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It is mandatory to complete the Tri Darma of higher education.That was confirmed by Filda Rahmiati, BBA, MBA, and Ph.D., lecturer in the Management Study Program at President University (Presuniv). Referring to Tri Darma, the task of a lecturer is not only to teach, but also to conduct research and community service.
Speaking of research, Filda has an impressive record. She won 11 research grants from various agencies. Among them are those from the Directorate General of Higher Education (Direktorat Jenderal Pendidikan Tinggi or Ditjen Dikti), Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (Kementerian Pendidikan, Kebudayaan, Riset dan Teknologi or Kemendikbud Ristek).
One of Filda's favorite research topics is tourism. For example, not long ago, Filda and several Presuniv lecturers jointly conducted research and, at the same time, explored the existing tourism potential in Kutuwetan Village at Jetis District in Ponorogo Regency, East Java. Filda chose this location because, according to her, the area has great potential to become a tourist village.
According to Filda, there are actually many villages in Indonesia that have the potential to become tourist villages. Unfortunately, this potential has not been widely recognized and developed by the local community and local government. One of them is Kutu wetan Village, which has the potential to become a tourist village.
Filda's research in Kutuwetan Village is part of the 2021 Higher Education Excellence Applied Research funded by the Kemendikbud Ristek and the National Research and Innovation Agency (Badan Riset dan Inovasi Nasional or BRIN). Filda said, "I see that Kutuwetan Village has various extraordinary cultural and historical tourism potentials, But, still many homeworks to do to develop the cultural tourism village. That is what interested me."
One of these potentials is in the form of historical traces there, namely Suru kubeng Petilasan, which is part of the origin of Ponorogo Regency . The petilasan is in the rice field area belonging to the villagers. Suru kubeng is named after the many suru trees that once grew in the petilasan but have since been cleared.
It is said that the petilasan was once a hermitage founded by Demang Surya Alam, a senopati from the Majapahit Kingdom who resigned and lived in the village. At the hermitage, Demang Surya Alam trains local residents with various supernatural powers. According to Filda, the Surukubeng Petilasan has the potential to become a tourist attraction for Kutuwetan Village.
Filda (fourth from left) and the Presuniv lecturer team pay a visit to Surkubeng Petilasan.
Source: Doc. Filda.
Filda's research started in October 2021 and will last for approximately three years. Through this research, Filda and the team will explore what could become tourism potential in Kutuwetan Village.
When visiting Kutuwetan Village, Filda and the team carried out a series of activities, such as visiting Surkubeng Petilasan and conducting face-to-face interviews with the people who guard the ruins site to explore the historical meaning of the place's existence. She and the team also took the time to watch the Reog Ponorogo performance from Kutuwetan Village.
TVCA, Indonesian Tourism Competitive Advantage
Filda completed her undergraduate education at Multimedia University, one of the best private universities in Malaysia. She graduated from the Faculty of Business and Law, majoring in International Business in 2007.
A year later, in 2008, Filda continued her education to the master's level (S2) at the Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, also in Malaysia. From there, she earned her Master of Business Administration (MBA) with a focus on Technology and Innovation Management.
Filda joined Presuniv in August 2012. At Presuniv, Filda became a lecturer in the Management Study Program and taught several courses. Among them are business mathematics, decision science, product and operation management, international trade, strategy and policy in international business and several others.
After teaching for several years, Filda decided to continue her education at the doctoral level at the same university, namely Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka. In November 2021, Filda finally passed her doctorate in Technology Management. Filda chose the title The Investigation of Tourism Value Chain Model on Competitive Advantage in Indonesian Tourism for her dissertation. Filda said, "I want to use Tourism Value Chain Model to increase the competitive advantage of the Indonesian tourism industry."
After earning her doctorate, Filda's passion for doing research has increased. That's what made her successful in getting grants from various agencies. Even so, Filda admitted that her success in obtaining grants was not easy. "The research proposal that I and the Presuniv team submitted had to compete with hundreds of proposals that were also submitted by lecturers from various other universities," she said.
Currently, there are three studies currently being carried out by Filda as a head of researcher also a research member and funded by the Directorate General of Higher Education, namely: Development of Community-Based Tourism Villages in the Context of Restarting Tourism to Strengthen the Community's Economy in Kutuwetan Village; Entrepreneurship Paradox Strategy in Pre-venturing Process: Empirical Evidence of an Indonesian Digital Multi-Sided Platform Startup; and Study on Utilization of Coffee Dregs into Briquettes and Biodiesel as a Renewable Energy Source (Case Study in Cikarang).
All the research results, said Filda, must be published in various reputable scientific journals. "Writing research results into academic papers that are published in journals is still a challenge for me," said Filda.
Now, the challenge for lecturers who want to do research is increasing again. This is in line with the recent policy that requires lecturers who wish to do research to conduct research collaborations with other universities. For Filda, she collaborated with the School of Business and Management (SBM) and the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB).
For lecturers who want to be active in conducting research, Filda shared suggestions. She said, it was important for lecturers to see roadmaps for universities and the Ministry of Education and Culture, Research, and Technology. "It is also important to pay attention to hot topics and carefully read the guidelines provided," she said.
Filda also wants the applied research she is doing to produce a product. Ending her story, Filda emphasized, "Be a researcher who is not only researching but also able to produce academic history." (Lita Gabriella, PR team. Photo: Filda Rahmiati).
