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Cikarang. Sunday (17/10), President University (PresUniv) held 16th graduation. This is the second online graduation held by PresUniv. The graduation procession was led directly by the Rector of PresUniv, Prof. Dr. Jony Oktavian Haryanto, while still implementing strict health protocols. This graduation was attended by the rectorate, professors, deans, heads of study programs, Leaders and Staff of the President University Foundation, and all staff and lecturers of PresUniv.
This year's graduation theme is "Enhancing Young Professionals' Resilience in Addressing Challenges during the Global Pandemic." The theme was chosen considering the various challenges during the Covid-29 pandemic, and PresUniv has made various efforts to prepare its students to remain competitive in the world of work and the business world. For this time, almost 1,000 Bachelors (S-1) and Postgraduates (S-2) graduated. There were 138 Cum Laude achievers this year: 97 Cum Laude, 37 Magna Cum Laude, and 4 Summa Cum Laude. This graduation also coincides with PresUniv's 20th year or two decades of age.
Innovation, Adaptation, and Collaboration
In his remarks, Jony Haryanto reminded that the modern world is currently moving forward, and the competition is getting tougher. The competition does involve not only fellow humans but also machines or robots. He advised, “Therefore, all graduates are required to continue to be creative, continue to innovate and never stop improving their skills, work more diligently and be more dedicated. Only in such a way can the position of humans become irreplaceable by machines and robots.”
This graduation was also attended virtually by the Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno, and the Governor of West Java Ridwan Kamil. In his remarks and messages to all graduates, Sandiaga Uno emphasized that the tourism and creative economy sectors are expected to be the engine of the national economic recovery. "In order to make this happen, there are three key strategies that need to be implemented, namely innovation, adaptation, and collaboration," said Sandiaga. To all PresUniv graduates, Sandiaga Uno also advised, “Do not hesitate to advance the tourism industry and the creative economy. Because this sector is very strategic and very important and can open up the widest possible job opportunities.” In fact, according to Sandiaga, now many developed countries are making the tourism sector and the creative economy as the main pillars of their economy.
Meanwhile, Governor Ridwan Kamil emphasized that to become a generation that can withstand various challenges, the key is that all graduates need to be responsive and adaptive. He said, “If you want to be a winner in the future, graduates must be able to respond, master, and adapt quickly to Disruption 4.0. Only in this way will you be able to realize Indonesia's 2045 vision, which is to become the country with the 4th largest economy in the world."
Located in the middle of the largest industrial area in Southeast Asia, namely the Jababeka industrial area, developed by national entrepreneur Setyono Djuandi Darmono and several of his colleagues, it creates conducive conditions for all PresUniv students to become innovative, responsive, and adaptive figures. Jony explained that the Jababeka industrial area is home to more than 1,750 national and multinational companies. “We are cooperating with these companies. This collaboration allows our students and even our lecturers to conduct research and internships in these companies,” said Jony.
Cooperation with companies continued Jony, also opens up opportunities for PresUniv graduates to work there. As an illustration, around 90% of PresUniv graduates are accepted for work within six months after they graduate. Not even a few PresUniv students are accepted for work before they graduate from university. “For a long time, PresUniv has implemented a mandatory internship policy. Internships are part of the lecture activities. Because of this policy, many of our students, when they finish their internship program, are immediately offered to work for the company where they are doing the internship,” said Jony. He continued that this picture shows that the business and industrial worlds can well receive PresUniv graduates.
The rest, as many as 10% of PresUniv graduates, choose to build their own business by establishing a startup or continuing their family business. Furthermore, some others choose to continue their studies to a higher level.
Three Schematics
Along with implementing the 2020 Curriculum, PresUniv sets three career paths that students can choose: careers as professional executives, entrepreneurs, and academics/researchers. Those who want a career as professionals will take internship programs at companies in the Jababeka industrial area and its surroundings.
Meanwhile, students who want to start their own business or continue their family business can choose to join PresUniv's business incubator, namely SetSail BizAccel. PresUniv business incubator will educate students to find a business idea, make a plan and execute it until it becomes a business. At SetSail BizAccel, students will be guided by both lecturers and business practitioners and met with investors.
Students who want to continue their studies can continue their education by studying domestically or abroad through various student exchange programs and other schemes. For example, in 2021, five PresUniv students received student exchange scholarships to prestigious universities in the world through the Indonesian International Student Mobility Awards (IISMA) program from the Directorate General of Higher Education, Ministry of Education and Culture, Research and Technology. One of them is the 20th best university globally, namely the University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom. Meanwhile, students who are interested in becoming academics/researchers can do internships at research institutions or become assistant professors.
To support students' readiness in facing the Industry 4.0 era, PresUniv collaborated with PT Jababeka Infrastruktur, a subsidiary of the Jababeka Group, to establish a Fabrication Laboratory (FabLab). This laboratory has two functions. First, improving PresUniv students with various skills and innovations that are relevant to the needs of Industry 4.0. Second, helping companies around the Jababeka industrial area who want to migrate to Industry 4.0.
