Collaboration on Institutional Strengthening at the University of

North Sumatra Towards a World Class University

Muhammad Arifin Nasution

, Erika Revida

, Humaizi

and Heri Kusmanto

Doctoral Program of Development Studies, Faculty of Social and Political Studies, Universitas Sumatera Utara,

Jl. Prof. Dr. A. Sofyan No. 1 Kampus USU, Medan, Indonesia

Keywords: World-Class Universities, Governance, Institutional Collaboration

Abstract: This research raises, describes and analyzes; Collaboration on Institutional Strengthening at the University of

North Sumatra towards a World Class University. The point of the problem that has occurred so far is the

challenges as well as opportunities faced by the University of North Sumatra as an educational institution

after the change in status from a State University to a State-Owned Legal Entity (BHMN) university which

is always required to be able to compete not only in national scope but also international so that it encourages

the University of North Sumatra to be able to become a university that is prepared to enter the ranks of world-

class universities. The question in this study is how to collaborate in institutional strengthening at the

University of North Sumatra in the context of superior accreditation and international recognition. The data

analysis technique in this research is through data reduction activities, data display, and drawing conclusions.

The results of this study are Good University Governance, Innovative Research and University Academic

Culture. In conclusion, to realize the University of North Sumatra into a world-class university, it is necessary

to build collaboration between stakeholders (stakeholders) between students, faculty and staff, partner

companies, government and the community. In addition, in the education pillar, this achievement is marked

by the implementation of world-class learning rooted in improved local excellence, on the research pillar, the

implementation of research and writing on the results of international collaborations, as well as the acquisition

of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) in various countries, as well as on the pillars of devotion is marked by

the internalization of a culture of empathy and community service.

1 INTRODUCTION

The history of world civilization cannot be separated

from the history of university development. The

university which was initially only an academic

community and thinkers gradually developed to

produce manpower to meet the needs in the fields of

government, education and health (Williams, 1995).

Industrial needs be it factories, banking to

entrepreneurs. Various researches, innovations and

breakthroughs in thinking are routinely carried out by

universities following the changing times.

This is also a challenge for the University of North

Sumatra (USU) as a higher education institution.

Geographically, University of North Sumatra which

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6317-0435

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0955-0626

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8520-9724

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1370-7876

is located in North Sumatra Province has a very

strategic position because it is territorially located in

the Malacca Strait which is directly connected to

neighboring countries such as Malaysia, Thailand and

Singapore. Natural wealth, whether it's extensive

forests, mining, seas and coastlines along the west

and east coasts of Sumatra, makes North Sumatra

Province in Indonesia have tremendous potential. Not

only that, Lake Toba, which was territorially located

in North Sumatra in 2015, was determined by the

government to be one of 10 tourism destinations in

Indonesia. Moreover, demographically, North

Sumatra is the province with the 4th largest

population after West Java, East Java and Central

Java with 15,136,522 inhabitants (Central Bureau of

104

Nasution, M., Revida, E., Humaizi, . and Kusmanto, H.

Collaboration on Institutional Strengthening at the University of North Sumatra Towards a World Class University.

DOI: 10.5220/0011539500003460

In Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Social and Political Development (ICOSOP 2022) - Human Security and Agile Government, pages 104-109

ISBN: 978-989-758-618-7; ISSN: 2975-8300

 2023 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. Under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Statistics, 2021), thus outside Java, North Sumatra is

the most populous province. in Indonesia. This means

that the existence of the University of North Sumatra

(USU) has a very strategic position not only in the

national scope and in the ASEAN region, but also in

the international order. This position must also

consciously encourage the University of North

Sumatra, both morally, responsibly and with the aim

of being able to increase competitiveness in the

context of competitive competition in the era of

global competition, through higher education and

training.

Because, at the same time, the University of North

Sumatra which has 16 faculties with details of

undergraduate programs (S1) with details of 47

majors, 15 majors in diploma programs (D3, 42

majors in master's programs (S2), 23 majors in

Doctoral (S3) are faced with opportunities and

challenges at the same time. as a higher education

institution that is required to contribute to the

implementation of the Tri Dharma of Higher

Education such as teaching, research and community

service.

