At the end of August, Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (UMY) won another achievement through the Ranking of Higher Education Student Affairs at SIMKATMAWA (Management Information System for Student Rankings) in 2020, where UMY was ranked 14th with a score of 46.99. The ranking which is held annually by the Directorate General of Higher Education, Ministry of Education and Culture (Dirjen Dikti Kemendikbud) is a ranking that is still connected to university rankings.

The components that are assessed in this ranking are all student activities such as competitions, seminars, summer schools, and student exchanges in one year which are all calculated and then given a score. The activities themselves are divided into two forms, namely activities organized by the Ministry of Education and Culture and those held outside the Ministry of Education and Culture, such as by universities or by organizations both in academic and non-academic matters. This ranking is national in nature and is followed by all universities under the Ministry of Education and Culture.

Regarding the increase in UMY’s ranking at SIMKATMAWA, Faris Al-Adhat, Ph.D., head of the UMY Student and Alumni Development Institute (LPKA) revealed that one of the important things to encourage this rise in ranking was encouraging students to always be active in carrying out student activities. “The university always motivates students by providing facilities in the form of education and intensive assistance during or after participating in activities. In addition, data collection on activities carried out by students is maximized by forming a special team for SIMKATMAWA,” he added when interviewed by the Office of Human Relations, Saturday (29/08).

In addition, according to Faris, the students are the key to this ranking. “Students have a big role to play. If you want to be grateful, the ones who you must thank first are students with their achievements and activeness in activities,” he added. Faris added that this ranking was not a goal but an impact of what students and universities had done, it could even be said to be a motivation for the university to continue to improve its services in order to encourage students to continue being active and get more achievements. (ays)