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Experiencing the international atmosphere is one of the advantages of being a student of University of Muhammadiyah Malang (UMM). The large number of foreign students and international events, UMM students are also spoiled with the many opportunities of international scholarships and achievements that can be achieved.
According to Rector of UMM, Fauzan, the strong international nuance cannot just happen. There is a long process behind it, such as the endeavor to strengthen academic quality and expand cooperation network. He explained "Currently, we have cooperated with more than 130 institutions and universities from 37 countries,".
Assistant Rector for the Coordinating Sector (Askorbid) of Foreign Cooperation, Soeparto explained that the extent of the partnership is because UMM implements three internationalization strategies, namely waterfall strategy, wheel strategy, and sprinkler strategy.
"At the waterfall strategy, our first partner connects to the second partner, and then the second partner connects us on the third partner and so on. For example, the cooperation between UMM and Auckland University of Technology (AUT) which links us to The Association of Southeast Asian Institutions of Higher Learning (ASAIHL), and from ASAIHL we are partnering with Chulalongkorn University, ".
Meanwhile, the circular strategy is a consortium-based network, such as UMM involvement in the Erasmus + consortium of 54 universities in 19 Asian and European countries and a consortium of Australian Consortium for In-Country Indonesia Studies (ACICIS) with 22 leading universities in Australia. The spark strategy is a direct assessment conducted by UMM in institutions abroad.
Not surprisingly, good capability in managing this network makes UMM often trusted to host in a number of international events. Lastly, last week (8-11 / 5), UMM was trusted to manage International Gathering of Darmasiswa RI students, which was attended by 540 foreign students from 78 countries.
Sementara itu Wakil Rektor I UMM Prof Dr Syamsul Arifin MSi menerangkan, mahasiswa UMM juga dapat memperluas pergaulan internasional melalui program-program kemitraan yang dibangun kampus ini. Misalnya setiap semester, lanjut Syamsul, mahasiswa UMM berkesempatan menjadi buddy atau partner bagi mahasiswa asing untuk melakukan proyek bersama.
Meanwhile, Vice Rector I of UMM Prof. Dr. Syamsul Arifin MSi explained that UMM students can also broaden the international association through partnership programs built by this campus. For example, every semester, UMM students have opportunity to become buddy or partner for foreign students to do joint project through Learning Express (LEx) program which is in partnership with Singapore Polytechnic and Kanazawa Institute of Technology (KIT) of Japan. The best buddies will be sent to Japan and Singapore to continue the project with scholarship given by Tamasek Foundation.
In addition, students can also take advantage of UMM international cooperation by taking short study abroad. For example, through the UMM partnership with the Erasmus + consortium, UMM students can study for six months to a year at one of the European campuses. Besides, they can also take the opportunity to join summer camp in China, take Mandarin course and master and doctoral scholarship from Confucius Institute.
The international atmosphere motivates UMM students to excel in the international arena, as like the UMM robot team has just triumphed in the international robot contest in the United States by being the first and second winners and the best poster for the legged robot category, defeating the finalists from Canada, China, Israel, Portugal, United Arab Emirates and United States of America. (lus)
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