This will be achieved by the University of North

Sumatra with the entrepreneurial spirit, innovation,

appropriate use of technology, and producing

breakthrough ideas that are packaged in the form of

scientific research that can be applied in community

service. The goal is that the research produced is

tested academically to gain the trust of the

stakeholders. Like; central and local governments,

entrepreneurs, industry players (entrepreneurs),

Community Social Institutions (NGOs) and the wider

community.

This is because the progress of a university which

is upstream of science cannot be separated from the

roles of these stakeholders as downstream in the

process of scientific grounding (implementation) of

science. Thus, University of North Sumatra must

always build scientific communication with

stakeholders.

Moreover, the University of North Sumatra also

requires physical infrastructure in the form of lecture

buildings, administration buildings, library buildings,

laboratories, and other facilities. The goal is to

support the performance of lecturers, staff and student

learning motivation. Good infrastructure for scientific

activities is necessary to promote research. This is

because lecturers and students must have space to

share the results of their research. Moreover,

designing new research to regenerate it so it doesn't

just settle.

The development of good physical infrastructure

certainly cannot be separated from the role of

stakeholders. This is because a budget is needed to

build, both from the State Budget, Regional Revenue

Budget and unfortunately grants obtained from the

central government, regional governments and

entrepreneurs. Not only that, in the development

process, NGOs and students play a role in the

supervision process.

In the Indonesian government, there is a strong

desire to improve the quality of higher education so

that it is better known to the world. In the strategic

plan of the Ministry of Education and Culture there is

a priority program known as the World Class

University (WCU) program. The purpose of this

WCU program is to encourage universities in

Indonesia to improve their academic reputation at the

international level. The measured parameter that is

used as a benchmark is the Quality and Success (QS)

World University Ranking (WUR). The target to be

achieved by this Priority Program is to include 11

Indonesian universities in the 500 QS WUR ranking

and more and more Indonesian universities to be

included in the top 200 of the QS AUR (Asia

University Ranking) (USU, 2020).

The University of North Sumatra is one of the

largest universities in Indonesia, and is included in the

16 State Universities of the Legal Agency (Kompas,

2021). The University of North Sumatra (USU) was

designated as a Legal Entity State University based

on Law Number 12 of 2012 concerning Higher

Education Article 97 letter c dated August 10, 2012.

Furthermore, the Statute of the University of North

Sumatra was stipulated based on Government

Regulation Number 16 of 2014 dated February 28,

2014. This determination provides flexibility for

USU to face increasingly competitive challenges,

which need to be circumvented and overcome with a

visionary perspective and supported by the ability to

formulate strategic steps. Since being designated as a

PTN BH, The University of North Sumatra (USU)

has prepared a long-term planning document for 25

years called the USU Long Term Plan (RJP) 2015-

2039. USU's 2015-2039 RJP is divided into 5 stages

of the Five-year Strategic Plan (USU, 2020).

Since 2020, the University of North Sumatra has

been included as a university that is prepared to enter

the ranks of world-class universities to enter 500 QS

WUR or 200 QS AUR. As one of the universities that

has received guidance, University of North Sumatra

(USU) will receive special funds to encourage the

improvement of USU's reputation at the international

level.

The facts above show that there is an alignment

between the demands of the USU Strategic Plan

2020-2024 and the World Class University ministry's

Collaboration on Institutional Strengthening at the University of North Sumatra Towards a World Class University

105

strategic program. The World Class University

Program Assistance provided by the Ministry will be

used as initiator funds to carry out several programs

that have been formulated in the 2020-2024 USU

Strategic Plan that are directly related to improving

USU's academic reputation. The university also

added the use of Non-PNBP funds as support for the

implementation of World Class University activities.

Based on the descriptions above, the researchers are

interested in conducting research on how USU's

Strategy as a Legal Agency State University is to

become a World Class University.

Therefore, in order to strengthen the institutions

of the University of North Sumatra (USU) towards a

world-class university. The researcher is interested in

writing a paper entitled: “Collaboration on

Institutional Strengthening at the University of North

Sumatra Towards a World Class University”.

