Exploring Collaboration, UT Rector and Delegation Visit British Council and Coventry University, UK

One of the benchmarks of success for a higher education institution in providing optimal services to students and stakeholders is through establishing collaborations with various parties. This has also become one of the key performance indicators (KPI) set by the Ministry of Finance in recent years. Therefore, Universitas Terbuka (UT), as part of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, needs to enhance its cooperation with institutions, both domestic and international, in academic and non-academic fields.

As one of the mega universities with over 439,000 students, both domestically and internationally, UT is keen on optimizing its international collaborations. On this occasion, the United Kingdom (UK) is the main destination of the UT delegation's official overseas trip. The delegation, led by UT Rector, Prof. Ojat Darojat, M.Bus., Ph.D., organized the visit in collaboration with the British Council (BC), the official education agency in the UK.

During the overseas official trip held from May 22-26, 2023, the Rector was accompanied by Vice Rector for Academic Affairs, Dr. Mohamad Yunus, M.A., and the leadership team of the Indonesia Cyber Education Institute (ICE Institute), including one of its founders, Prof. Paulina Pannen. Prof. Tjitjik Sri Tjahjandarie, Ph.D., the Secretary of the Directorate General of Higher Education (SesDirJen Dikti) at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, who is also a member of UT's Board of Trustees (MWA), was also present during the visit.

The delegation's visit to the UK began with a meeting at the British Council Headquarters located at 1 Redman Pl, London E20 1JQ, on May 22, 2023. The participants attended presentations by two representatives from the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) Global, the official agency for quality assurance in education in the UK. During the meeting, the Indonesian delegation gained insights into the quality assurance processes conducted for online learning in higher education institutions, applying agreed-upon quality standards with QAA members, most of whom are prestigious universities throughout the UK. On the other hand, UT Rector shared his experiences in the quality assurance process for distance learning institutions with a significant number of students.

On the same day, the delegation had the opportunity to visit Coventry University, located in central London. Coventry University is known as one of the universities with a wide reach, providing learning services in Asian regions such as Singapore and China. The initial meeting between ICE Institute and Coventry University was highly productive, as both sides presented their online course programs and agreed to follow up with more intensive collaboration in the near future.

This activity marks a promising start for the UT delegation to continue their visits to several other institutions. It is evident from the agreement reached by both parties to hold further meetings to discuss more intensive collaboration efforts. Congratulations to UT and ICE Institute!