Usman announced as UI's new rector

Leo Wahyudi S, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The University of Indonesia's (UI) board of trustees elected acting rector Usman Chatib Warsa as the new rector of UI on Wednesday.

Usman beat Martani Huseini, dean of the School of Social and Political Sciences, by managing to secure 15 votes, one vote more than Martani, based on secret voting that took place at UI's campus in Depok, West Java.

The board consists of 21 people, including Usman, who did not vote because he was also a candidate.

Minister of National Education A. Malik Fadjar won 35 percent of the total number of votes.

Anwar Nasution, one of the members, failed to come to the forum but he authorized his right to vote to another board member.

The elected rector had successfully competed against 13 other rectorial candidates, who had passed through several screening processes since April, before the number was finally whittled down to two.

Usman, 55, who was UI's acting rector until Wednesday, is the university's 12th rector and the eighth rector from the UI's School of Medicine.

Since 1950, UI has had two rectors from the School of Engineering, one from the School of Law and one from the School of Letters.

UI's spokeswoman Diennaryati Tjokrosuprihatono denied any favoritism in the rectorial election.

"We did not look at which school they came from but the individual and their level of competence," she said.

This was the first election since the university was awarded a new status as a state-owned incorporated entity in 2000. Under the new status, UI is required to be more aggressive in generating capital as the government plans to begin reducing subsidies in 2005.

The university opened the rectorial post to any member of the public, with the hope it would get a new rector who had both academic and entrepreneurial skills.

Unfortunately, none of the 14 candidates, who were mostly from UI, met that requirement.

Usman said after the election on Wednesday that it was more important for the head of UI to be a competent manager rather than an academic expert.

"To become a good manager, (the head of UI) does not necessarily have to be a professor," he said, adding he only had a PhD title compared to the other candidates, who were mostly professors.

Usman, who was awarded his doctoral degree from Kobe University, Tokyo, vowed to revive UI's academic culture by bridging the current gap between students and lecturers.

"A closer relationship will produce a more academic atmosphere on the campus," he said.

He said he planned to restructure the management system in an attempt to build trust throughout the campus.

He also highlighted the significance of raising funds to run the institution but did not clarify any specific program.

"We will optimize scientific research and prioritize efficiency in order to cut expenses," he remarked.

Separately, Usman's competitor, Martani, said he would support the new rector's policy.

"I welcome this democratic rectorial election and do hope the new rector will accommodate my ideas to improve UI," Martani said.