A haven for education: Mulawarman University

Nurni Sulaiman ,  The Jakarta Post -- Discover ,  Samarinda   |  Mon, 09/15/2008 3:51 PM  |  Education

(JP/Nurni Sulaiman)

Since its establishment on Sept. 27, 1962, Mulawarman University, more commonly referred to as Unmul, has been a Mecca for young adults in the province seeking higher learning.

The only state university in East Kalimantan has given the people of this province one wise leader, Imdaad Hamid, the incumbent mayor of Balikpapan and an alumnus of the university’s Economics Faculty. Another noted graduate of Mulawarman University is Jusuf Serang Kasim, the Tarakan city mayor and an alumnus of the Forestry Faculty.

Both leaders are recipients of the national Kalpataru award for their outstanding contributions in development and environmental conservation.

A lecturer at the Borneo Tarakan University of East Kalimantan is also an Unmul alumnus: Takeshi Arizono, 31, a Japanese national, obtained his Forestry doctorate in 2006.

Mulawarman University has been instrumental in the development of East Kalimantan by producing millionsof educated young adults ready to join the workforce.

Every year, about 5,000 students graduate from Unmul. Present records show more than 10,000 registered students. The university has 534 full-time lecturers, 218 of whom hold a Master’s and 38 who have doctorates from Indonesian and overseas institutes.

The big ‘Blue’

Unmul’s campus is a broad expanse that offers both indoor and outdoor learning environments, and is known among its students as Kampus Biru, or the “Blue Campus”.

Its academic and administrative facilities stand on a plot measuring 645,625 square meters. The buildings contain a 19,186 sqm laboratory, lecture rooms totaling 23,031 sqm, 714 sqm oflecturers’ offices, an administration room of 4,908 sqm and a dormitory and housing area spanning 44,000 sqm.

The university library is housed in a two-storey structure of 5,850 sqm and has a collection of 51,395 titles and 116,955 periodicals.

Outdoor facilities consist of a greenhouse of about 3.2 sqm, a research forest of 500,000 sqm and a research pond of 8,000 sqm.

Students of the Medical Faculty have a leisurely chat in the parking area fronting university clinic. (JP/Nurni Sulaiman)

Unmul has 11 faculties, including Economics, Social and Political Sciences, Pedagogy and Technology, while it also offers a Master of Business Management and an Environmental Sciences postgraduate program.

To support its students’ extracurricular interests, Unmul developed the Student Activities Center for various sports, such as taekwondo, the tarung drajat local martial arts, pencak silat, fencing, basketball and soccer.

The Yupa Theater and university band serve interests in art and culture while the photography club and university press serve students interested in the media.

In addition, Unmul support religious activities through the Islamic Studies Center and the Christian Students Community.

For academic development, Unmul has been working jointly with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) since 1978, as well as maintains collaborative relationships with leading universities in the country.

High quality, low cost

Unmul is truly a grand institution, and maintains its state university status to the present. The university is maintained by subsidies from both the provincial and national budgets. As a result, Unmul holds great promise for sons and daughters from East Kalimantan as well as from across the archipelago who seek the best education at relatively low costs.

On Java entering a university alone can cost several millions of rupiah, but at Unmul enrollment fees range from Rp 1.5-2.5 million (US$162-240).

Tuition per semester at the Medicine Faculty for this year is only about Rp 2.5 million while semester tuition for agriculture and other majors is just under Rp 1 million – or Rp 958,000 to be exact.

”I was able to send my son to university because he passed the entrance exam at Unmul, where the fees aren’t too high,” said Siti Maryam, a trader in Penajam Paser Utara.

“But if my son were to enter a private university or other tertiary institute on Java, I couldn’t afford it. He probably wouldn’t go to university then. I thank God my son could enter Unmul,” she said.

Changing interests

In the early 1990s Unmul’s Agriculture and Forestry faculties enjoyed their heyday. While universities in Java had sophisticated laboratories, Unmul could boast both an advanced research facility as well as a natural field lab – the largest in Kalimantan to the present.

However, according to Usman Saleh, the head of Academics and Student Affairs at Unmul, the university has seen declining interest in agriculture, fishery and forestry over the past three years. He said other universities in the country were also facing the same problem.

”Today, students have less interest in those faculties because they still think that once they graduate from the Agriculture faculty they will become farmers, or fishermen if they graduate from Fishery,” Usman told The Jakarta Post in his office.

“Actually, that is not true. Many graduates from the Forestry, Agriculture or Fishery faculties work at banks, telecommunications companies or the media and others. We want to change this frame of mind among students and convince them that Forestry or Agriculture graduates can work in any (professional) sector,” he said.

While this might be the general enrolment trend, a number of new students are interested in these areas and have registered at the Agriculture, Fishery and Forestry faculties for the current academic year.

Freshman Rizal Effendi, who comes from Balikpapan, is sure of his decision to major in forestry. ”I’m interested in registering at the Forestry Faculty because I was born and grew up in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan. Every day I see green trees. My father is in the forestry and agriculture business as a supplier,” said Rizal.

“I feel an education in forestry is promising for my future. In addition, the eyes of the world are currently focusing on anti-global warming activities. Wherever there are forests, we must protect and preserve them for the generations to come,” he said.

Siti Marwah, a freshman majoring in agribusiness, made a similar comment. According to her, East Kalimantan needed more agriculture experts.

”Forestry and farming expertise are needed for the future. At present, agribusiness companies and plantation are mushrooming. We can find oil palm, rubber and other plantations everywhere.

“Even President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono declared that we have to plant at least a million trees every year so that our nation can be green again like it was decades ago,” she said.

“And personally, I miss the East Kalimantan forests of my childhood, which were green and tall, so very beautiful. I hope I and my peers with the same vision and mission can help sustain the plants and trees of East Kalimantan in perpetuity,” added Siti.

Meanwhile, the past three years have seen rising interest among students in the medicine, pharmacy, public health, communications, mathematics and science disciplines.

Rina, who comes from Tenggarong, Kutai Kartanegara, said she was overjoyed when she was accepted to Unmul’s Medicine Faculty.

”I’ve dreamed of becoming a doctor, and now I’m studying medicine at Unmul. I’m not following anyone’s footsteps – it’s always been my aim and one I’ve chosen from the heart,” she said.

Siti Zubaidah and Nadya Mayangsari, who are both freshmen majoring in communications, were equally enthusiastic about their futures.

”I want to become a journalist, because I think it’s great you can meet a lot important people and there is a lot of traveling,” said Zubaidah.

”I want to become a reporter – I can travel the entire country, even around the world. I wouldn’t like to work behind a desk, it doesn’t suit me,” echoed Nadya.

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