USU PR - The Universitas Sumatera Utara (USU) hosted the Annual Work Meeting of the Academic Vice Rector (WR) Forum of BKS-PTN West members. The event took place at the Digital Learning Center Building (DLCB) 8th floor, USU, and was attended by academic vice rectors from various state universities in the Western region of Indonesia. On Tuesday-Wednesday (3-4/09/2024).

The theme of this meeting, “Working Towards a World Class University,” became an important momentum for academic vice chancellors to strengthen their commitment to realizing a shared vision towards WCU. Collaboration and innovation between universities are key to facing global challenges and achieving greater goals in the world of higher education.

USU Rector, Prof. Dr. Muryanto Amin, S.Sos., M.Si., expressed his appreciation for the presence of the academic vice rectors who had chosen USU as the host of this annual working meeting. He emphasized the importance of this forum as a place to evaluate, plan, and strengthen the academic role in facing the challenges of the globalization era and the Industrial Revolution 4.0.

“In this era, public universities are required to produce graduates who are not only intellectually competent but also able to adapt to rapid changes in various sectors,” said Prof. Muryanto.

Furthermore, the USU Rector emphasized that education is the key to nation building. In the midst of the complexity of global challenges, universities have a great responsibility to ensure that the education provided is relevant to the needs of the times and is able to encourage the development of character and moral integrity of students.

“Hopefully, this forum can produce strategic recommendations that can be implemented in their respective universities and encourage collaboration between universities,” hoped Prof. Muryanto.

USU Vice Rector I, Dr. Edy Ikhsan, S.H., M.A., also said that this event will take place with a series of carefully prepared agendas. The first day begins with the official opening, while the second day will be filled with information and experience sharing sessions related to internationalization issues, which are the main focus of universities today.

“The implementation of Merdeka Belajar-Kampus Merdeka (MBKM) is a challenge faced by almost all state universities, and we need to discuss it together in this forum,” said Dr. Edy.

Meanwhile, the Head of the Academic Vice Rector (WR) Forum for BKS-PTN Barat members, Prof. Dr. Ir. Agussabti, M.Si., IPU, hopes that this forum can be a forum for discussing the strategic steps needed to achieve common goals, especially in terms of internationalization and the implementation of an Open-Based Education (OBE) based curriculum.

“Tomorrow, we will discuss how each university can improve their performance in meeting the IKU targets that have been set,” said Prof. Agussabti.