UGM Faculty of Dentistry commemorated its 73rd Anniversary on Friday (5/3) with an Open Senate Meeting as the celebration’s highlight. The Rector of UGM expressed his appreciation to all of the Faculty elements, including the founders, seniors, Senate, Dean, lecturers, and educational staff, for their dedication and hard work to advance the Faculty of Dentistry to its current state.
“Happy 73rd Anniversary for the Faculty of Dentistry. Hopefully, the 73 years of age will bring the Faculty to a more advanced and victorious state, and there will be more contributions that the Faculty provides to the society, nation, and country,” said the Rector in his speech.
Prof. Panut Mulyono added that the COVID-19 pandemic showed a silver lining in relation to the practice of online learning. The pandemic had forced people to utilize technology to continue their daily routine. Such experience would be useful for post-pandemic learning, where online learning would continue and be mixed with traditional, face-to-face learning.
“There is always room for improvement for the implementation of online learning. Apart from its role to transfer knowledge, online lectures should also function as a means to instill values and feelings and train skills or works,” he explained.
In line with the Rector’s statement, the Dean of the Faculty, Dr. Ahmad Syaify, said that the pandemic had created new challenges. Since the stipulation of COVID-19 as a national disaster in Indonesia, the campus had been deserted. There were no lectures, practicums, and face-to-face guidance processes.
“As to respond to the pandemic, each study program needs to adjust their curriculum and construct a new conducive ecosystem. Higher education must generate a number of innovations to respond optimally to the disruptions,” said Ahmad.
Ahmad stated that the pandemic would not dampen the Faculty’s ambition to achieve something. Despite the difficulties, the Faculty’s academics were still capable of collecting various achievements. The Faculty would also carry out its development solely based on academic principles, independent of group interests and political views. Ethics and academic integrity would be the key that guided the Faculty to achieve an internationally recognized reputation.
“Apart from that, the openness, togetherness, and synergy will also be the main capital to advance the Faculty of Dentistry,” he said.
Author: Gloria
Translator: Salma