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Rahmat Budiman, Vice Rector, Universitas Terbuka, Indonesia

About Rahmat Budiman

Dr. Rahmat Budiman is the Secretary General of the Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU) (2020-2022 and 2023-2025) and the Vice Rector for Research, Innovation, Partnership, and Business of Universitas Terbuka, Indonesia. He earned his Doctoral degree in Education from the University of Dundee, the United Kingdom under the World Bank Scholarship Program. He has been working as a fulltime lecturer at Universitas Terbuka since 1999. As the Secretary General of the AAOU, he is responsible for running the administrative, technical, financial and organization work of the association. Various initiatives and innovations have been introduced to foster distance learning, including webinar series and research group programs. Recently, a book entitled Open and Distance Education in Asia was published as an initiative to show how distance teaching universities in Asia emerged, developed, and gained their reputations. In addition, as the Secretary General of the AAOU and the Vice Rector of Universitas Terbuka, he is interested in promoting Open and Distance Learning through various media and programs. As a distance teaching practitioner and enthusiast, he dedicates his research and teaching to develop and foster distance learning in Indonesia in particular and in Asia in general. His research interests include student services, teaching assistance, and distance language teaching. Several publications, including book chapters, proceedings, and journal articles have been published. The most recent articles published were The digital literacy of first-year students and its function in an online method of delivery (AAOU Journal in 2023) and Self-Efficacy of Students Taking the English Writing 3 Course in an Online Learning Setting (Jurnal Pendidikan Terbuka dan Jarak Jauh, 2023). With his propositional knowledge and professional experience in distance learning, Rahmat Budiman continues to promote, thrive, and disseminate distance learning, both theories and practices.

Title

Lesson learned from Universitas Terbuka: Providing quality education across the border

Abstract

In 1980s, Indonesia witnessed a demand for expanding access to tertiary education. The number of high school graduates increased nationally. In addition, a demand for a flexible learning environment was echoed by working people, including in-service teachers, who required to earn some formal academic qualifications. This keynote speech will explore the philosophical foundation of Universitas Terbuka (UT).

The speech will describe UT in general, including the academic programs, learning support services, academic cycle, and the trend of student body development. Then, it will cover the initiatives to maintain the student body development. It will dive into the responsibility for recruiting new students and increasing student retention rate in order to maintain financial stability. The presentation will also describe the characteristics of UT students and its impact on UT marketing communication strategies.

The speech will focus on our initiatives and strategies to recruit and maintain our students living overseas. It will then explore how UT ensures academic quality and standards for students living overseas, in terms of student final examination. At the end, the speech will describe the certification.