National Accreditation Agency for Higher Education (BAN-PT) granted Department of Agribusiness of Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (UMY) ‘A’ accreditation. The decree No. 3031/SK/BAN-PT/Akred/S/XII/2016 was officially announced in December 2016.
In an interview on Saturday (6/1), the department head, Ir. Eni Istiyanti, M.P. informed, “In 2013, the department achieved ‘B’ accreditation. In order to maintain Institution Accreditation (AIPT) which is ‘A’, the university parties encouraged the department to foster the accreditation. Although the previous accreditation is issued for five years, the department had proposed re-accreditation in the three following years. The visitation was in September, and Alhamdulillah the department achieved ‘A’.”
Preparing the re-accreditation, the department parties participate international events. “For instance, both lecturers and students joined international conferences. The international events showed that this department possesses international competitiveness, and affected accreditation score,” he inserted.
Obtaining the ‘A’ accreditation, Eni asserted that there are several aspects to improve at the department. “First, the quality of the lecturers should be enhanced. Many lecturers have not had functional positions yet which can be gained by carrying out research. Thus, they are encouraged to conduct research and publish it on journals. Second, students are motivated to accomplish their study on time. In this case, the students take control on themselves, but the lecturers also have roles in motivating them. To maintain the ration, the number of freshmen should not be greater than the number of graduates,” she mentioned.
She expected that all the academician of the department can work harder so that they truly deserve the accreditation. “This is not the end, but this is the beginning of our struggle to maintain the ‘A’ accreditation. The academicians should also reflect the Four Principles of Higher Education (Catur Dharma Perguruan Tinggi) so that we have to always endeavor,” she emphasized.
