National School of Economy ( Stienas ) Samarinda held a visit to the University of Widya Kartika (UWIKA). Led by STIENAS’s Chairman Prof. Dr. Tedja Susadya, S.E., M.M., they intended to exchange experiences and knowledge related to the management of both campuses. The delegation was welcomed by the official leaders of UWIKA’s Faculty of Economics. The meeting, held on Thursday, November 21, 2013, was done comfortably.
UWIKA’s Rector, Dr. Josua Murpin Sembiring, S.E., M.Si., welcomed the visit. “Hopefully, from this meeting, we can gain benefits for both parties. If it is possible, it will be better if it can be realized in from of an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding),” he said during his speech.
It was positively welcomed by STIENAS Samarinda. Prof. Tedja said, in general, the main challenge in facing higher education happened was about competition. Nowadays, there are many new campuses are established. Thus, besides competed among private universities, universities’ holders had to be prepared to compete with public universities. The reason was that some public universities also opened some potential new departments.
Furthermore, the challenge also occurred in maintaining the quality of education. “In our 2018 Vision, we must be able to compete at the national level. So, we feel that it is necessary to share and exchange knowledge with other campuses,” he said.
According to him, in regional scope, STIENAS Samarinda had to compete with 64 universities in East Borneo. More than half of that amount was in Samarinda. It was around 34 campuses. “Hence , we need to explore more knowledge from other campuses, especially in Java. So, we will not only be a home champion. Good only when we are at home. Once when we get out, it turns out that the other sare still better,” he said.
Dra. Eva Johana, Ak., M.Sc., the Dean of the UWIKA’s Economy Faculty responded to the statement. She explained, in a study visit, communication had to be done in both directions. Thus, the advantages of each campus could be obtained by each campus. “So, it was not only the guests who asks, but we will also give more questions,” her joke that made the audience applaud throughout the room.
After each campus’s profile exposure, the event was continued with an informal discussion related to the campus management tips. The conversation was held comfortably. The event was closed by exchanging souvenirs. Then, before leaving UWIKA, the group leaders and their officials took a pose with the UWIKA’s Dean and lecturers.
