The Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology has already given autonomy to universities to become more innovative and agile institutions. Yet, universities remain constrained by the capabilities and internal limitations to grow.
It was said by Deputy Academic Dean of the SBM ITB, Prof. Dr.Aurik Gustomo ST, MT, at TVRI Jabar Live Stream Talk Show with the theme “Independence & Autonomy Towards a World Class University,” on Wednesday, (15/12/2021). The event was also attended by the Dean of the International Undergraduate Program for the Binus Business School Ahmad Syamil Ph.D. and the Deputy Dean for Research, Community Service, Cooperation, and Alumni of the Faculty of Business Economics (FEB) Gajah Mada University, Gumilang Aryo Sahadewo, SE, MA, Ph.D.
Aurik believed that universities have internal limitations or obstacles that can hinder the units within them to grow. This issue is due to limited internal resources, while external resources are numerous.
“If we think about growing our university; growing here means breaking away from the confines of limited resources. There are lots of resources out there, and that’s why we invite all of the stakeholders to collaborate,” Aurik added. Aurik gave an example, types cooperation that can be done with external parties, such as conducting joint research, double degree, and inviting practitioners to teach.
Ahmad Syamil from Binus University agreed on the importance of independence for higher education. With its private status, Binus achieved AACSB accreditation and is one of the best universities in Indonesia.
“Our approach is on the one hand as academics and on the other hand, thinking like business people. This is because we believe that classroom education is inadequate,” said Syamil. External support and flexibility makes Binus more agile and innovative.
However, many universities are currently still struggling to achieve independence. Barriers can be the regulations from the central government or the university level itself, as stated by Gumilang.
“Innovation certainly requires large resources, in addition, these resources have constraints, such as regulations from the central government and university level,” said Gumilang.
Gumilang emphasized the importance for universities or units within them to be independent so that they are more outcome-driven with their flexibility.
Research from Reichert & Tauch also revealed that autonomy could encourage universities to be better. However, independence should not only be at the tertiary level, but also at the level of faculties, study programs, and lecturers.