Master program at Bina Nusantara Univ.

Master program at Bina Nusantara Univ.

I would like to share my experience at Bina Nusantara
University for the MMSI Dua (Master's Degree Program) in
cooperation with Curtin University of Australia during my current
semester in Batch 16.

Payment for textbooks were collected well in advance by the
University. After persistent request, photocopies of these
copyrighted textbooks were distributed to us two weeks into the
semester when several assignments had already been given in
classes. Some students received it later. When insisting on the
original textbooks, one textbook was made available for me for an
"extra charge" of Rp 50,400. According to the University
instructors and students, this is a common operating practice of
Bina Nusantara University.

Class venue kept changing requiring inquiries from the
secretariat's office prior to attending class every time.
Unannounced sudden change of a teacher not listed in the outline
handed out.

Requirements to sign one sided contracts after payment was
made for the semester.

Poor arrangement and planning for facilities such as
inadequate seating in class, no markers for the whiteboard,
malfunctioning or non-availability of Infocus projectors for
teachers, inadequate computer terminals for students, shutdown of
air conditioning and the microphones 30 minutes prior to
scheduled class ending, cyberaccess slowdowns/failures that are
unknown to University support staff, unclean toilets that allow
direct view of people relieving themselves when entrance door
opens, etc.

Poor communication and administrative procedures form often
causing unreliable services and false promises to teachers and
students such as scheduling of the same teacher in two classes
simultaneously, non-listing of registered students' names in
attendance forms, repetitive and prolonged bureaucratic
procedures for students due to poor organization.

No standardization of grading procedures or identification of
score ranges (A=?, B=?, C=?), allowing excessively subjective,
unclear, inconsistent and manipulative grading techniques, no
procedures requiring return of exam papers by teachers or timely
return of assignments to students for review, and unclear grading
systems allowing grades like "good enough" for grading
assignments from a teacher. The teacher only read my assignment
on repeated inquiries over two months after the assignment was
handed to him and refused to return the students' exam papers.

Resistance by management personnel to respond to such concerns
and solutions from students including but limited to rude
personal attacks (insults) and threats of dismissal by the
University's Director (S2) Mr. Joseph Luhukay on Oct. 14, 2000
and refusal to talk about specific issues at hand. Interestingly,
when invited to come urgently I was tricked as Ms. Arie of the
secretariat office told me that Mr. Joseph had answers for the
feedback provided to Ms. Anna Maria, the University Program
Coordinator the same morning.

WASHY TOLANI

B.S. in Av. Tech, ATP