Medan, N Sumatra (ANTARA) - The University of Sumatera Utara (USU), Medan, North Sumatra, and the University of Melbourne, Australia, explored opportunities for collaboration in student exchange and teaching staff mobility at a meeting this week.
The collaboration was explored by USU Rector Professor Muryanto Amin during his visit to UniMelb on Friday, according to USU's official website, which was accessed by ANTARA here on Saturday.
During the visit, Amin met with UniMelb's assistant deputy vice-chancellor international, Professor Vedi Hadiz. Hadiz, an Indonesian national, is also a director and professor of Asian studies at the Asia Institute.
"Collaboration with the University of Melbourne will become the first for USU," he said, adding that the exchange program would hopefully commence this year.
To this end, USU will formulate requirements for its students who wish to study at UniMelb for one semester, while USU lecturers joining the mobility program will prepare for collaborative teaching methods and case studies.
The collaboration will begin with student exchange and staff mobility. If the two universities' teaching staff and researchers share a strong commitment to conducting joint research and publication, they could do that later, Amin informed.
During his visit to UniMelb, he and his counterpart also discussed potential collaboration for rolling out a joint/double degree program.
Meanwhile, Professor Hadiz welcomed USU's collaboration with UniMelb, saying that it would be good for the two universities.
UniMelb, as an international cosmopolitan university, is committed to building study programs, particularly for international students with multicultural backgrounds, he was quoted as saying.
Therefore, UniMelb is open to a collaboration with USU and also interested in working with the Medan-based public university in the areas of tropical health and mangrove research, he added.
He also pledged to send UniMelb students to USU.
All technical matters and requirements for the student exchange will be discussed later by UniMelb's manager for international partnerships, Julie Fam, and USU team members, he informed.
UniMelb also welcomes USU's invitation for its teaching staff to serve as visiting professors or keynote speakers at USU-initiated seminars, he added.
Prior to the visit to the University of Melbourne, a USU delegation led by Professor Amin had attended the Asia-Pacific Association for International Education (APAIE) Conference and Education Exhibition in Perth, Australia.
At the event, which took place from March 4–8, USU had offered the EQUITY Program to several universities in the APAIE region, Amin said.
"May this bring a positive impact to USU's endeavors to improve its educational service with an international standard," he added.
