The UGM Innovation and Creativity Hub (GIK UGM), which occupies a land area of 48,760 m² with a total building area of up to 90,000 m², is set to become the first super creative hub developed in Indonesia and the largest in Southeast Asia.
Although the construction of GIK UGM is not yet fully completed, some buildings are already available for student activities.
With various facilities such as classrooms, a library, a joglo, a grand auditorium, and a botanical garden rooftop, GIK UGM is fully dedicated to educational activities, the downstream of research innovations to the industry, and student talent development.
Dr. Hempri Suyatna, Secretary of the UGM Directorate of Student Affairs, explained that GIK UGM is intended to facilitate student activities in the arts, sports, and culture, as well as leadership and entrepreneurship development programs.
“At the directorate, we are pushing for a new paradigm for Student Activity Units (UKM), so they don’t just carry out routine activities but must have innovation and creativity to organize engaging events,” said Dr. Suyatna in an interview on Tuesday (Aug. 28).
Given the many potentials possessed by students from the Student Entrepreneurship Programs (PMW) and the Student Creativity Programs (PKM), he hopes that GIK UGM can eventually assist in the downstream process of these innovations.
On a separate occasion, Myra Suraryo, the Chief Executive Officer of GIK UGM, stated that GIK UGM serves as a melting pot between the campus and the industrial world.
According to her, GIK UGM will become a platform for implementing the independent curriculum for UGM and non-UGM students. In this odd semester, there will be 27 classes from 14 State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) with instructors ranging from manager to vice president levels.
“UGM students will be prioritized, and the classes can be exchanged for two credits, while non-UGM students will only receive a certificate because we are still negotiating with several other universities,” she explained.
Suraryo emphasized that GIK UGM’s presence will bridge the employment gap for students by familiarizing them with professional work environments. GIK UGM will accommodate this by involving students in GIK UGM management or with partners operating within GIK UGM.
Further, Suraryo elaborated on GIK UGM’s role in incubating creative ideas and high-value intellectual property from the UGM academic community.
Once incubated, GIK UGM will provide mentorship through two pathways: business matching, where students are paired with similar business actors, and matching funds, where they meet investors for funding.
“Mentorship will continue until the business succeeds, which is offered free of charge, provided they agree to mentor the next batch. We are also collaborating with the UGM Innovative Academy,” Suraryo explained.
Importantly, GIK UGM will prepare students to enter the industry directly after graduation, as not all companies offer full-salary management trainee programs during the orientation period.
Given companies’ tendency to seek experienced workers, GIK UGM anticipates this by training fresh graduates or final-year students, ensuring they are ready to be absorbed by the industry.
Suraryo hopes the training and numerous classes GIK UGM offers will accelerate students’ career progression.
“Hopefully, with the help of training from GIK UGM, students can advance their careers within just 5-6 years,” she added.
Suraryo mentioned that GIK UGM and the Directorate of Student Affairs have developed a quota system for room usage by students and industry partners to facilitate student activities. With 76 UKMs at UGM, not all can be accommodated within GIK, especially sports UKMs that require large spaces.
“Our revenue comes from the ecosystem of industry partners, allowing students to use all these facilities for free, so there is a quota for room usage to keep everything balanced,” Suraryo explained.
In the quota table that has been arranged, Suraryo detailed that each UKM will have a weekly allocation of three hours, but this will be adjusted based on the type of UKM.
Additionally, each UKM will have the opportunity once a year to hold an event with a three-day allocation, during which they can choose to access facilities like the grand auditorium, mini auditorium, grand theater, mini-amphitheater, student center, joglo, or rooftop.
“The three days cover the setup, the event day, and the teardown, so it should be sufficient, and all of it is free unless students want to build stages or partitions. But I’m confident the directorate and the university will support additional funding,” Suraryo assured.
Regarding the Talent Development Class program, which will run in a hybrid format from Sept. 2 to Dec. 2, Suraryo explained that this is the first class in this odd semester.
“You can check Simaster for the list of participating companies. So far, we have collaborated with BUMNs, and we hope to bring in classes from private companies next semester,” Suraryo concluded the interview.
Author: Triya Andriyani
Photographer: Donnie