In line with the vision of the Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) to be a world-class research university, the Faculty of Agricultural Technology aimed to be an international center of excellence in the agroindustry sector by 2012.
This was revealed by Dr. Ir. Djagal W. Marseno, dean of the Faculty during his annual report, as part of the 48th Anniversary celebration of the Faculty on 19 September 2011. Dr. Marseno furthered that the vision can be realized through the missions of academic development trilogy of building a healthy organization, professionalism, and international cooperation.
"The Faculty of Agricultural Technology is currently working to strengthen the cooperation and the internationalization of the Faculty toward becoming a center of excellence in the field of agroindustry," Marseno said.
Within the past year, the Faculty of Agricultural Technology established a number of cooperations, both nationally and internationally. One of those is with Ehime University which has been going on for three years. The cooperation is in the form of student exchange, research, and the initial opening of joint degree program for graduate programs. Assessment of joint degree program opportunity is also conducted with Kasetsart University. "Two ministries of agriculture, from Namibia and Timor Leste, had visited Faculty of Agricultural Technology to explore the possibility of cooperation in the field of irrigation and management. In 2011 there are 86 institutions that establish cooperation with us," he added.
Along with the increased networks and collaborators, there was also an increase in the number of new students who enrolled in academic year 2011/2012. As of date, the Faculty of Agricultural Technology has 83 civil servant lecturers and 14 honorary ones, 15 of whom are professors, 52 are doctors and 30 masters.
Field researches also increased in the year, from 86 titles (2010) to 95 titles (2011) or up approximately 10.5 percent despite a decline in research funding. The increase is also complemented by a slight increase in the number of scientific publications in the form of journals, posters, national and international seminars.
"These numbers are relatively small compared with the number of researches and faculties. Therefore, the number of publications should be increased given the publication is one of the criteria assessed in the lecturer's work load," Marseno said.
Source: UGM News | 22 September 2011
