UGM holds first election under autonomous campus program

Asip A. Hasani, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

Following the lead of the Institute of Technology (ITB) in Bandung and the North Sumatra University (USU) in Medan, Gadjah Mada University, the oldest higher learning institution in the country, is opening its top position to the public in elections that are a first step towards becoming an autonomous campus.

The position at the university in Yogyakarta is open to all Indonesian citizens, especially academics, with experience in private and state-run institutions, to submit their candidacy for the rector position, according to university officials.

"The country's best sons are invited to run for the rector position; we need educated and dedicated men and women to lead the university," Prof. Koento Wibisono, chairman of the rector election committee, said here on Tuesday.

The central government in its pilot project has granted the freedom to ITB, UGM, the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (ITB), the University of Airlangga in Surabaya, East Java, and the University of Indonesia to hire their own teaching and administrative staff, elect their own rector and manage their finance in running their education programs.

Under the campus autonomy program, ITB has appointed Kusmayanto Kardiman, who was elected by the institute's board of trustees (MWA) as its first rector. USU, which has applied for the campus autonomy, is also running a rector election process.

Koento said academics who are interested in running their candidacy for UGM's rector position are invited to submit their application to the election committee between Dec. 20, 2001 and Jan. 26, 2002.

Asked about official requirements, he said applicants must be Indonesians, healthy, both physically and mentally, with at least three years of experience in a similar position.

"And a candidate linked to any political parties must be ready to leave it if he or she is elected as new rector," he said.

Koento said that instead of being appointed by the education minister, the university's next rectors would be elected by a 25- member board of trustees representing university students, government and teaching staff.

Before the election, which is scheduled for next March, the board of trustees will select a group of candidates from those nominated for the rectorate position, and all nominees would be obliged to present their vision and programs.

"Being a rector of UGM in the autonomy era is a tough job, yet we believe that we will find the best person who will lead this university with 46,000 students and more than 2,500 lecturers," he said.