“The public relations workshop and professional training have been planned by Muhammadiyah Council for Higher Education, Research, and Development (CHERD). Alhamdulillah, the workshop goes as planned under the total support from the Association of Communication Science Department (APIK)”. That was a statement from Prof Widodo Muktiyo at the opening of the Public Relation Workshop of Muhammadiyah – ‘Aisyiyah Higher Education Institutions (MHEIs) in Second Batch on Grand Rohan Hotel, Yogyakarta, Thursday (04/08).

The Member of Muhammadiyah CHERD continued by mentioning public relations (PR) are the core element in higher education institutions functioning in communication management. “When our organization is weak, PR should transform the situation rapidly. This profession will have roles as supporting persons of the leaders. Because the basic requirement to lead is in communication,” he added.

In front of 40 participants, he admitted that the role of PR should be to develop, raise, and synergize in MHEIs’ improvement. PR need to understand the current challenges faced in PR. “When you consider yourself good enough and comfortable, it means you are dead,” he highlighted. PR could be considered a success when they build awareness of the importance of public relations and academic personal branding. “The minimum standard is when the public relations department that you lead can be a locomotive in the core element in your institutions,” he said. He also expected that APIK could share the recommendation from all participants in each batch with Muhammadiyah CHERD to encourage public relations. “In this era, PR can not be empty, but it should follow the rapid development of science and technology,” he hoped, in the workshop ended on Saturday (06/08).