UNAIR NEWS – In the end of 2020, the Faculty of Humanities (FIB) is officially led by a new leader. The Rector of Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR) entrusted Prof. Dr. Purnawan Basundoro, SS, M.Hum., to become Dean of Faculty of Humanities (FIB) for 2020-2025, and inaugurated him on Wednesday, September 30, 2020.
Interviewed by UNAIR NEWS, Prof. Pur said that he would intensify the internationalization of programs at FIB. One of the programs that must be carried out first is to increase collaboration with universities abroad.
He also plans to encourage all programs at FIB to be active in national-international activities. “One of them is an outbound, so students or lecturers can gain experiences abroad and they can be applied in the faculty,” he said on Sunday, October 11, 2020.
Even so, he does not forget to add infrastructure to support the learning process at FIB as well as the addition of reference collections, state-of-the-art learning facilities, and full support of excellent international programs to be implemented by the academic community.
In the next five years, Prof. Pur aims for improvement on the number of professors and doctors at FIB. According to him, lecturers with Professor status should be at least over 20 percent, while academic staff with doctoral degree should be at least 70 percent.
Establishment of Programs and Expansion of International Cooperation
According to Prof. Pur, in the next five years all programs must be internationally accredited. The new breakthrough he is planning is that in 2021 the establishment of the Doctoral Program in Humanities can be realized so in 2022, and even in 2021 if possible, it will start admitting new students.
“I also have a plan to establish a Master of History program with a concentration in Urban History. In general, urban studies are the notable program of FIB, because students who study literature and culture also make Urban Studies their concentration, “explained Prof. Pur.
Furthermore, according to him, the Double Degree program will also be expanded to all programs at FIB. There is only one double degree program that has been running, Linguistics master’s program.
Collaborative research with partner universities abroad will be further encouraged in order to upgrade the capacity of lecturers who are concerned with research. There is an urgency on this matter in order to bring FIB to the international.
“All potentials in FIB must be utilized in order to increase capacity. We will offer cooperation with various parties, both in Indonesia and abroad towards better FIB, “said the lecturer of History Program.
Furthermore, he explained that he will maximize the application of Tri Dharma of Higher Education. If it has been done previously, it will be improved further in the future. For example, by increasing the collaboration of every potential research and program with partners in the country and abroad.
“The education sector is the main focus because it is our core business, and it is the mandate of the state to create outstanding human resources. The potential of teaching and education must be expanded, as well as changing teaching strategies to be more effective and up-to-date, “he emphasized.
New innovations and policies
“Currently, the teaching and learning process has been carried out online, but it still faces several obstacles. Therefore, there should be new innovations to handle it, “said the professor born in Banjarnegara, May 27, 1971.
Prof. Pur explained that his party is planning to develop learning content and media that can be accessed any time, not depending on the lecturer or time. Moreover, technical matters that can be transferred to online system via the internet will be made done more massively.
The goal is that the entire work system runs more effectively. Automation is absolutely necessary by reducing the role of humans as much as possible, due to existing pandemic situation. Control to HR work must also be done online so dependence on human supervision can be reduced.
“The policy that I will apply first is to build togetherness in FIB. The entire academic community must make FIB a communal house so all must feel that they own this shared home, “he explained.
He will also make a policy to accelerate matters of lecturer academic promotion. Considering that academic promotion is the right of lecturers and it is the responsibility of the faculty to manage it in a short period of time.
Furthermore, the learning process in the pandemic era should be monitored. The teaching process in the pandemic era is very different from before, the demands must be met and students get what they have to gain. It will be integrated with the Freedom of Learning policy by Ministry of Education and Culture.
“Togetherness is the main foundation if you want to make FIB better, especially to bring it to the international scene. Thus, we need unity, in Javanese we have to saiyeg saekapraya, one intention, one action, “he concluded. (*)
Author: Muhammad Wildan Suyuti
Editor: Feri Fenoria
