Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta's pride

Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta's pride

By Sri Wahyuni

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Gadjah Mada University celebrated its 48th
anniversary yesterday and while it's not the oldest college in
the country, it is certainly a constant source of pride for
residents of this Kota Pelajar (students' city).

It is, for instance, among colleges with the highest number of
good quality courses. Rector Sukanto Reksohadiprojo told The
Jakarta Post recently the university has 61 courses, distributed
among its 18 faculties, of which 33 were ranked "A" by the
independent National Board of Accreditation.

Two other prominent colleges, the University of Indonesia in
Jakarta and Hasanudin University in Ujungpandang, have only 48
courses.

Founded on Dec. 19, 1949, Gadjah Mada University (UGM) is
striving to excel in research and education to meet its target,
the UGM Vision 2020.

"We need to prepare strong human resources. Superior human
resources is the key to success," Sukanto said, citing the "One
Thousand Doctors" program he launched in 1994. The program aims
to produce more lecturers with doctorates.

With about 35,000 students -- 6,000 of which are students of
the Strata 2 and Strata 3 postgraduate programs, while the
remaining are undergraduates -- UGM now has about 2,200
lecturers. Of the 2,200 lecturers, 900 are the graduates of the
S2 programs while 550 are doctorate degree holders of graduates
of the S3 programs.

"About 100 lecturers are currently attending a doctorate
program abroad, while 50 others are attending the same program
here through the so-called inbreeding program," Sukanto said.

He said that if each of the 18 faculties send five lecturers a
year to attend doctorate programs, either here or abroad, the
university will be able to produce more than 1,000 doctors within
five years.

The figure will exceed the requirement of the Directorate
General of Higher Education of the Ministry of Education and
Culture which says that at least half of any universities'
lecturers should hold either S2 or doctorate degrees.

Sukanto said the biggest constraint is a shortage of funds. A
doctoral student in the inbreeding program needs at least Rp 1.2
million a year, while those who take the program overseas need at
least ten times as much.

"That's why we have to compete in the research field. Then,
we'll be able to finance our lecturers' doctoral programs," said
Sukanto.

This year, for example, UGM won six of the Quality
Undergraduate Education (QUE) scholarships and was therefore able
to send 30 of its lecturers for doctorate programs abroad.

Ideally, 60 percent of Gadjah Mada University's academia
should conduct research, according to Sukanto. Only then can it
claim itself to be a research university.

Many Indonesian universities, however, have yet to shift their
focus from lecturing to research. Currently, only 30 percent of
Gadjah Mada scientists are actively involved in scientific
research.

"Even this figure is considered good already, given the
national average is only between 15 and 20 percent," he said.

Out of the wish to develop itself as a research university,
Gadjah Mada is planning to build an industrial/scientific park
within the campus.

This long-term goal is meant to implement the current minister
of education's concept of "link and match" where colleges and
schools are expected to produce graduates that fit the demand of
the industrial world. One way to do this is for industries to
research and develop laboratories on campus.

"Several companies including Indocement, Freeport, Pertamina
and the Management Board of Strategic Industries (BPIS) have
expressed their interest in the project," said Sukanto.

The university has allotted 18 hectares for the project.

Among other long-term projects is the planned construction of
the Center of the Campus' Service -- part of an effort to make
UGM a self-serviced campus. This will include the establishment
of a student shopping center.

Gadjah Mada University is also the only one in Indonesia which
persistently refuses to establish the so-called polytechnic
programs -- schools which produce "ready for use" graduates.

Instead, it prefers D3 -- where students finish short-term
courses and are ready for work, which is inseparable from the
longer term courses that the university offers.

"In this way, we an make use of the D3 programs' facilities
for students of other courses," Sukanto said.

Gadjah Mada University currently has a fixed budget of Rp 70
billion (US$14,000) a year which is derived from the routine and
development budget of the state budgets in addition to public
funds. Other financing comes from the World Bank and the Asian
Development Bank.

Last academic year, UGM also received a US$600,000 grant from
Swiss drug companies to help the university improve its chemical-
related courses. About 52 other companies are giving scholarships
to 5 percent of its 35,000 students.

"Actually, we wish to have 10 percent of our students on
scholarship. It appears to me that this will be the target for
our next rector," said Sukanto, whose term will expire next
March.