(Doc. Marketing Communications UMN)

TANGERANG – Representatives of the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Leo Mian Liu (Pro-Vice-Chancellor), and Siska Yaputra (Country Coordinator for Indonesia) visited Multimedia Nusantara University (UMN) at the UMN campus on Monday (26/05/23). 

Liu and Siska’s visit was welcomed by UMN representatives, namely Prof. Dr. Muliawati G. Siswanto, M.Eng.Sc. (Vice-Chancellor for Relations and Cooperation) and Boby Arinto, S.E., M.M. (Global Office Manager). 

This is not UMN’s first meeting with UTS. In fact, UTS is one of UMN’s oldest and longest-running partners. Previously, UMN welcomed 20 students from the Offshore Learning Center of UTS in September 2021. The 20 UTS students temporarily studied at UMN as they couldn’t leave for Australia due to the pandemic.

(Doc. Marketing Communications UMN)

UMN since then has kept a good relationship with UTS, and with this newest meeting, UMN and UTS discussed possible new collaborations between the two campuses.

UMN, led by Boby, started the discussion by presenting past projects of UMN students with other Australian universities. One interesting project shared by Boby was the Internet of Things project between UMN and the Swinburne University of Technology (SUT). The students created an application for farmers around Tigaraksa that can detect whether the land needs to be watered.

“So, the farmers will wait for a notification from the application on their phones. If there’s a notification, then it is time to water the farm,” Boby said.

The students also visited Kompas TV, as UMN is a part of the Kompas Gramedia Group. Students were shown how Kompas Journalists work by visiting the TV station, control room, and printing station.

The projects were with an Australian program which is the New Colombo Plan (NCP). According to the Australian Embassy to Indonesia’s website, The NCP is a signature initiative of the Australian Government offering Australian undergraduates prestigious scholarships and grants for the opportunity to live, study and undertake internships/mentorships in the Indo-Pacific region. UMN hopes to be able to conduct new projects, this time with UTS with the NCP.

Liu responded positively regarding the NCP. “I think (next) the topic on media transition can be done because of UMN’s media background (affiliation with Kompas Group),” Liu said. It would be interesting for Australian students to learn how Kompas transitioned from print media to what they are today.

(Doc. Marketing Communications UMN)

UTS also proposed a collaboration idea which Liu called the “3+2 model,” where UMN undergraduate students can take and finish their Master’s degree quicker with UTS. UTS has conducted this program with several of their partner universities from China. Liu then explained how the program works.

If UMN decides to go through with the program, UMN students will take their undergraduate (bachelor) program at UMN for 3 years and finish their undergraduate program while simultaneously starting their Master’s degree at UTS Australia for the 4th year. 

This way, students can save time as much as one year of getting their Master’s degree as they will be starting their Master’s program while completing their 4th year of their bachelor’s program.

“What we usually do is work only with the top-tier universities in China. Also, here (in Indonesia), we only want to work with the top-tier universities as that’s how we can guarantee students’ three-year study matches the entry point to our master’s program,” Liu said. This shows UTS’ trust in UMN’s bachelor’s program quality.

(Doc. Marketing Communications UMN)

UMN has never previously done a program like that before. Muliawati showed her interest in the program and wished to know more about it through an official proposal.

Boby also added that UMN students are considering taking their master’s degree. “Students regularly come to my office and ask for the recommendation letter where they want to study abroad, and it’s quite many. Seeing the interest of students (to take their master’s degree), that’s why we opened our own master’s program for the Business and Communications Faculty,” Boby said.

Further communication and meeting will be conducted to discuss and possibly realize the ideas shared in this meeting. We hope to see the ideas come to life!

By Levina Chrestella Theodora

English translation by Levina Chrestella Theodora

Kuliah di Jakarta untuk jurusan program studi Informatika| Sistem Informasi | Teknik Komputer | Teknik Elektro | Teknik Fisika | Akuntansi | Manajemen| Komunikasi Strategis | Jurnalistik | Desain Komunikasi Visual | Film dan Animasi | Arsitektur | D3 Perhotelan , di Universitas Multimedia Nusantara. www.umn.ac.id