Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin’s Partnership with Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia and the Plans for Future Collaborations

Bandung, UPI      

Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia (UPI) established initial partnerships Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA) commemorated on Tuesday, 26 November 2024, in the Meeting Room of the Faculty of Social Science Education. Prof. Suhendra, Ph.D., Head of Public Relations Office, UPI, and Prof. Madya Dr. Rahimah binti Embong, Deputy Dean for Research and Development, Faculty of Contemporary Islamic Studies, UniSZA share mutual understanding and commitment to welcome and plan several possible future collaborations including student mobility program and other possible collaborations.

“We have hopes for the opportunities we may have. We hope it will go well as planned and as soon as possible,” stated Prof. Syafi’i, Director of Talent Management and Training Center, UniSZA. Several potential collaborations, such as student exchange, joint publications, webinars, and leadership courses, were proposed during the meeting. The proposal received positive responses from the Islamic Education Study Program representatives and the Directorate of International Affairs.

According to the vice dean of the Faculty of Social Science Education, Prof. Dr. Mamat Ruhimat, M.Pd., the initial meeting will allow the Islamic Education Study Program to strengthen its internationalization. Aligned with that, Prof. Dr. Mamat proudly stated that it was an excellent opportunity to collaborate and that UPI is looking forward to having an exchange or joint research with UniSZA in the future.

In the discussion session, Arif Hidayat, M.Ed, Ph.D. Ed., as representative of the Directorate of International Affairs, added more contexts to the previously proposed plans by UniSZA. He stated that the proposed plans greatly benefit students and lecturers from both institutions and can be implemented as planned.  Both institutions have also agreed on the programs, with added notes that some may have to be done online or in a hybrid fashion, considering the policies of both universities.

After the initial meeting, a collaborative teaching agenda was assigned to conclude the whole agenda. Lecturers from UniSZA gave lectures to students of the Islamic Religious Education department on the topics of Educational Verses in the Qur’an, Material Analysis in Islamic Education, and Law Verses analysis in the Qur’an. These agendas are expected to mark this step as a starting point for collaboration between both institutions.  Najla Syifa