Exploring potential collaborations in Jakarta
On Monday, President McRobbie and Vice President David Zaret visited the University of Indonesia and the State University of Jakarta to learn more about each institution and explore potential areas for collaboration.
University of Indonesia
Founded in 1849, University of Indonesia (UI) has evolved into a modern, comprehensive university with a strong emphasis on research. UI is considered to be among the top universities in Indonesia. In recent years, the university has expanded ties with a number of international universities, including Washington University, Tokyo University, Melbourne University, Sydney University, Erasmus University, Kyoto University, Leiden University, Peking University, Tsinghua University, Australian National University, and the National University of Singapore.
President McRobbie with Sunardji
The IU delegation was welcomed at UI by Junaidi, Head of the International Office, and Sunardji, the Vice Rector of Research, Development and Industrial Cooperation. Several program chairs — representing nursing, social and political sciences, humanities, and computer science — also joined the meeting to share the interests of their particular faculty. Some contact has already occurred between faculty at IU and UI to identify and discuss more specific areas for potential collaboration, and both parties anticipate these conversations will continue positively moving forward.
Jakarta State University
IU has an established connection with Jakarta State University by way of the U.S./Indonesia Teacher Education Consortium (USINTEC), a binational higher education consortium comprised of 16 member institutions that was established in 2006. IU is one of the participating U.S. universities. The goal of USINTEC is “to bring together the individual and collective strengths and resources of its member institutions with public and private sector alliance members committed to Indonesian education and teacher quality, broadly conceived.”
The afternoon meeting at Jakarta State University was led by Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Zainal Rafli along with approximately 20 faculty members representing various departments and programs within the university. After his welcome remarks, Prof. Rafli invited President McRobbie to provide brief remarks about the purpose of IU’s visit. Following this, Dr. Muchlas Suseno, Head of International Relations, gave the delegation a broad overview of the university. To end the visit, President McRobbie fielded questions from attendees, with much of the focus on matters related to USINTEC and potential ways to address ongoing challenges of English language preparation.
President McRobbie answers attendees' questions at Jakarta State University
