[Unpad Media Channel] Three study programs from Universitas Padjadjaran’s Faculty of Animal Husbandry (Fapet) have attained international accreditation from the Germany-based ASIIN. The three programs are the two undergraduate Animal Husbandry programs at Jatinangor Campus and Pangandaran Campus as well as the doctoral program in Animal Husbandry.
The Dean of the Faculty of Animal Husbandry, Dr. Ir. Rahmat Hidayat, M.Si., explained that preparations for the examination had gone on since March of 2023. The Faculty studied the ASIIN guidelines for accreditation, conducted benchmarking, and put together Self Assessment Report (SAR) documents before going through offline assessment with ASIIN’s assessment team on December 13-14, 2023.
“We were briefed on the standards they were looking for, beforehand. We had to be able to fulfill those standards,” said Rahmat when interviewed by Unpad Media Channel.
After the SAR documents were submitted, ASIIN went on to evaluate the documents in detail. Rahmat admitted that the Faculty had to revise the documents based on the feedback it had garnered from the assessment team. Afterwards, ASIIN’s representatives carried out an on-site assessment.
Furthermore, Rahmat explained that the assessment process was done directly by ASIIN’s assessment team in order to validate the correctness of the information included, or not included, in the SAR documents. There are five requirements to be included in the SAR, namely general information on the study program, its student exams, resources, documentation and transparency, and quality management.
The assessment process was supported by members of each facet of Unpad, from its board and leadership, Fapet’s leadership, professors, employees, students, to partners and stakeholders of the programs assessed.
During the assessment, there were several pieces of feedback from the assessment team in the forms of improvements and adaptations to help uphold the programs in question to international standards. Rahmat said that the input ranged in topic from policy-making, curriculum implementation, human resource development, to the improvement of the facilities on offer.
“The most important phase happens post-accreditation. We shall review the findings and feedback from ASIIN, and we have to respond with actual improvements. We also have to stick to the schedule given,” added Rahmat.
ASIIN is a nonprofit accreditation body in the fields of engineering, informatics, natural sciences, and mathematics. The institution is registered in The European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR), and is recognized by Indonesia’s Ministry of Education and Culture. Those reasons encouraged Unpad Fapet to apply for accreditation to ASIIN.
By attaining international accreditation, Rahmat said, the three Fapet programs have attained global recognition. That is important to ensure that the quality of education at Unpad’s Faculty of Animal Husbandry can produce internationally recognized graduates.
“Through this international accreditation, we can be certain that the university’s quality will improve, influencing its recognition on the international stage. Aside from that, this will allow and ease staff exchange and mobility programs for the development of science through our research and teaching,” said Rahmat.
Rahmat added that, going forward, Fapet will continue to sustain and improve its quality of education through increasing the capacities of the curriculum and staff, and the quality of facilities such as the laboratories.
This is not the first international recognition of quality that Unpad Fapet has received, as it has gone through the ISO 9001:2015 evaluation. Rahmat concluded with Fapet’s plans for the future, saying “Afterwards, we will try to improve the quality of our laboratory services through ISO 17025″. (arm/ICP)*