2 RESEARCH METHODS

This research is a qualitative research with a positivist

paradigm (Creswell, 2016). Where researchers

collect data from international journals, national

journals, as primary data. Then, documents derived

from data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS)

and the media as secondary data related to the

institutional role of the University of North Sumatra

towards a Second Class University. Research data

collection is also carried out through a process of

reviewing documents or reports related to the

research focus (Miles, Huberman, & Saldana, 2014).

The reviewed report will go through a process of

obtaining approval from the competent authority at

the research location, namely the University of North

Sumatra. It should be stated that it is very possible

that there are many reports available, but reports that

are relevant to the process of analyzing this research

data will later go through a process of initial

consideration from the experts and those in authority.

In connection with the process of implementing the

research data analysis above, it is explained that

operationally the data analysis process will follow the

qualitative data analysis scheme in accordance with

the title, objectives, benefits and methods of this

research.

3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

3.1 University Governance

This change is certainly a new challenge for the

University of North Sumatra on how to obtain

productive funding sources, financial management,

academic curriculum and accountability for higher

education management. Furthermore, this change

requires USU to increase partnerships and

collaborations with stakeholders who have close links

with the university. Moreover, these stakeholders

have a significant role in the educational process to

produce excellent graduates who are ready to

compete.

This means that the concept needed by the

University of North Sumatra as a higher education

institution is Good University Governance.

Moreover, the status of the University of North

Sumatra which is a state university. Literally the

concept of Good University Governance is a

derivative of the concept of good governance. As the

concept of good governance which puts forward the

way of implementing campus political, economic and

administrative authority in the management of

administrative affairs. University governance must

also involve accountability issues at the University of

North Sumatra (USU).

According to Leach and Percy-Smith (2001)

government implies that the government regulates,

provides services and implements policies while the

community is a passive recipient (Giovanna, 2013).

Changes in university governance involving the

rectorate, trustees, deans and departments in the USU

area. This means that after the change in status, the

new USU management model must have academic

staff who are ready to understand the university's

academic visions and missions and how to achieve

them. This model should automatically work with the

principles and practices of management by

universities that are accountable to predefined

stakeholders. Like; students, faculty and staff, partner

companies, the government and the wider community

by considering the extent to which USU synergizes

with these stakeholders.

This means that the achievement of Good

University Governance towards a world-class

university at USU is strongly influenced by the

collaboration of partnerships with stakeholders with

internal supervision. Thus, the participation of

faculties to departments (departments) at the

University of North Sumatra in decision-making has

a very important role because they have better

information. Not only that, with the concept of Good

ICOSOP 2022 - International Conference on Social and Political Development 4

106

University Governance, increasing protection for

stakeholders works better as an independent part of

the university structure (Muljo, Wicaksono &

Riantono, 2016).

In this section, good university governance at the

University of North Sumatra in the future will be a

reflection of success in producing quality alumni and

ready to compete not only nationally but USU alumni

are also ready to be used in the wider industry in the

global world.

It is undeniable that achieving Good University

Governance at USU requires hard work and high

discipline in educating, conducting research and

building public trust in the form of community

service by maintaining local cultural values and

international publications.

In the end, the University of North Sumatra must

improve the quality of the qualifications of lecturers

who have superior competence and high research

productivity. In addition, the University of North

Sumatra must also be able to raise funds by

collaborating with business partners in developing

business units that are managed independently with

stakeholders.

Furthermore, higher education management

mechanisms and organizations if you want to

implement Good University Governance must adjust

the Higher Education Statute policy, which is

recorded in Law no. 12 of 2012 concerning Higher

Education, Government Regulation no. 4 of 2014

concerning the Implementation of Higher Education

and Management of Higher Education, Regulation of

the Minister of Education and Culture No. 49 of 2014

concerning National Standards for Higher Education

(Kompas, 2017).

