Kategori: faculty

The financial technology business (Fintech) has grown rapidly in Indonesia, both for payment and lending service. This is shown with the distribution of 41 Trillion Rupiah credit for more than 5 million debtor that involves 480,000 creditors as of May 2019. This was mentioned by Dr. Irwan Trinugroho, the faculty member of the FEB UNS, during a Workshop on Fintech Business, Wednesday, December 11, 2019. He mentions that Fintech business that provide information technology-based innovation should empower the underprivileged community and reduce their vulnerability.

Even though, the Fintech business has a rapid growth, there are many people who has not understand about Fintech operation yet. This becomes the role of a university to educate the community and explain further about Fintech business to prevent them from illegal Fintech business. Students can also propose a proposal on the Student Creativity Program (PKM) to establish an applicative product that would be useful for the community to avoid the illegal financial service.

“Students can use the Student Community Service Program (Kuliah Kerja Nyata-KKN) as a media to improve community’s literacy on Fintech business,” Dr. Irwan says.

Further, Irwan advised to the participants who mostly are students, to be careful when using a Fintech application. When downloading application, do not randomly press or choose “Allow” option, do not gives your contact number and giving permission to access storage. If users give permission on these two items, then, all contact in users’ phone will automatically recorded in the application owner’s server and will be used to ‘pressing’ the users when there is a delay in payment. This will defame the users.

The Fintech business that listed in the Financial Services Authority (OJK) is secure. The business owner of the application that want to get listed in OJK should provide a demonstration on their application and the application should not asking for accessing contact and storage. This was mentioned by Peter Febian, the Head of Corporate Communication of Ladang Modal, to the more than workshop 150 participants, while advise them to be selective in choosing online lending.

“Do not carelessly borrow money from Fintech, ensure the legality of a Fintech through OJK contact 157 or ojk.go.id,” Peter said. Fintech credit should not be used as a settlement for other debt, because this action will brought the borrowers to a bigger problem. Furthermore, the maximum amount of Fintech loans a borrower take should not bigger than 30% of their income.

More than 100 students and lecturers from universities across Indonesia attended the Training on STATA and IFLS organized by FEB UNS Internationalization Team, on Wednesday, December4, 2019, in Swiss-Bellin, Solo. The event was opened by Dr. Izza Mafruhah, M.Si, the Vice Dean of Academic Affairs of the FEB UNS, and invites two speakers: Wahyoe Soedarmono, PhD, from Sampoerna University Jakarta and Yohanes Sondang Kunto, PhD, from Petra Christian University, Surabaya.

Opening his presentation, Dr. Wahyoe mentions that an article is accepted by a publisher or journal not because it is perfect, but because the article has minimum error, with a strong argument through a solid data analysis. He also shares his experience as an author and reviewer, mentioning that most of journal reviewers are simple, they only need to read the abstract of an article. “If the first two paragraph of an article is strong enough, it shows that the author is serious in writing the article. If the first two paragraph is ambiguous or not clear, it is enough for a reviewer to reject that article,” he explained.

Additionally, reviewer will assess the content, whether the table provided is clear enough or formatted appropriately, thus the reader can understand its content without further explanation by the author, and the story-line provided by author throughout the article should be consistent. From author point of view, Dr. Wahyoe mentions that in writing an article author should minimize the probability for a reviewer to reject the article. “If an author analyzes the data using EViews and they directly copying the analysis table result to the article, it will be automatically rejected by reviewers,” Wahyoe explains. Further, he explains on how to use STATA software to the participants.

Another speaker, Yohanes Sondang Kunto, PhD, explains about the Indonesian Family Life Surveys (IFLS). IFLS is a survey regarding the families’ domestic life in Indonesia, which has been conducted for several occasions. However, not all Provinces (Region) in Indonesia is covered in IFLS, only few Provinces in east Indonesia region is covered. There are many articles published in international journal that use IFLS data. However, in Indonesia, IFLS data is not yet widely implemented by students, researchers, or policy makers. Dr. Yohanes encourage the participants to use IFLS data, because of its richness and it can be explored further, in order to analyze the community phenomena in Indonesia, especially for the policy makers.

For the next day, Thursday, December 5^th, the participants are encouraged to practice data analysis using STATA.

Some people are motivated to write paper because it is required for their graduation. This actually is not a bad motivation to write an article, but, a person who write an article with this motivation will surely lost their motivation as they got graduated. Thus, it is important for someone to know their true motivation to write an article or conducting a research. This was mentioned by Dr. Chor Foon Tang, a Senior Lecturer in Economics, who is also part of Centre for Policy Research and International Studies (CenPRIS), Universiti Sains Malaysia, during a General Lecture, Monday, November 25, 2019, in FEB UNS.

Dr. Tang advises the participants, who are mostly the Postgraduate students in FEB UNS, to publish their article soon and do not need to wait until graduation. This aims to avoid another article with similar topics got published first. “Write different article, you can do this by using different perspective. For example, financial development or poverty, these topics have been discussed for many years and there are many researches on these topics. Can we do a research in this topic again? Of course,” he added. “It can be conducted by adding new findings, adding new variables, or discuss the topics using different point of view.”

