Academic Transformation and Innovation in Higher Education
Ahmad Tholabi Kharlie
Regulation of the Minister of Education, Culture, Research and Technology Number 53 of 2023 concerning Quality Assurance in Higher Education has been responded to enthusiastically by the academic community of higher education institutions in Indonesia.
One of the issues that has been most highlighted is the matter of no longer having to write a thesis for undergraduate (S-1) students and the obligation to publish articles in reputable international scientific periodicals as one of the graduation requirements for master's (S-2) students and doctorate (S-3).
Various public comments were posted on social media and mass media regarding this new regulation from the Ministry of Education and Culture. For example, comments from a recently graduated graduate who admitted that he regretted why this rule only appeared after he graduated. However, quite a few also critically questioned this new policy.
The variety of public responses shows the great public attention to the higher education system. At this point, it should be read as a form of citizen involvement and responsibility for the quality of our education.
This new regulation regarding quality assurance of higher education actually regulates two clusters intended to improve the quality of higher education, namely the cluster for improving the quality of college graduates and the cluster for improving the quality of higher education providers. These two things are intertwined which in turn leads to the quality of an educational institution.
Simplification of Bureaucracy
The transformation of the quality assurance system rolled out by the Ministry of Education and Culture, in general, gives a message about simplifying bureaucracy (de-bureaucratization) as well as autonomy for each university in providing higher education. The issue of bureaucratization and autonomy of higher education, from time to time, has often become a scourge and epicenter of higher education governance problems in Indonesia.
The popular adage "if it can be made easier, why make it more difficult?" is an illustration of the spirit of this new rule. The ease and simplification of the scope of higher education quality standardization is clearly visible in this new regulation. More than that, universities have autonomy in the management and administration of education.
As in community service activities, if up to now there have been eight standards that must be met in the implementation of community service, such as standards for results, content, process, assessment, implementation, facilities and infrastructure, management and funding, with the new rules being compressed to just three standards, namely output, process and input standards.
At this point there is a spirit of de-bureaucratization and autonomy of higher education in determining the implementation of community service, including the burden of reporting in the accreditation process for higher education.
Likewise, in the matter of graduation standards, in the new regulations, achieving quality standardization is no longer monolithic, but pluralistic. As in the regulations that have recently been widely criticized by the public regarding graduation standards for bachelor's, master's or doctoral programs, there is no longer a single final assignment obligation in the form of writing a thesis, thesis or dissertation.
The new regulations provide various options, such as prototypes, projects, or other similar forms of final projects, both individually and in groups (Article 18 Paragraph 9 letter a, Article 19 Paragraph 2, and Article 20 Paragraph 3). In other words, a thesis, thesis or dissertation is one of the graduation options, it is no longer the only graduation option as has been the case so far.
Likewise, in terms of learning and assessment process standards, universities have autonomous space to regulate them. In the previous regulations, the learning process was regulated rigidly, such as the distribution of one SKS with details of face-to-face contact for 50 minutes/week, structured assignments for 60 minutes/week, and independent activities for 60 minutes/week.
In the new regulations, one credit is specified as 45 hours/semester without specifying as in the previous regulations, which is replaced with flexibility for universities to divide the time, according to the needs of the university.
On the other hand, regulations regarding accreditation have also undergone quite progressive changes. As with the issue of accreditation, the new regulations mandate greater simplification in matters of accreditation status. Not just that.
In terms of funding for mandatory accreditation for new study programs or universities, both at the National Accreditation Board for Higher Education (BAN-PT) and at the Independent Accreditation Institute (LAM), which was originally the burden of universities, with the new government regulations covering it.
In terms of substance, this arrangement can be read as the government's effort to expand the space for universities to produce innovations that necessitate the need for less space.
Challenges in the Field
However, there are challenges in reality on the ground. The objective conditions of higher education, when viewed in terms of resources, accessibility and capabilities, are relatively diverse.
Such as the distinction between state universities (PTN) and private universities (PTS), universities in the Java Island region and outside Java Island. Including universities under the auspices of the Ministry of Education and Culture and under other ministries or institutions.
The existence of gaps that occur does not actually make the government ignore the real conditions on the ground. Don't let the availability of wide latitude in quality assurance for universities actually give rise to new and wider gaps. Strong universities will become more accelerated and at the same time weak universities will increasingly struggle to overcome their backwardness.
The Future of Higher Education
However, Permendikbudristek No. 53 of 2023 is not a sweeping rule of the universe, with all problems in higher education being able to be resolved. The presence of this regulation is actually very strategic because it regulates the quality of higher education in Indonesia. The black and white of higher education in Indonesia will be greatly influenced by this regulation with various notes as mentioned previously.
Apart from the quality assurance aspect which is correlated with academic administration and/or state administration, the quality of higher education is also related to the activities of the academic community which are intertwined with scientific activities which are recently quite close to advances in information technology.
Intellectual activities which are the core business of higher education are currently summarized through the existence of big data which gives a new face to our world of education. Big data is a forum for photographing the condition of higher education, which includes teaching staff, educational staff, academic administration services, academic achievements, and the academic work of the academic community.
Through digital platforms, academics from all over the world can connect and interact with each other.
On the other hand, the existence of artificial intelligence (AI), which has recently become popular among the academic community, is like a double-edged sword. On the one hand, the presence of AI can have a positive impact in accelerating scientific development, but on the other hand it can also have a negative effect on the process of scientific transformation.
This is one of the serious challenges for education managers today. Issues of copyright (copyright), protection of personal data, including issues of human rights (HAM), also loom large. Therefore, managing AI is necessary to minimize the negative impacts it causes.
Regulation of AI, both in the context of state law and in the context of academic ethics, is urgently needed. This arrangement is solely in order to place advances in information technology in the corridor of civility in the public space.
However, as Wendy Sutherland-Smith mentions in the Handbook of Academic Integrity (2016), digital has given birth to a new construction of authorship of texts. In fact, Tom Nichols (2017) shows astonishing evidence that its presence has also given rise to what is called "the death of expertise".
The presence of AI, therefore, has given rise to complexities regarding copyright issues which are closely correlated with academic integrity. These are among the challenges that must be answered by education actors today. (ZM)
The author is Professor and Vice Rector for Academic Affairs at UIN Syarif Hidayatullah, Jakarta. The article was published in the KOMPAS opinion column, Monday, 11th September 2023.