HUMAS USU – Universitas Sumatera Utara (USU) held its regular morning assembly at the USU Rectorate Courtyard on Monday (22/06/2026). The event served as an important platform to deliver key messages regarding the strengthening of governance, legal affairs, administration, strategic issues, and archival management across the university.

Serving as the assembly inspector, Dr. Ir. Erwin Sitorus, S.T., M.T., Secretary of the Directorate of Governance, Legal Affairs, and Archives, emphasized that good governance is the fundamental foundation for ensuring that an organization operates in an orderly, effective, accountable, and ethical manner. According to him, governance extends beyond organizational structures and encompasses how policies are formulated, decisions are made, and institutional performance is accounted for.

“Ladies and gentlemen, in the administration of higher education, good governance is the primary foundation that enables an organization to operate in an orderly, effective, accountable, and integrity-driven manner,” explained Erwin.

In addition to governance, archival management was highlighted as another critical aspect. Archives, he noted, are not merely stored documents but authentic evidence of institutional duties, decisions, policies, and historical records. Effective archival management supports administrative order, accountability, efficient services, and legal protection for the institution.

“Another aspect that is equally important is archival management. Archives are not simply documents being stored; they serve as authentic evidence of institutional duties, decisions, policies, and organizational history,” he added.

Therefore, all work units were encouraged to ensure that important documents are properly managed and securely stored, while legal compliance should be embedded as part of the university’s daily work culture.

During a media interview session, Erwin reiterated that the primary focus of the day’s assembly was to strengthen USU’s governance system, which would ultimately facilitate the resolution of legal matters and strategic institutional issues. Regarding archival management, he instructed all work units to actively archive the results of their activities and submit inactive records to the university’s central archival office.

Furthermore, he outlined several major institutional agendas that USU will undertake in the near future, including the preparation of a new Organizational Structure and Governance Framework (Ortala), revisions to the USU Statute, and preparations for an archival accreditation process.

“Our main focus is developing a strong governance system for USU, which will have a positive impact on resolving legal cases, addressing strategic issues, and improving archival management. Every work unit must archive its records properly, and inactive documents should be transferred to the archival division,” he explained.

At the conclusion of his remarks, the entire academic community was reminded to consistently follow established procedures, prepare documents accurately, and provide services that are prompt, professional, and accountable in order to support USU’s continued development as a competitive and high-performing university.