Rector of Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (UMY) Dr. Gunawan Budiyanto inaugurated Director of Three-year Program of UMY Dr. Bambang Jatmiko, S.E., M.Si., substituting Dr. Sukamta, S.T., M.T., IPM who is not Vice Rector I of UMY. The new director is expected to enhance the quality of the program consisting of Department of Automotive and Manufacture Mechanical Engineering, Department of Accounting, and Department of Electromedical Engineering.
In his remark, Dr. Gunawan Budiyanto talked about how Muhammadiyah has developed and brought good changes for people. “Muhammadiyah is now establishing Universitas Muhammadiyah Maluku in Ambon and UMY is assisting the establishment of Universitas Muhammadiyah Sorong. We also require Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta (UMS) to help the construction of Universitas Muhammadiyah in Kalimantan Timur, and Universitas Muhammadiyah Prof. Dr. Hamka (UHAMKA) Jakarta to assist Universitass Muhamamdiyah Bandung. Students should be aware that their duty is not only studying but also bringing benefits to other people,” he stated.
Gunawan told, “Muhammadiyah helped the establishment of Universitas Muhamamdiyah Kupang that 87 percent of the students are non-Muslims and 72 percent of students at a Muhammadiyah university in Papua are non-Muslims. Indeed, Muhammadiyah has never declared in public that the movement is the most tolerant movement in this nation. This shows a Muhammdiyah principle that we have to ‘live Muhammadiyah and do not look for a living in Muhammadiyah.”
Gunawan thought that the idea should be applied at the three-year program of UMY. “I have told that all departments of UMY may not be accredited ‘C’ so that the program should attempt to gain better accreditation and I wish the accreditation visit will be in July. Track records of Dr. Bambang Jatmiko will be beneficial for the program. Everything has to be done step by step, and I hope that the program quality is the same as other departments,” he expected.
Meanwhile, Dr. Bambang Jatmiko said that he will try to actualize the rector’s expectation. “This is a hard struggle for me, and I invite all parties of the program to work together. We are responsible for our students. I wish that our students have not only a degree certificate but also certified acknowledgment of their capabilities. We also have to be aware that the three-year program is different from other programs so that the lecturers are expected to create competence curriculum enabling our students to work,” he declared.
Dr. Bambang informed that Rector of UMY also expected to establish Department of Logistic Management and D4 for the three-year program. “The establishment of an airport in Kulonprogo will need people with logistic management capabilities. I wish that UMY could provide a new program, namely Department of Logistic Management, and applied masters and doctoral programs since these programs are needed by Indonesia,” he ended.