South Tangerang, FAH News Online — On Wednesday, November 13 2024, the Faculty of Adab and Humanities (FAH) UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta received a comparative study visit from the History of Islamic Civilization (SPI) Study Program UIN Sunan Ampel Surabaya. This visit aims to strengthen institutional relations while sharing experiences in educational development, especially in improving the quality of study programs and the quality of student learning at these two Islamic universities.

In the event which took place in the Main Courtroom of FAH UIN Jakarta, the Dean of the Faculty of Adab and Humanities, Dr. Ade Abdul Hak, M.Hum opened the discussion by conveying several challenges in managing higher education within UIN Jakarta. One of the concerns is the demand that students complete their studies more quickly. As a result, many students have to balance the focus between timely completion of studies with involvement in student organizational activities, especially in the final semester.

“Due to the demands of studying on time, many students in the seventh semester finally chose not to be very active in organizations in order to graduate on time,” said the Dean of FAH. “However, we continue to strive to provide support so that students can develop themselves outside of lectures.”

Apart from that, the Dean of FAH also highlighted the importance of guest lecturer programs, both from within and outside the country, to improve the quality of teaching. However, one of the obstacles in implementing this program is the cost of honorariums for guest lecturers, especially from abroad. This discussion led to the search for a solution so that the guest lecturer program could continue without being burdened by large costs.

Purpose and Expectations of UIN Surabaya Visit

UIN Surabaya delegation, led by Dr. Muhammad Khodafi, M.Si representative of the SPI Study Program, said that it is hoped that this visit will provide inspiration and new insights. The head of delegation said that they wanted to learn from FAH UIN Jakarta's experience in managing institutions and cooperation, especially those related to student development.

The three main points that were the focus of discussion from UIN Surabaya were:

1. Institutional Strengthening: It looks forward to expanding institutional cooperation between the two institutions, both at the national and international levels, including the follow-up to the cooperation signed during the ADIA meeting.
2. Collaboration with the National Archives of the Republic of Indonesia (ANRI): UIN Surabaya pays attention to collaboration with ANRI in supporting student competencies in the field of archives and historical documentation. After receiving information from ANRI that it had collaborated with UIN Jakarta.
3. Internship and Guest Lecturer Program: UIN Surabaya highlights the importance of the internship program as part of the higher education curriculum and seeks to expand the guest lecturer program, including lecturer exchanges with FAH UIN Jakarta.

Dr. Nyong Eka Teguh Iman Santosa, M.Fill.I UIN Surabaya delegation also revealed that they had implemented an online guest lecturer program with UIN North Sumatra. However, the challenge faced is in terms of administration, not honorarium. Manual reporting of guest lecturer activities is an obstacle because this data cannot be integrated directly into the Higher Education Database (PDDIKTI). “Our hope is that through this collaboration we can learn how UIN Jakarta manages the guest lecturer program,” explained Dr. Nyong

Next Dr. Ahmad Nur Fuad highlighted the desire to send SPI students to FAH UIN Jakarta. "We feel that UIN Jakarta has longer experience and history, which of course can be an important reference for our academic development," he said. In addition, delegations also hoped to conduct an exchange of guest lecturers as part of inter-institutional collaboration.

The Dean of FAH UIN Jakarta responded positively to this collaboration proposal and underlined the importance of exchanging guest lecturers, both to meet the Main Performance Indicators (IKU) and to improve teaching competency in each university. According to him, the presence of guest lecturers can be strengthened by supporting evidence, such as certificates, teaching material documentation and activity photos, which can also be used as national and international evidence.

The Dean of FAH also offered the idea of sharing guest lecturer claims between UIN Surabaya and UIN Jakarta so that guest lecturers present at one of the institutions could be listed as performance achievements on both sides. “In this way, we can help each other achieve performance targets without being burdened by additional costs," added the Dean of FAH.

Follow-up Discussion on Educational Challenges and Development

This discussion then continued on several other strategic issues, such as challenges in collaboration with institutions such as ANRI, timely graduation targets, scientific publications, and the Real Work Lecture (KKN) program. UIN Surabaya emphasized that the KKN program is expected to be recognized as 7 credits with scientific publications as required output.

Prof. Jajat Burhanudin, Head of the Islamic Culture Magsiter Study Program at FAH UIN Jakarta, also added that his party plans to open a doctoral program or doctoral program in the near future to increase research capacity at this faculty.

This meeting closed with the signature of cooperation between the FAH SPI study program and the UIN Surabaya SPI study program to continue to establish further communication and cooperation, especially in efforts to improve the quality of education and the capacity of lecturers and students in the field of Islamic history and civilization. The two sides agreed on the importance of mutually beneficial cooperation and looked forward to realizing plans for collaboration in the near future.

It is hoped that this visit will be the first step in building synergy between UIN Surabaya and FAH UIN Jakarta in order to improve the quality of higher education in Indonesia, especially in the fields of Islamic history and civilization.

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