Faculty of Agricultural Technology of UGM succeeded to gain ISO 9001:2008 from International Certification Board, SGS, in mid-February. The certificate was given to four graduate departments and two post graduate departments. According to Dean of the Faculty, Dr. Ir. Djagal Wiseso Marseno, M.Agr., at his office, Wednesday (31/3) the Faculty has already applied good academic service standard in all graduate and postgraduate departments.
Symbolically, the certificate was given to Dr. Ir. Mohammad Nur Cahyanto, M.Sc., Head of Food Sciences and Technology Department; Prof. Dr. Ir. Purnama Darmadji, M.Sc., Head of Agricultural Engineering Department; and Dr. Ir. Endy Suwondo, D.E.A. Head of Industrial Technology of Agriculture Department. Meanwhile for postgraduate level the certificate was given to Dr. Ir. Pudji Hastuti, M.S., Head of Food Sciences Department, and Prof. Dr. Ir. Sahid Susanto, M.S., Head of Agricultural Engineering Department.
“All institutions that hold academic activity should be seen as partner. If the management shows lower performance, the partners will certainly rethink to establish cooperation,†the Dean said. He admitted that his faculty tried to gain international certification because many laws and regulations want that. National Education System Law, Government Regulation No. 19 Year 2005, or Educational Legal Entity (BHP) contain the same thing that to create an evaluations is to apply quality assurance system. “Faculty of Agricultural Technology has anticipated this since 1999. After earning QUE Project, we can improve several departments and after running for ten years, the ISO 9001:2008 is now realized,†he added.
With the ISO, the Dean felt very proud and happy as this success will also contribute to UGM’s achievement both for THES and Webometrics rankings. Chairman of Quality Management Unit in the Faculty, Dr. Ir. Retno Indrati, M.Sc., was also glad because the ISO from SGS is prestigious. Compared to other certification agency, SGS sets quite difficult requirement for the certificate. Specifically, an appreciation was delivered to Nadiya Consultant that had helped much and assisted in ensuring the quality of academic service stage by stage.
This success is certainly not the final goal, but rather a start to work harder to serve students and stakeholders. Therefore, faculty and departments’ leadership, head of laboratory, lecturers, and officials are expected to work harder to implement this ISO 9001:2008 based quality assurance system. The auditor team will immediately evaluate the implementation of that system. “This SGS certification is valid for six months. If the management performance is no longer good, the certification can be revoked,†the Chairman said.