The Office of Partnerships and Public Relations of Universitas Kristen Duta Wacana Yogyakarta (Biro IV UKDW) in collaboration with Biro Kerjasama dan Hubungan Internasional of Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana Salatiga (BKHI UKSW) conducted a webinar called “Building Collaboration with SES, Germany” on Wednesday, April 7, 2021. The speaker invited in this webinar was Adam Pamma who serves as a country representative of Senior Experten Service (SES) Germany.
Rev. Handi Hadiwitanto, Ph.D., Vice-Rector for Human Resources Capacity Building and Partnerships of UKDW, said in his opening remarks, that this activity is expected to be a means for UKDW and UKSW to explore some possibilities for partnerships. “We will see what possibilities of cooperation we can do with SES, both in management things as well as in academic-related stuff. This is important because cooperation is an essential part of higher education performance,” he said.
Joseph Ernest Mambu, S.Pd., M.A., Ph.D., Vice-Rector for Institutional Cooperation and Internationalization of UKSW, in his remarks also reminded that the academic community needs to embody the meaning of the Merdeka Belajar Kampus Merdeka program in every activity. “To be able to make a breakthrough and carry out programs to support Kampus Merdeka, networking is needed, and international cooperations become an essential part of it. The existing cooperation needs to be improved, and it is also necessary to initiate new collaborations. Hopefully, this activity can help us to collaborate with 100 QS Universities and companies or NGOs in Germany. The spirit that we must guard is that we don’t want to be confined and we must protect our culture while opening ourselves up to learn about other cultures,” he said.
Starting his presentation, Adam Pamma, introduced SES as one of the institutions in Germany that implement Germany’s international cooperation policy. Initially, this institution was established for German experts and executives who have entered retirement age to share their knowledge and experiences by providing training to young workers or fresh graduates. In the development, the German government saw that this program has potential as an instrument in cooperation with partner countries. “Currently there are around 13,000 experts with various educational backgrounds such as professors, senior researchers, industry practitioners, vocational education trainers, and medic who want to share their knowledge and experiences with other countries so that the world will be better,” he added.
Adam said that the procedure to request German expert assistance through SES is quite simple. An institution can apply by sending the request form or proposal to SES. When filling out the request form, the institution should clearly state the goal they want to achieve, the criteria of the expert they need, and the expert’s tasks. SES then will verify the request and if everything is OK, SES will find a matching expert in its database and send the expert’s CV to be reviewed by the requesting institution. If approved, a contract and an official invitation will be processed. The invitation letter is needed for visa application. When everything is completed, the expert will be assigned to the requesting institution and do the assignment according to the contract. By the end of the assignment, there will be an evaluation. It is also possible to have a follow-up program, especially if the previous cooperation went well.
So far, SES has sent experts to several educational institutions in Indonesia such as Universitas Islam Negeri (UIN) Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta, UIN Raden Fatah Palembang, Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) Yogyakarta, Universitas Pembangunan Nasional (UPN) Yogyakarta, etc. Adam highlighted that the purpose of sending SES experts is for strengthening the institution, not to directly teach the students. “They are allowed to give 1-2 times public lectures, seminars, or workshops, but the main task is not to teach students. Because we want something sustainable, it shouldn’t stop at one level,” Adam said.
During the question and answer session, Adam emphasized that any institution can submit applications for expert assistance to SES. “Not only state universities, SES has collaborated with private universities, polytechnics, companies, and also schools,” he pointed out. Adam also said that it is possible to invite an expert you already acquaintance with. “For example, you already know a professor whose expertise is matching the needs of your institution. As long as the professor is willing to register as a member of SES, you can submit a request to SES for the professor’s assignment in your institution. This will shorten the time,” he said.
In this webinar, Adam also briefly talked about The Foundation for International Business Administration Accreditation (FIBAA). He pointed out that Indonesia’s higher education institutions need to get international accreditation. “Institutions can apply for assistance through SES in advance for this international accreditation. FIBAA also has a consulting program and workshops prior to accreditation. We need around 6 months from the time the assessment is completed to get the accreditation report. With international accreditation, it will be easier for higher education institutions to gain recognition from international partners to carry out collaborative programs,” he said
At the end of this webinar, Adam also said that if UKDW and UKSW would like to further explore opportunities with partners in Germany, specifically in the medical or nursing area, he will be glad to have another webinar. [ai]