The University of North Sumatra was able to

evaluate and complete the entire Strategic Plan

process, the results of which were included in the

2015-2039 Long Term Plan (RJP) and the 2020-2024

USU Strategic Plan. The document describes all the

strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and challenges

that have been faced by USU accompanied by

analysis to formulate further policies. The 2015-2039

Long Term Plan (RJP) document outlines the work

program in five stages of the Strategic Plan. At the

end of the RJP stage, it is hoped that the University of

North Sumatra can further establish itself as a

university that has advantages and becomes a global

barometer in the field of competitive advantage

TALENTA which covers seven fields, namely

Tropical Science and Medicine, Agroindustry, Local

Wisdom, Energy (sustainable), Natural Resources

(biodiversity, forest, marine, mine, tourism),

Technology (appropriate) and Arts (ethnic).

The 2020-2024 Strategic Plan contains the vision,

mission, goals and objectives and outlines the second

five-year work program which will serve as a guide

for University leaders and administrators in

implementing all plans that have been prepared based

on input from the stakeholders of the University of

North Sumatra to become a leading national

university. with the highest accreditation and

pioneering international recognition.

Discussions about strategy implementation have

become increasingly popular in the last decade as

there is a growing awareness that strategy

implementation is far more important than strategy

formulation. (Kaplan & Norton, 2008) shows the

awareness of top management, practitioners and

researchers that it is easier for organizations to

formulate strategies, but it is still difficult to ensure

strategies become real actions. According to

(Okumus, 2003) this is because the literature has

placed too much emphasis on the importance of

formulating strategies and paid less attention to the

problems of strategy implementation. (Nohria, N.,

Joyce, W. and Roberson, B. & Waberson, 2019)

further proves that no single management concept can

be considered the most successful method of

improving organizational performance. It does not

matter if the choice of organizational strategy, which

is far more important is the effectiveness of strategy

implementation as a more decisive factor. Practical

gaps arise due to the lack of understanding of

improving the quality of strategy implementation by

practitioners and company management.

According to, Pella et al (2013) to analyze the

implementation of the strategy can be done with an

approach that is analyzing the stages of strategy

implementation and analysis of the capabilities of

supporting the implementation of the strategy (Pella,

Sumarwan, Daryanto, & Kirbrandoko, 2013). The

latest strategic management model emphasizes the

relationship between performance measurement and

strategy development (strategy development),

strategy deployment (strategy deployment), and

strategic control (strategy control) as a dynamic

unitary model (Simon, 2000).

The success of strategy implementation is defined

as the success of implementing the process to

implement certain policies, programs, and actions

that have been decided by management throughout

the organization (Kendal & Harrington, 2006).

Measurement uses indicators of the extent to which

all parties contribute to the success of strategy

implementation and the impact of strategy

implementation on achieving organizational targets

(Mittelman, 2018).

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107

The strategy is carried out through an evaluation

approach to internal and external factors that are used

as the basis for strategy formulation. Strategy

evaluation is also carried out by looking at

organizational performance, namely by looking at the

success of achieving the Key Performance Indicators

that have been set in the Strategic Plan of the

University of North Sumatra 2020-2024.

Performance. The achievement of these Key

Performance Indicators will be linked to the

indicators in the QR World Class University criteria.

In this context, the Chancellor of the University of

North Sumatra, Dr. Muryanto Amin, M.Si, stated

that: “University of North Sumatra has been eyed by

university ranking agencies to be included in the

ranks of world campuses. We are currently in 1201+

position for the first time in ranking by QS Ranking.

This is certainly good, but we must not stop here,”

Muryanto Amin set a high target by making the

University of North Sumatra included in the ranks of

the 1000 best campuses according to the QS Ranking

in 2023. Furthermore, he targets that in his fifth year

as Chancellor, USU will be in a circle. Top 500

campuses in the world (USU, 2021). From the results

of this performance analysis, improvements are made

to the 10 strategies that have been set and the

University of North Sumatra Strategic Plan 2020-

2024.

3.2 Innovative Research

One indicator of the nation's progress is the

publication of research in international journals. The

number of international publications shows that a

country has abundant quality of Human Resources

(HR). This is the main capital for carrying out

sustainable development in the fields of science,

social, culture and economy.

