The First UPI Awards of Honour for International Faculty

Bandung, UPI

On Friday, 4th December 2020, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia held the first UPI Award of Honour ceremony at Partere Building for four Bandung-based faculty members and virtually via Zoom meeting for another four overseas. The UPI Award of Honour is an initiative by Directorate of International Affairs (DIA) to extend the university appreciation for the support and assistance from these international faculty members teaching at various departments, schools, and regional campuses of the university. The role of international faculty is very important in improving the quality of teaching and learning process as well as increasing the university’s international recognition.

“It is a great honour that DIA is able to invite these award recipients who have been determinedly working with UPI for several years,” said Ahmad Bukhori Muslim, Ph.D, the director for DIA in his welcoming speech. The first four recipients are Prof. Shin Young Duk, Ph.D., Ms. Lee Jeoun Soon, B.A., M.H.E., Mr. Lee Taegun, Ph.D., and Ms. Heo Kumju, Ph.D. all of whom teach at Department of Korean Language Education. The other four recipients are Dr. Mary Margareth Thomas from Canada who teaches at International Program of Science Education (IPSE), Ms. Son Yea Ran, M.A. from South Korea who taught at Dance Education Department, Prof. Kanemoto Setsuke from Japan who taught at Japanese Language Education, Graduate School, and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Abdulkareem Sh. Mahdi Al-Obaidi from Taylor University, Malaysia. Complying with health protocol, Prof. Shin, Ms. Lee, Dr. Thomas, and Prof. Kanemoto were able to be present at Partere Building. Meanwhile, although Mr. Lee, Ms. Heo, Ms. Son, and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Al-Obaidi have already returned to their respective countries, they eagerly joined the event virtually. The award was presented symbolically to Dr. Margi Thomas, as she would prefer to be called, representing the four awardees at Partere, and to Dr. Al-Obaidi as the representative of awardees in the virtual meeting room. Both Margi and Dr. Al-Obaidi voiced their surprise and delight to receive this award. On behalf of the recipients, they stated how they had enjoyed their time in UPI.   

On this occasion, UPI were represented by the Vice Rector of Education and Student Affairs, Prof. Dr. Didi Sukyadi, M.A. and the Vice Rector for Planning, Development, and Information System, Prof. Dr. Bunyamin Maftuh, M.Pd., M.A. Prof Didi Sukyadi expressed his warmest congratulations and appreciation for the enthusiasm and dedication that the awardees have shown during the time they were with UPI. Each one of them has contributed to UPI’s achievement in internationalization, both for the teaching learning process and for the publication. In addition, Prof. Bunyamin Maftuh also wished to continue the collaboration with the eight international faculty members for mutual benefits.

This UPI Award of Honour will be presented annually as part of the university campaign to improve its international ranking. The Directorate will actively work to participate in increasing the number of international faculty and their roles in supporting internationalization at Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia. (Nia Nafisah/n_nafisah@upi.edu)