The Man Behind Unsyiah's Remarkable Achievement

Jakarta (Antara Megapolitan-Bogor) - Syiah Kuala University (Unsyiah) is one of Indonesia's reputable higher institutions. It is not only popular among the people of Aceh but also among those from other provinces, particularly from North Sumatra, Aceh Province's closest neighbor.

Located in Banda Aceh, the capital city of Aceh Province in the Island of Sumatra, Unsyiah is grouped as the country's leading universities thanks to its academic and research reputations, which have contributed to its success in obtaining "A" accreditation rating certificate.

Founded on Sept 2, 1961, the university currently has at least 30 thousand students. They pursue their undergraduate studies, 28 masters, and seven doctoral programs at 12 faculties, including faculty of economics, medicine, law, and agriculture.

The remarkable academic and research achievements that Unsyiah has so far gained is because of the role of Prof. Dr. Ir. Samsul Rizal, M. Eng, the top leader of the university.

Born in Idi Rayeuk, East Aceh District, on Aug 8, 1962, Rizal has been serving as the university's rector since 2012.

Since then, he has been working hard to improve the reputation of his alma mater, by considering the fact that Unsyiah's accreditation rating was still low or categorized as "C."  

He has never been tired of encouraging and facilitating the scientists within the university to be more active in conducting excellent research projects and publishing the outcomes in the world's reputable scientific journals.

As a result, Unsyiah could make a giant leap in its accreditation rating from "C" to "A" category, as revealed in the accreditation rating certificate that the National Accreditation Agency for Higher Education had officially awarded to it in 2015.

This remarkable achievement has made several state and privately owned universities in the islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan to show interest in learning from Unsyiah management's experience and build cooperation in the fields of teaching, research, and community services.

Among the higher institutions, which have chosen Unsyiah as their place for learning and building collaboration, are the Muhammadiyah University in North Sumatra (UMSU), the Islamic State University of North Sumatra (UIN SU), and East Kalimantan-based Mulawarman University.

In response to those universities' requests, Rizal was quoted by Unsyiah's official website as welcoming them with open arms, saying that he would share his university's success story in gaining the remarkable accreditation rating and would be ready to build a partnership.

Rizal hinted that Unsyiah wanted to build a good cooperation with other universities as part of a collaborative effort to improve their respective quality in the fields of teaching, learning, research, and community services.

During his visit to the Unsyiah campus last February, UMSU Rector Dr. Agussani, MAP acknowledged that Unsyiah's success in making a giant leap in its accreditation rating has inspired and encouraged UMSU to obtain tips of this public university's great success.

Due to this success, an assessor of the National Accreditation Agency for Higher Education had even suggested UMSU to select Unsyiah as its place for learning and building cooperation.

The fact that Unsyiah is the only public university in the country, which successfully increased its accreditation rating from C to A in 2015, has also made representatives of the UIN SU rectorate decide to make it a benchmark for improving the quality of the Medan-based institution.

Therefore, the UIN SU rectorate has sent a six-member team, led by Mhd.Syahman Sitompul, to discuss matters related to planning, online database management system, cyber-based library management system, strategic management system, and financial management system.

This university achievement has so far achieved made the people of Aceh proud. But, this pride has not stopped Rizal from leading Unsyiah to a much higher level.

Rizal, who obtained his Bachelor of Engineering (B.E.) degree from his alma mater in 1987, and finished his master and Ph.D studies in mechanical engineering from Japan's Toyohashi University of Technology in 1998, keeps improving Unsyiah's quality in teaching and learning, community services, as well as publication of research outcomes in scientific journals, registered in Scopus.

This year, Unsyiah enjoys the 14th best position among 50 top universities, whose publications of scientific journals are highly indexed in Scopus, an internationally recognized bibliographic database.

Its rank is better than that of the University of Sumatera Utara (USU), which just stands at the 15th position in Scopus, indicating that Unsyiah's researchers and scientists are more productive than their colleagues at USU and 35 other universities in different parts of the country. (ANT/BPJ).
EDITED BY INE/Bustanuddin.