Publication in the international world can also

maintain the continuity of knowledge and its benefits

can be felt by people all over the world. In fact, the

number of Indonesian international publications is

still very low. This is because Indonesia is still ranked

4th in ASEAN in terms of publications after

Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand in terms of

international publications (Dikti, 2015).

This is a challenge for the University of North

Sumatra as a higher education institution to continue

to produce quality and innovative research. This

responsibility must be seen as not only a routine

obligation for teachers to continue to produce

scientific content in the form of research. But it is also

seen as a moral responsibility of USU's lecturers to

maximally conduct research whose benefits can be

felt more broadly.

Institutionally when, Good University

Governance is carried out by university stakeholders

who are also related to research. Like; countries,

corporations, universities, or philanthropists often

open opportunities for competitive research grants.

This means that understanding of research innovation

can be seen more broadly in the function of the

Tridharma of Higher Education in addition to

teaching and community service. Moreover, policies

that refer to the Regulation of the Minister for

Empowerment of State Apparatus and Bureaucratic

Reform (PAN RB), Number 17 of 2013, and

Regulation of the Minister of Education and Culture

Number 92 of 2014, the increase in the level of

academic positions of lecturers requires publication

in accredited national scientific journals and journals.

international reputation in their field is appropriate in

accordance with the needs of the wider university.

It's just a matter of how the stakeholders at the

University of North Sumatra are able to stimulate

every lecturer to be able to implement it in a tangible

form and be willing to be tested academically. This is

very important to do in order to strengthen the

institutions of the University of North Sumatra (USU)

towards superior accreditation and international

recognition because the impact is very strong.

Besides providing a stage for individual USU

academics, the University of North Sumatra has also

been accredited as an institution and has received

recognition as a world-class university.

3.3 University Academic Culture

Academic culture is an important point in the

progress of higher education. It is widely believed

that the honesty and integrity of lecturers and students

today are threatened by public pressure, an

unsupportive research environment, and other factors

that force many cases of plagiarism. Moreover,

student motivation needs to be renewed, no longer

limited to wanting to graduate quickly without

qualified skills (Fanelli, 2015).

This is a challenge for the University of North

Sumatra in creating an institutional university

academic culture. This can be seen from the academic

habits of students at the University of North Sumatra

such as reading habits and adding knowledge and

insight, writing, scientific discussions, and student

organizations.

Because, in this section positive values such as

honest, intelligent, caring, tough, responsible,

religious and other positive values can be instilled at

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108

the University of North Sumatra (USU). This format

will take place naturally if the relationship between

students and lecturers is more egalitarian in building

campuses, especially in an academic format.

As a facilitator, it is the responsibility of the

University of North Sumatra as an institution to

provide comfortable spaces for study, adequate

laboratories and libraries for students to conduct

scientific studies (Finnegan, 2005).

4 CONCLUSIONS

The University of North Sumatra as a higher

education institution is an integral part of its

contribution not only locally but also nationally and

internationally. It must be acknowledged that in the

aim of strengthening institutions towards superior

accreditation and international recognition (Salmi,

2009), it is not easy for the University of North

Sumatra. Because it takes challenges that are

innovative all the time.

Because the challenges for the University of

North Sumatra must always run with idealism,

consistency, novelty and academic tradition to meet

every industry need to be able to compete optimally

because of the challenges that are global in nature.

This means that to achieve the target of the University

of North Sumatra as a world-class university, it must

always be able to read and adapt to the needs of the

industrial world with patterns of scientific research

whose economic and social benefits can be verified to

gain scientific trust. This paper concludes that what

the University of North Sumatra needs most is a new

scheme for Institutional Strengthening at the

University of Sumatra whose initial foundation is the

best accreditation of each department and faculty

which in the end is used as an indicator in the

accreditation of the University of North Sumatra,

which is very important in capturing the opportunities

that exist which is the goal of the University of North

Sumatra. maximizing the publication of international

journals by academics at the University of North

Sumatra.

Not only that, with this concept in the future,

Human Resources (HR) for lecturers and staff who

are oriented towards performance, integrity and

integration of the academic community will

automatically be able to always do something new in

improving the quality of the academy towards global

competition (Hazelkorn, 2016).

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