Yogyakarta, 6th of June 2024─In order to maximize students’ interests, talents, and learning quality, the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences of UGM always tries to improve the student facilities through the Dean Hearing. This routine hearing, which directly involves the students, is going to be held again on Thursday afternoon (6/6) at Fisipol’s Selasar Barat.The dialogues between the students and the faculty this time around consisted of four main topics, which includes the provision of matrix funds, access to borrow rooms and its permits, a storage building, and a secretariat room. Wawan Mas’udi, S.IP., M.P.A., Ph.D., directly attends the hearing as the Dean of Fisipol with Dr. Nurhadi Susanto, SH, M.Hum. as Vice Dean of Finance, Asset, and Human Resources Affairs, Ika Wulandari Widyaningrum, M.B.A as Coordinator of Academics and Student Affairs, dan Paminto Adhi, S.E., M.Si. as Head of the Administration Office.
The first issue includes the provision of matrix funds by the faculty, which the students find to be lacking in numbers. The various student associations (HMD) and activity units (UMKF) in the faculty all have different proportions in the use of matrix funds. “Last year, there were some who used only 10 percent of the budget. The rest of the budget cannot be allocated to the other units. Secondly, other than the student associations in the department, there are some student activity units in the faculty who use less than five percent of the budget.” Wawan said. According to the financial report, some of the applications for the matrix funds still have low usage. As the rest of the funds cannot be allocated to other units who might need it, it is viewed to be less efficient.
Representatives from both the HMD and the UKMF have agreed on a discussion again, on the use of the matrix funds for student activities. The other issue also came from the administration process for the funds. Ika Wulandari, as head of the Coordinator of Academics and Student Affairs, mentioned that there are a few reasons as to why the administration process can take a long time. “The notification is indeed turned off, so that students can come to the Student Affairs office themselves. Students can schedule once a week, because the matrix fund is not the only thing that needs verification.
Next, the students have also complained about the lack of proper facilities and amenities in Fisipol UGM. Some of the complaints include the slow internet connections, the less fulfilling service of Digilib Fisipol due to the limited time, and the lack of power outlets in classrooms. In responding to these issues, Nurhadi, as the Vice Dean of Finance, mentioned that the improvement of these facilities and amenities will be done in an orderly manner. Right now, Fisipol UGM is trying to change the classroom desks to make the classroom environment more comfortable.
“All of our efforts are done in an orderly manner. For the case of Digilib, it will depend on the amount of people utilizing it. If students want Digilib to be open at 9 in the morning, it is impermissible from the university themselves. Though, we will try to push this if more people were to utilize Digilib. Digilib will be open from 9 AM but no one is coming, as it is related to the availability of human resources.” Nurhadi told the students.
Nurhadi continued to state that the conditions of the classroom right now will be improved in an orderly manner. The procurement of power outlets is currently the main focus, but Nurhadi has also said that the students would need to be prepared beforehand, so that the students won’t rely too much on the availability of these power outlets.”As the procurement of power outlets are considered to be urgent, we have to work together in conditioning the classroom,” Nurhadi added.
The agenda of a Dean Hearing is routinely done with Fisipol UGM’s Student Council Team. Other than for improving the facilities and service fit for learning, this hearing is also part of the faculty’s commitment to establish good relations among the civitas academica. It is hoped that the Dean Hearing agenda will always be a forum for discussion by the faculty, so that they can provide the best possible learning facilities for its students. This aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals provided by the UN, specifically SDG 4 Quality Education.