On January 25, 2019, UPH and La Trobe University (LTU) initiated their international partnership through an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) signing at UPH Lippo Village.

The MoU specifies the partnership established between UPH and LTU, which spans across 9 programs – 2 dual degree and 2 combined degree programs with Business School and 5 combined degree programs for UPH undergraduate alumni continuing their Masters in LTU in their Engineering and Science departments.

UPH Rector, Dr. (Hon). Jonathan L. Parapak, M.Eng.Sc. and Kelly Smith, Pro Vice-Chancellor-International of La Trobe University signed the MoU, witnessed by UPH leaders – Gunawaty Tjioe, B.Ed., M.Pd., Ph.D. – Vice President for Academic Affairs, and Budhi T. Yuwono, Senior Assistant to Rector. Other representatives from both institutions are also present – Dr. Sonia Reisenhofer, Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor of La Trobe University from LTU and Prof. Gracia Shinta S. Ugut, M.B.A., Ph.D. – Associate Dean of Business School as well as Eric Jobiliong, Ph.D. – Dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology (FaST) from UPH.

This partnership is one of the efforts done by UPH to ensure that its graduates are ready to compete on an international scale. This program ensures that students can study at La Trobe University for less. It also includes an attractive offer that enables students to take a Master in Engineering for only a year. “The students’ performance and GPA in UPH are obviously important to determine their opportunity,” Gracia S. Ugut, Associate Dean of Business School, explained during the signing.

She also explained that this program can benefit the students greatly due to the fact that they will get an Australian engineer certificate, which enables them to take the Certified Engineer certification. “This certification will give them the chance to work in the 16 countries under the Washington Consensus,” Gracia continued.

La Trobe University hopes to expand its partnership in the future with UPH by also involving lecturers in research collaborations and scientific publications.

The Rector welcomes these partnerships with open arms. This program is one of the strategies UPH implements to improve its educational quality.

“We have to work together with high-quality institutions. This will encourage our lecturers to do collaborative research projects and therefore reach a higher academic position. Aside from that, we also have to prepare for technological advancements that develop so rapidly nowadays. We need a partnership to keep up with developments in technology, educational systems, and new sciences. This way, UPH cannot stay behind – we have to be a front runner,” the Rector stated. (Tm)