UNAIR NEWS – Scientific construction introduced by Prof. Soetandyo Wignjosoebroto, the founder of Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIP UNAIR), namely ‘Saling Menyapa’, has been the one value that the faculty never cease to uphold.
Hence, it is no wonder that the faculty, who is predominantly known as ‘Kampus Oranye’ ever since its establishment back in 1977, become the pioneer in implementing cross-study-programme courses for its students. Later, this notion is conveniently aligned with the Merdeka Belajar programme initiated by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology (Kemendikbudristek).
The Dean of FISIP UNAIR, Prof. Bagong Suyanto, explained, “This programme was intended for students from different majors to interact with each other, so that their insights are not confined to a single discipline.”
“This program aims to enable students to greet each other between disciplines. "So that they are not confined to just one scientific discipline," he explained.
With the redesigning of the curricula that the department has to complete following the implementation of Merdeka Belajar Kampus Merdeka (MBKM) programme, such a notion is no longer exclusive to FISIP UNAIR, as it has been extended to faculty-level, so that students from one faculty can participate in courses from the other faculties at UNAIR.
Apart from that, FISIP UNAIR has been actively diversifying its courses, introducing new courses every once in a while depending on the demands of society. “For example, our Department of Sociology has introduced courses on Digital Sociology and Communication Sociology. A lot of new courses have been introduced, the breeds of the cross-discipline courses designed across faculties,” the Dean remarked.
FISIP UNAIR has also recently established Centre of Students’ Talent Development (Pusat Pengembangan Talenta Mahasiswa) to facilitate students with additional competencies, so that they can be provided with supervisions to join various research projects, competitions, student exchange, as well as other relevant activities.
Kampus Oranye is currently preparing to launch a new policy which entail the removal of thesis writing in lieu of winning a competition, certified internship, or community service project. “Next semester, FISIP UNAIR’s best students with extensive experience and outstanding academic track record can propose for credit conversion of their activities, or even the removal of thesis writing as their graduation precondition,” Prof. Suyanto revealed.
FISIP UNAIR’s profound commitment to the MBKM and Merdeka Belajar programmes successfully gave rise to a wider range of opportunities for its students to learn off-campus or be dispatched abroad. Around 17 students of FISIP UNAIR have been enrolled for Indonesian International Student Mobility Awards (IISMA), marking the highest number of participants coming from one faculty.
Such success prompted Prof. Suyanto to promote the programme further, saying, “The essence of MBKM runs on the same vein that FISIP UNAIR does, positioning our students as the subject of learning itself, giving them a role that allows them to boundlessly expand their own knowledge.”
Author: Intang Arifia
Editor: Binti Q. Masruroh
