Yogyakarta – Friday, August 9, 2019. The second day of the REACH program was begun with morning exercises which were joined by all new students in the academic year 2019/2020 along with the managers and staff of the Master of Science and Doctoral Program, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Gadjah Mada (MD FEB UGM). The event was held in the courtroom of the MD building and all new students wore blue shirts with the hashtag #BanggaJadiMD. This activity, which is part of the second day of the REACH program, was continued with the release of balloons as a symbol of welcome to new students and then was released to fight according to the field of study to be carried out. Overall, the second day of the REACH program will be filled with scholar day-outs or introductions to the academic community of MD FEB UGM and subsequently materials to improve soft skills.
The MD FEB UGM environmental introduction program and educational support facilities are introduced to new students so that students can easily access them. After physical processing, all new students along with the management and staff eat breakfast together in the MD building lobby to prepare themselves to follow the material in the BRI Auditorium building on the 3rd (third) floor until 15.30 WIB. The first material “Student Centered Learning (SCL)” was delivered by Prof. Jogiyanto Hartono M., MBA., Ph.D as Program Coordinator and Chair of the Accounting Study Program. This material is focused on classroom learning methods that focus on students as the subject of “student focused” knowledge transfer. The lecture method is not only class learning but also strengthening research skills and critical thinking for students so that they can later have an impact on the professional field and the surrounding environment.
Student-focused learning methods need to be equipped with supporting facilities that support students’ creative and innovative thinking. The UGM FEB MD Program provides Academic Support Tools ranging from learning facilities in the form of technological innovations by providing statistical analysis software such as STATA and R that can be used to process data for. Besides that, there are also supporting facilities such as study rooms that allow students from personal study to study rooms for discussion. Access to quality international journals subscribed by UGM can be accessed by students free of charge but is responsible for being equipped with a fast internet connection. The material “Academic Support Tools” was delivered by Prof. Catur Sugianto, M.A., Ph.D. as Chair of the Economics Study Program.
In terms of location, MD FEB UGM is in an area that is one of the highest tourist destinations in Indonesia, of course, this is because Yogyakarta has natural and cultural beauty in addition to being a destination for student studies in Indonesia. However, in the material “Disaster Mitigation” by I Made Susmayadi from the Center for Disaster Studies (PSBA) UGM, it was mentioned that behind the amazing natural beauty, there are also potential tectonic disasters as well as the danger of volcanoes and tornadoes. In addition to natural disasters, there are also potential social and non-natural disasters such as fires so that a series of efforts need to be made to reduce the risk of disasters for communities in disaster-prone areas (Law. RI no. 24/2007 ps. 47 paragraph 1).
The next session was was delivered by Nurul Indarti, Sivilokonom, Cand. Merc., Ph.D., as Chair of the Management Study Program with the theme “Writing Academic Documents and Anti-Plagiarism”. Starting his presentation with statistics of publication in Indonesia which is relatively low compared to other countries such as Singapore, Thailand, especially the USA, Norway, and other developed countries. The statistical data is the basis of why academic writing for publications is so important to be done by academics both lecturers, researchers, and students. To support this, Nurul Indarti conveyed the skills for writing skills to capture thoughts or ideas, transfer them to a permanent format, make it real. Also conveyed were errors in writing and readability aspects to make a writing with strong ideas and be able to make an impact. However, it is necessary to uphold the integrity of the “anti-plagiarism” attitude by understanding the skills to avoid writing errors, using technical paraphrases, attaching citations, and doing Turnitin.
The final material “Communication Skill” by Rr. Tur Nastiti, M.Sc., Ph.D. as Manager of Academic, Student Affairs, and Collaboration of MD FEB UGM Program. This material emphasizes the communication technique which is an attempt to convey a certain goal to someone or the audience using a media (writing, talking, or visual media) that allows the process of thinking, receiving information and providing feedback effectively in the form of communication 2 (two) directions, namely between the sender and the receiver. Effective communication needs to fulfill the following 8 (eight) criteria: in good faith, interaction, body language (eye contact, safe distance), the intonation of speech, readiness to give material, articulation of implementation, follow-up, and nodding or responding from the listener. This interaction enhances reputation by serving and emphasizes positive aspects such as involving the listener, using empathy, and respecting the listening intelligence.
The second day of the REACH MD FEB UGM Program was closed by the program manager and continued with a group photo. -RP