The opening was held online with a series of interesting events. Two of the institutions’ leaders, Prof. Reini Wirahadikusumah, rector of ITB and Prof. Dr. Rina Indiastuti, S.E., M.SIE, rector of Unpad also showed up with their respective staffs.

New breakthroughs are continuously made as an effort to improve education in Indonesia. One of them is this MBKM Program, which was launched in 2020 by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (Kemendikbudristek).

This year, more MBKM programs are implemented with more calculated regulations. This program is targeted to give students more knowledge and experiences based on the program’s values.

As part of its journey and to facilitate its student, ITB provides the right platform. MBKM activities are held by ITB both internally, such as international courses and intensive programs, and externally with other parties, like this collaboration with Unpad.

As top universities in term of education qualities, ITB and Unpad officially opened this collaboration as a manifestation of MBKM program. This collaboration includes three main programs; student exchanges, research internships, and community services.

Opportunities to experience learning under a technological atmosphere is offered by ITB, while another atmosphere, including from social humanities perspective such as law, anthropology, communication, and other social matters is offered by Unpad. This cross-focus is done to remind us that technology and humans are actually two inseparable things.

“Right now, 151 ITB students are participating in the MBKM exchange, 299 in independent projects, 10 in humanitarian projects, 184 in village developments, 56 in internships, 1 in teaching, 4 in entrepreneurships, and 67 in researches. These numbers continues to grow and now there are about 950 students that are participating in this collaboration,” Prof. Dr. Ir. Jaka Sembiring, M.Eng., as the vice rector for academic and student affairs of ITB, explained.

This launching was targeted to provide information to students from both institutions about MBKM. Until now, there are still students who have no idea about this program.

In her speech, Rector of ITB, Prof. Reini explained that this program facilitates freedom of learning by taking courses outside their field of study, expanding interaction with other parties, both inside and outside the campus.

“This learning expansion is expected to enrich students with multidiscipline knowledge, besides the knowledge they learn in their field of study. By expanding interactions, students can also gain more perspectives in viewing problems, strengthen their sensitivity and social awareness, and develop their abilities to collaborate in solving a problem,” she explained.

She then explained that this collaboration was thoroughly designed to answer challenges that may exist around us. ITB graduates are prepared and expected to have high adaptability in their respectful fields of work.

This ITBxUnpad collaboration in facilitating and holding cross-listed courses and joint research is a form of new business model in developing resource sharing patterns, including human resources for lecturers, research facilitations, and expertise in higher education. Resource sharing culture that is reciprocal and mutually beneficial is also one of cultures that we need to sustain.

Later, Prof. Rina said that there are also priority skills that can be developed through this program, including collaborative, persuasive, emotional intelligence, and creative skills. Those skills can help students improve their own self qualities.

Together, ITB and Unpad are in a commitment to improve their students’ quality. Both universities, with their own characteristics, are hoped to be able to give schemes in term to fulfill students’ needs to expand their knowledge.

Translator: Tamara Maharani Alamsyah (Seni Rupa 2020)