During the occasion, the lecturer who also serves as Associate (Regional) Editors in the International Journal of Social Economics, International Journal of Tourism Policy, and Asian Economic and Financial Review, shares his experiences in reviewing a research article until the article is published.

“The first thing I will do, when I got an article submission, is checking whether the article has been published before. Sometimes there was an article that is already published, but it is sent to another publisher with the same content, data, and result, everything discussed in the article is the same with the one published,” he explains.

Dr. Tang obtain his PhD in Economics from the Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Malaya (UM) and since 2006 he has been participated in academic research and had successfully published his articles in reputable journals in 2007. Aside from sharing his experiences, Dr. Tang also gives tips to start writing an article that is expected to get published in reputable journal. He also shows how to write an article, started from how to get idea or topics, idea execution, up to data analysis to provide a favorable result. Dr. Tang’s experiences in writing and publishing more than 100 journal articles, encourage the participants to write their research articles.

Currently, universities are required to expand their network in order to encourage institution development through the internationalization of universities. To achieve internationalization, a university should be able to meet the global ranking standard. This was expressed by Eko Suwardi, .Ph.D., the Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Gadjah Mada during the Workshop on Student Exchange Roadmap Preparation, Monday, December 2, 2019.

He mentioned that there are various method that can be taken such as establishing a collaboration with international partner universities, build an affiliation with business school in ASEAN, Asia-Pacific, Europe and the US, following international accreditation, establish a special expertise in economics and business field, following international education promotion, and actively participating in an international network gathering. Meanwhile, the activities that included in faculty exchange program are student mobility program (dual degree, exchange, summer/winter school), PhD Program, and research and training. Another aspect that also has an impact is Faculty staff exchange, this is because an excellent institution is supported by a highly capable Faculty staff.

In the workshop that was attended by the Head of FEB UNS and the Faculty members, Dr. Eko reminded the participant that the objective of internationalization should always refer to the vision and mission of the institution, which derived from the University vision and mission, adapted to the faculty and study program vision and mission. This is important because the established internationalization program should aims for a sustainable development for all study programs.

Meanwhile, Acep Purqon, Ph.D, a lecturer of Institut Teknologi Bandung, provided a direction in establishing a student exchange roadmap after sharing the strategy of student exchange program in his institution. “Solo and UNS have a uniqueness that can be an appeal for international students. An interesting program should be offered, such as courses or community service program,” he explained. He adds that the initial step that should be taken is by establishing an excellent portfolio, decide the target, and delegate the assignment to those with a great passion. Lastly, the infrastructure should be improved.

Establish an e-commerce is not only about building a website without a comprehensive understanding on the function of the website. This mindset will drain the capital of a SME. E-commerce is not about putting a business transaction in e-commerce website, it is a system that built on business knowledge, perspective, and business approach. This was mentioned by Dr. Adi Prananto from Swinburne University of Technology, during a workshop, organized by the Internationalization Team of FEB UNS, Monday, 25 November 2019.

The SMEs need to understand that they need to change their approach in conducting business, in order to accommodate the intensity and differences between e-commerce transaction with direct (face to face) transaction. In front of the participant, mostly the students of Master in Economics and Environmental Studies and Doctor in Economics Study Program, Dr. Adi explains that in e-commerce implementation, the main point that should be understood by SMEs is the needs to transform their ‘way of thinking’. They need to understand the new era of marketing and promotion.

“They need to understand how social media such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, works,” he explained.

A change on how the business communicate and interact with its customers is needed in this new era. SMEs need to understand how to develop uniqueness for their product to differentiate their product with others. This can be achieved through various mechanism within a business environment, for instance in term of regulation and legal, stability, good transportation and logistics, access to financial institution such as bank, payment mechanism, and 3E (engage, engage, and engage), which mean a business needs to maintain a good relation with its customers.

For the third occasions, a Team led by Dr. Irwan Trinugroho organize a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) on the establishment of the Study Program in Finance, Banking, and Financial Technology, on Saturday, November 23, 2019, UNS Inn, Solo. The FGD is attended by the Deanery of FEB UNS, Head of Study Program for Undergraduate, Master, and Doctoral Program. The event specifically invites Prof. Wimboh Santoso to provide suggestions for perfecting the proposed curriculum.

During her opening remarks, Dr. Izza Mafruhah, the Vice Dean of Academic Affairs, the Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Sebelas Maret (FEB UNS), mentions that the discussion on the establishment of this Study Program has been initiated since June. “We expect that by the end of this semester, the proposal can be submitted to DIKTI, to obtain permission on the establishment, thus for the academic year of 2020/2021 we can open the admission for new student.” The proposed name for the new study program is ‘Undergraduate in Finance, Banking, and Financial Technology’. However, this will remain to be a subject of modification.

