The Geotechnical Engineering of the Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (UMY), Prof Agus Setyo Muntohar, ST, MEng.Sc, PhD was officially inaugurated as the Executive Board of National Accreditation Body for Higher Education (BAN-PT) for 2021-2026 in Jakarta on Tuesday (30/11). The inauguration was conducted by the Indonesia Ministry for Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (Kemenristekdikti).
Prof Agus explained that his new duties are closely related to his experience. Previously, he served as the Head of the Academic Quality Assurance division in UMY. “Over the years, I have devoted myself to acknowledge the quality assurance of Higher Education Institutions. I expect a study program to have high competitiveness, lecturer competence, student accomplishment, and service quality, which should be improved,” the UMY Professor said.
To be on the Executive Board of BAN-PT was a new milestone for benefiting others in the broader scope. Especially in Indonesia, which has a considerable number of Higher Education Institutions. However, not all Private Institutions can compete globally. Considering the situation, Prof Agus has been challenged to contribute by his experience and knowledge to lead Indonesia Higher Education Institutions into the global competition. “Perhaps with my contribution and knowledge about quality, about how to improve academic and human resources quality can give advantage to other people. So, objectively, I will dedicate myself to the broader scope, not only for UMY,” Prof Agus said, as reported on the official UMY site.
Undoubtedly, it is not easy to transform a private institution to compete globally. Therefore, to be an Executive Board member of BAN-PT, one should have a good comprehension of how quality assurance works, to analyze the regulations, at least on the understanding of what quality assurance is essentially like; one of them was accreditation. “In my opinion, the comprehension about accreditation becomes a requirement for being an Executive Board; integrity comes after. The actual situation, the accreditation still being a regular thing for many people,” he concluded. [] UMY / Diktilitbang
