This was conveyed by the Chancellor of the Universitas Sumatera Utara (USU) Dr. Muryanto Amin, S.Sos, M.Si, during his working visit to the USU Faculty of Law, Wednesday (23/6/2021) afternoon. In addition, continued the Chancellor, practitioner lecturers will also inspire students, especially with regard to experiences and strategies in the world of work and business. This is possible to do as part of the implementation of the Independent Learning-Independent Campus (MBKM) launched by the Government through the Ministry of Education and Culture.

“Right now, we are all running against time, where other universities, especially those in Java, have rushed to implement it. Meanwhile, at USU, we have only been working on it seriously for the last three months. Many study programs are not even ready to develop a program for independent learning,” said Dr. Muryanto with concern.

For this reason, he requested that all parties be involved and move actively to resolve all the demands and opportunities that exist in the MBKM program. “The study program must be ready to change the curriculum. Moreover, at this time we will be holding a collaborative and participatory class selection as USU's internal competition, which aims to inspire all of us to think creatively and quickly," said the Chancellor in the middle of his presentation.

He also revealed that currently there are 6 companies that have expressed their willingness to synergize with USU in the implementation of MBKM, especially for student and lecturer internship programs.

According to Dr. Mury, everything that has been an obstacle for USU to move quickly and forward must be overcome quickly. “We have to fill all our shortcomings, especially in various assessment indicators in ranking universities, both at national and international levels. We have many indicators for compiling work programs, such as University Performance Indicators (IKU), QS Ranking, Study Program Accreditation, and others. So it's just a matter of aligning it with the work program you want to implement," he explained.

The Chancellor also mentioned the position of the Universitas Sumatera Utara which last year was ranked 14th in cluster one of higher education, which in August will be reassessed by the Ministry of Education and Culture. He hopes that the ranking can be improved and enter into the top 10 rankings.

“One of the things we have to pay attention to is the tracer study, which so far has no more than 30 percent of the data. This year it has reached 75 percent. Tracer studies must be updated periodically every three months, cannot be done overnight. So you really have to pay attention. Likewise, the number of publications and citations is still low, as well as the number of international lecturers, students and staff. We must strive for all of that as much as possible,” said the Chancellor.

Present accompanying the Chancellor at the meeting were Vice Chancellor I Dr. Edy Ikhsan, SH, M.Hum, Vice Chancellor III Dr. Poppy Anjelisa Zaitun Hasibuan, S.Si, M.Si, Apt, Vice Chancellor IV Prof. Drs. Opim Salim Sitompul, M.Sc and Vice Chancellor V Ir. Luhut Sihombing, MP. Meanwhile, in the leadership ranks of the USU Faculty of Law, the Dean Dr Mahmul Siregar, SH, M.Hum, Deputy Dean I Dr Agusmidah, SH, M.Hum, Deputy Dean II Puspa Melati Hasibuan, SH, M.Hum, Deputy Dean III Dr. Mohammad Ekaputra, SH, M.Hum and Head of USU's Masters and Doctoral Degree Study Programs.

After the Chancellor's presentation, the discussion session began with the presentation of the Dean of the USU Faculty of Law regarding the current condition of the faculty, both in terms of the completeness of facilities and infrastructure, the condition of human resources owned and several other obstacles related to the implementation of academic activities, which are expected to get a solution from the university leadership.

Author: Renny Julia Harahap - Humas

Interviewee: Universitas Sumatera Utara - Universitas Sumatera Utara

Photographer: Muhammad Andriansyah - Humas