YOGYAKARTA - Joint Plenary Meeting of the Academic Senate and the Council of Professors of Universitas Gadjah Mada on Thursday (15/3) managed to pick five rector candidates to proceed to the next election. The five candidates are Prof. Dr. Pratikno, M.Sc. (146 votes), Prof. Dr. Marsudi Triatmodjo, SH, LL.M. (81 votes), Prof. Dr. Ir. Djagal Wiseso Marseno, M. Agr (66 votes), Prof. Dr. Techn. Danang Parikesit, M.Sc (54 votes) and Prof. Ir. Suryo Hapsoro Tri Utomo, Ph.D. (35 votes). Meanwhile, two other candidates were eliminated and did not qualify for the next selection, which are Prof. Dr. Hartono, D.E.A., D.E.S.S. and Dr. dr. Hafizurrahman, M.P.H. with 14 and 0 votes respectively.
The five elected candidates will follow the top-three selection in joint plenary on Monday (19/3). They will deliver their vision and mission as well as following the debriefing process with the panel consisting of the leadership of Academic Senate, Council of Professors and Board of Ttrustees and the current Rector.
To reporters, Chairman of Board of Trustees, Prof. Dr. Sofian Effendi, M.P.I.A, expressed gratitude on the good process of early stage selection. "We are grateful because we can organize a peaceful and safe Rector Election," he said.
In addition, the support from members of Academic Senate and Council of Professors is significant in the votes giving. He said about 97 percent of the members of the Academic Senate and 72 percent of the Council have exercised their right to vote. According to the Chairman of the Council, Prof. Dr. Widyastuti, M.Sc., the presence of members is quite good this time because many of the members are constrained by physical factors and age, so unable to attend. "It is much better than the two-monthly plenary meeting of the Council which is only attended by 40-percent of all members," she added.
In connection with the sequence composition of Rector’s candidates, Sofian said the result is very reasonable because it is based on the aspirations of the campus community. "The number of votes is in accordance with the Rector’s quality that is desired. At least, we will know the three main candidates for Rector on Monday (19/3). The sequence can change but not much," he said.
Voting Runs Smoothly
The voting took place at 09.00 am in the Senate Hall. The event was attended by three Chairmen. The plenary session was opened by the Chairman of the Academic Senate, Prof. dr. Marsetyawan HNES, M.Sc., Ph.D. He said the meeting this time is to determine the five candidates from the seven candidates who had passed the administrative selection. "This morning, we have a single event, the selection of seven to five candidates for Rector. There is no more discussion, question and answer session," he said opening the session.
Sofian Effendi gave a brief remarks. "On behalf of the Board, I leave the conduct of the election for Rector period 2012-2017 to the Committee. I hope this election has the blessings and protection from Allah," he said.
After that, a member of the Rector Selection Committee, Prof. Dr. dr. Hardyanto Soebono, read out the order of selection. It mentioned on the basis of equalityand the number of members, one member of the Academic Senate is equal to 3 votes, while member of the Council of Professor equals only one vote. "Each voter only votes once on one candidate," he said.
The voting took place from 9:30 am and ended at 13:30 pm. The committee provided 10 ballot boxes. To facilitate the counting of votes, two ballot boxes were placed in the center. Of the total 250 members of the Council, about 181 used their right to vote. For Academic Senate, of the total 79 members, as many as 77 people used their right to vote.