring Evaluation Bureau Vishnu Juwono, S.E., M.I.A, Ph.D., representing UI Secretary and Vice Provost, International, Professor of History, Head of Delegation, Queens’s University Dr. Sandra den Otter.
The signing of cooperation agreement in the field of student exchange marked one of the concrete forms of cooperation between the two universities and was witnessed by the party of Queens’s University, namely the Dean of Faculty of Arts and Science, Professor of Sociology, Dr. Barbara Crow; the Director of Asia Liaison Office, Office of the Vice Provost, International, Dr. Zhiyao Zhang; and Director of International Undergraduate Enrollment Allison Yokom.
The visit, which led to a discussion of potential collaborations, was also attended by the higher-ups of faculties and College Administration Center in UI, including the Dean of Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (FMIPA) Dede Djuhana, Ph.D.; the Vice Dean for Education, Research and Student Affairs of FMIPA Dr. rer. nat. Budiawan; the Vice Dean for Resources, Ventures, and General Administration of Faculty of Social and Political Sciences Dr. Jajang Gunawijaya; the Vice Dean for Education, Research, and Student Affairs of Faculty of Humanities Dr. Untung Yuwono; the Vice Dean for Education, Research, and Student Affairs of Faculty of Psychology Dicky C. Pelupessy, Ph.D.; the Director of Academic Development and Learning Resources, Gatot Fatwanto Hertono, Ph.D.; Coordinator of Community Service Administration of Faculty of Medicine Dr. Irandi Putra Pratomo, PhD, SpP(K), FAPSR; Manager of Education of Faculty of Engineering UI Dr. Nyoman Suwarta; the Head of Sub-Directorate of Academic and Government Cooperation, Directorate of Cooperation, Dr. Eko Sakapurnama; Representatives of SDGs Hub UI, Dr. Nurul L. Winarni and Maurice; and Coordinator of Partnership, International Office, Suyanti Adi Pawiro.
In his speech, Vishnu explained that UI has 17 faculties/schools/vocational education programs divided into two campus located in Salemba, Jakarta, and Depok, West Java. He said that he was very excited about the collaboration with Queens’s University. He delivered the direction of UI Rector towards Entrepreneurial University which currently focuses on collaboration and Global Engagement. The collaboration expected by UI Rector is mainly partnerships with leading universities in the world, including Canada. “The Indonesian government also strongly supports this Global Engagement.There is one program called Indonesian International Mobility Awards (IISMA), which is the Program of Merdeka Belajar Kampus Merdeka (MBKM) of Indonesian Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology, and the scholarship program of Education Fund Management Institution (LPDP) which annually sends nearly a thousand Indonesian students to leading universities in the world. I hope the cooperation between UI and Queens’s University can accelerate this Global Engagement program,” he said.
Responding to UI presentation, Sandra den Otter in her speech also welcomed this collaboration. She appreciated the humility of UI in welcoming her party and mentioned several opportunities for cooperation, including research collaboration and the mobility of student/staff. “It’s great to see university leaders taking the time to meet with representatives from Canada to do something important for scholars, staff, and academics. It is an important partnership that the university is doing work related to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and we are looking for partners as a team to share the commitment of SDGs implementation as we know Indonesia is as a priority of the federal government,” she said.
Sandra appreciated Indonesian government for supporting scholars to develop their potential and improve their competencies to be ready and relevant to the needs of the era and collaboration. She was very pleased with Indonesian government’s investment in education, such as student mobility, masters and doctoral programs; and training opportunities. She said that Queen’s also has a transformation agenda like Universitas Indonesia, as well as social responsibility and social impact on the world. Hence, this collaboration is very interesting for Queen’s. She said her party is ready to carry out collaborative research, with funding sources from Indonesian and/or Canadian governments in the fields of health, social, natural sciences, and engineering.
Queen’s University, known as Queen’s, is a public research university located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. The notable alumni include government officials, academics, business leaders, and 57 Rhodes Scholars. As of 2022, five Nobel and one Turing Award winner have been affiliated with Queen’s. This year, Queen’s is ranked 7th in the world as a university that committed to realizing the SDGs.
