PUBLIC RELATIONS USU - Universitas Sumatera Utara (USU) held a Technical Guidance event in preparation for the 2025 Diktisaintek Public Relations Award. Themed "Strengthening Public Relations and Protocol Management through Competence and Competition," the event took place in the 4th Floor Video Conference Room, USU's Rector's Office, on Monday, July 28, 2025.

USU Secretary, Prof. Dr. dr. Muhammad Fidel Ganis Siregar, M.Ked(OG), Sp.O.G, Subsp.F.E.R., in his remarks, assessed that public relations is not merely a supporting function, but rather a central strategy for institutions, including higher education institutions. He stated that professional, transparent, and adaptive public communications management significantly impacts a university's reputation.

"Public relations is no longer merely a supporting function, but rather the heart of an institution's strategic community, including ours, as a higher education institution," he said.

Prof. Dr. dr. Muhammad Fidel Ganis Siregar, M.Ked(OG), Sp.O.G, Subsp.F.E.R., expressed his appreciation for USU's participation in the 2025 Diktisaintek Public Relations Award, as it demonstrates USU's commitment to continuous learning, improvement, and building a high-quality and sustainable public relations system. He stated that the technical guidance was the right step to strengthen understanding, align strategies, and build synergies to improve public relations and protocol performance.

"This technical guidance is a very important first step," he said.

In addition to exchanging technical knowledge, Prof. Dr. dr. Muhammad Fidel Ganis Siregar, M.Ked(OG), Sp.O.G, Subsp.F.E.R., hopes this activity will provide a space for collective reflection on USU's strategy in narrating its achievements to the public, building public trust, and strengthening USU's position as a world-class, open, inclusive, and innovative university.

"This activity is not only a forum for transferring technical knowledge, but also a space for collective reflection," he hoped.

The Head of the Public Relations, Protocol, and Promotion Office at USU, Amalia Meutia, M.Psi., Psychologist, stated that this activity aims to provide an understanding aligned with the Ministry of Education and Science and Technology changes regarding public relations and protocol. She assessed that the presence of Doddy Zulkifli Indra Atmaja, S.I.Kom, M.Si., Head of the Public Relations and Protocol Division at the Ministry of Education and Science and Technology, and Arifin Habibillah, Head of the Ministry of Education and Science and Technology Protocol Team, as resource persons for this technical guidance is USU's effort to solidify preparations for the 2025 Diktisaintek Public Relations Award and achieve maximum results.

"Today, we also asked for guidance from the resource persons on preparing the material to achieve maximum results," she said.

Amalia Meutia, M.Psi., Psychologist, hopes that USU's numerous achievements will not only be symbolic but also actualized and provide tangible benefits, both for the academic community and the wider community, so that USU's presence will have a greater impact.

"We hope that we will not only achieve our achievements, but also how we can actualize those achievements," she said.