Prof. Wimboh suggest the team to merge the courses Blockchain, Crypto Finance, and Venture Capital as one course namely ‘Financial Products’. Similarly, for Probability Theory can be delivered in Statistic course. In the occasion, Prof. Wimboh also proposes for the establishment of a Center for Start-Up Development in FEB UNS, that aims to deliver new start-ups business. The Financial Service Authority of Indonesia (OJK) will provide support for the program in terms of instructor.

“Within a month beside launching the new study program, the Center for Start-Up Development and the Center for Digital Office in collaboration with Fintech OJK Center, should be ready to be launched,” Prof. Wimboh says. The target of this program is students from underprivileged family who have excellent competency. This program also does not need certification due to high demand in the labor market. The establishment of the Development Center will help users during the education training process.

The Executive Director of ISCAM Business School Madagascar, Mr. Camille Ratsimbazafy accompanied by a representative of the Madagascar Embassy for Indonesia Zulfahmie Aswandie, visited the Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Sebelas Maret (FEB UNS) on Wednesday, November 13, 2019. Both were greeted by the Vice Dean of Alumni and Student Affairs, Dr. Mugi Harsono, together with the Head of Study Programs, International Team, Protocollary Team, Public Relation, and FEB UNS Collaboration Unit.

Dr. Mugi Harsono, during his welcoming remark, introduce the profile of FEB UNS and the collaborations established with 4 European Universities together with 5 Indonesia Universities partner in the Capacity Building Erasmus+ funded by the European Commission with a theme “OPTimizing Research and Doctoral Programme in BANKing and Finance in Indonesian universities (OPTBANK)”. The detailed profile of the FEB UNS is presented by Dr. Tri Mulyaningsih as the Director of International Team in FEB UNS.

Mr. Ratsimbazafy on the occasion express the objective the visit, which is to establish a collaboration and academic staff exchange between the two institution. “We wish that there will be a staff from FEB UNS who can deliver a teaching material in our institution,” Mr. Ratsimbazafy says.

Dr. Tri Mulyaningsih mentions that the MoU draft for the collaboration has been prepared. However, for the implementation of the MoU, there are several aspects that needs to be examined in advance, especially related with the reporting, establishment, and assignment from the Rector of UNS. Moreover, an intense communication is needed in order to implement the collaboration between the two institution.

On the other hand, Dr. Tastaftiyan Risfandy, concerned about the funding for the staff exchange and the living cost in Madagascar. Other aspects that become the focus of discussion in this occasion is related with the duration for staff exchange and the activities assigned to the staff during their exchange.

The occasion is closed with a submission of a token of appreciation from FEB UNS to Mr. Camille Ratsimbazafy and Zulfahmie Aswandie.

As the coordinator for Indonesian Partner University of OPTBANK Erasmus+ Project, Universitas Sebelas Maret has successfully become the host for The OPTBANK Midterm Evaluation and Workshop to Design New Modules held at Royal Heritage Surakarta Hotel from September 24 – 27, 2019. The participants of this activity come from European Partner University (Universite de Limoges – France, Universita Degli Studi Roma Tre – Italy, University of Bangor – UK, and Technical University of Crete – Greece), Indonesian Partner University (UNS, ITB, UIN Jakarta, UNSYIAH, UNSRI, and UNTAN), and also associate partner from banking regulator (Bank Indonesia, Otoritas Jasa Keuangan, and Lembaga Penjamin Simpanan).

In the midterm evaluation, we evaluated all activities of OPTBANK that have been done in the last one year. The Project Coordinator, Prof. Amine Tarazi from Universite de Limoges – France, appreciated all the efforts that have been put in all OPTBANK Activities started from 2018 until mid of 2019. There are still many areas of improvement for upcoming programs, such as the selection process of participants in exchange and training program, dissemination strategy for each activity, the reporting flow, and the clarity of PIC for upcoming programs. The Project Committees are optimist that all upcoming programs will run successfully until the end of this project in 2020.

After the midterm evaluation, we discussed about how to design the new modules for Ph.D in Banking and Finance. There are 10 modules presented by all experts including 2 modules involving 3 banking regulators in Indonesia (Bank Indonesia, Otoritas Jasa Keuangan, and Lembaga Penjamin Simpanan). Those modules cover specific areas of banking and finance, such as Islamic Banking; Banking Institution and Bank Risk Management; Banking Regulation and Financial Stability; Structure and Efficiency of Banking Markets; Financial Literacy, Financial Inclusion and Financial Deepening; Corporate Governance of Financial Institutions; Quantitative Finance; Operational Research Artificial Intelligent-Based Techniques in Banking and Finance; and also module that are specifically related to banking industry in Indonesia presented by Dr. Inka Yusgiantoro from Otoritas Jasa Keuangan, Dr. Yoga Affandi from Bank Indonesia, and Dr. Herman Saheruddin from Lembaga Penjamin Simpanan.

The modules discussed in this meeting are planned to be implemented in the beginning of 2020. The pilot project will be conducted in Universitas Sebelas Maret and Institut Teknologi Bandung. The success of the pilot project will open the possibility to apply the modules in each Indonesian Partner University.