Semarang | In line with the rapid pace global competition in educational sector, higher education institutions need to move forward towards a standard that makes it possible for the academicians to compete on international level. For Universitas Muhammadiyah Semarang, this journey has started for quite some time by conducting various programs of partnerships with higher education institutions overseas. For instance, partnerships with University of Malaya, Lincoln University College, International Medical University, and University Sciences Islam Malaysia. Thus, the internationalization of Unimus today is to enhance the intensity through various programs of internationalization that have been running as well as additional several new programs to that the impacts can be more felt by the entire academicians, especially the lecturers.
To bridge it, Unimus held a General Lecture themed “Access of Internationalization for Educators”. The event was held in the medical laboratory building on May 9, 2018, with the primary speaker Prof. Dr. Bunyamin Maftuh, M.A., M.Pd. from the Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education. Bunyamin explained about the importance of the implementation of internationalization for human resources on university level. “Internationalization is an instrument used to improve the effectiveness in reaching the purpose, which is the three obligations of higher education. Hence, spirit and high motivation are needed to place Unimus in the position of getting recognized and well-respected in doing the duty by the world,” he said.
According to him, the ministry would support every individual (lecturer) who is potential to keep developing his or her ability and also facilitate networking for idea and experience sharing. Some of programs of lecturer development are: Scholarship (degree program), short term training / short course (non-degree), post-doctoral, scheme for academic mobility and exchange, visiting world class professor, and sabbatical leave. The Director of Career and Competence in the Directorate General of Science and Technology Resource and Higher Education added that globalization was a reality that had to be faced and managed. In facing globalization, professional forces having professional knowledge and skills were needed. Strategy of internationalization is one of the ways used to face the global competition not only applicable in industrial sphere but also having been used in the educational sector.
Bunyamin said that “in higher education, internationalization is done in accordance with the socio-political and economic relation between countries. In its development, internationalization as the university’s strategy, is seen as a strategic approach to gain reputation as well as reach the university’s purpose. Internationalization needs to be done, not only to spread, maintain, and keep the cultural values of Indonesia but also get the competitive excellence of the best human resources. The general lecture was attended by hundreds of employees at Unimus from all work units, including lecturers and educational staff. The event is one of Unimus’ attempts to improve the mutual understanding on the World Class Research University (WCRU) and also increase the quality of Unimus’ human resources to beome more professional and motivated in order to develop their self-capabilities in various aspects.
