Pelita Harapan links up with British university

JAKARTA (JP): Privately-owned Pelita Harapan university has signed an agreement with the University of the West of England (UWE) to facilitate students and instructors exchanges.

The agreement was signed on Wednesday by Paul van der Lem, the dean of the UWE's Faculty of Art, Media and Design, and the dean of the Civil Engineering and Planning college of Pelita Harapan (UPH), Harianto Hardjasaputra.

The Civil Engineering and Planning college at UPH includes the department of design, which teaches interior and product design, and visual communication.

With this agreement, rector Johannes Oentoro said UPH students who want to study overseas have an additional option.

Earlier, similar cooperation was started between the two-year- old UPH and a consortium of universities in Australia and the United States.

Under the deal, UPH students can have their credits transferred to the universities where they want to continue their studies.

This is made possible by the prior coordination of necessary subjects and examinations at UPH and the overseas universities.

Oentoro also said that fourth semester students must have a minimum score of 550 on the TOEFL tests.

"Parents save money because instead of spending four years overseas, for instance, their children only spend two years away," he said.

Tom Karman, the supervisor of the consortium of US universities working with UPH, said the cooperation agreement looked "promising".

Oentoro said the university's Faculty of Civil Engineering and Planning was the third favorite among its almost 800 students. The first and second favorite schools are industrial technology and tourism, he said. (anr)