IPB-GSA Double Degree Program Planning Well Underway
An Indonesian delegation consisted mainly of Bogor Agricultural University (IPB)‘s Faculties of Agriculture and Agricultural Technology visited Kyoto University’s Graduate School of Agriculture (GSA) on 17 August for a series of meetings with the school’s faculty and staff.
In the morning the six delegates met with GSA vice deans Eiji Nawata and Hiroshi Amano, international committee chair Naoshi Kondo and professor Shinya Funakawa (also vice dean of the Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies: GSGES) as well as Ms Naoko Hiramatsu and Mr Yutaka Iijima from human resources and international affairs, respectively, to discuss specifics of a double master’s degree program between IPB and GSA.
The program, part of a four-year project spearheaded by GSGES, aims to produce environmental and social innovators who can exercise multicultural leadership. These Indonesian and Japanese graduates of the program are also anticipated to attain high proficiency in each other’s language on top of English.
To that end, a GSA satellite office will be established at IPB so faculty cross-appointment can best function. A consortium including global Japanese companies will also be formed to support professional education and job placement.
The delegates then paid a courtesy call to GSA dean Hisashi Miyagawa. They exchanged views on a range of topics, such as: the Indonesian government’s education budget being large and on the rise; Australia being one of the most popular destinations to study abroad among Indonesian students and possible reasons behind it; advantages of and differences between two major Indonesian scholarship agencies (LPDP and DIKTI); and long-term goals and consequences of encouraging students to study abroad.
Following the conversation, Mr Iijima presented a proposal to create a Facebook group page aimed at enhancing internal and bilateral communications in the IPB-GSA student-alumni-faculty network, which was supported by all present at the meeting.
Joined by deputy accounting director Takao Nakakubo in the afternoon, three of the six delegates resumed the morning discussion and hammered out the remaining details of the joint program.
During their week-long stay in Kyoto, the delegates also spoke with GSA professor Satoshi Hoshino (rural planning), associate professor Ryutaro Tao, senior lecturer Hisayo Yamane (pomology),
professor Shozo Shibata and associate professor Katsue Fukamachi (landscape architecture), while given a few field tours.
The Delegates
IPB Faculty of Agriculture
- Dr. Ir. Ernan Rustiadi, professor and former dean
- Dr. Nurhayati H.S. Arifin, vice dean for international collaboration
IPB Center for Tropical Horticulture Studies
- Dr. Ir. Darda Efendi, director (also international coordinator of the Faculty of Agriculture)
IPB Faculty of Agricultural Technology
- Dr. Usman Ahmad, Lecturer
- Dr. Slamet Widodo, Lecturer
Lampung University
- Dr. Diding Suhandy, Lecturer
The morning meeting (clockwise from foreground left): Eiji Nawata, Naoshi Kondo, Hiroshi Amano, Shinya Funakawa, Slamet Widodo, Usman Ahmad, Diding Suhandy, Darda Efendi, Ernan Rustiadi, Nurhayati H.S. Arifin and Naoko Hiramatsu
The courtesy call to GSA dean Hisashi Miyagawa (fourth from foreground left)
Vice dean Nurhayati H.S. Arifin explaining the education budget situation in Indonesia
Vice dean Eiji Nawata briefing the delegates on English-taught programs available at GSA
