The Faculty of Agriculture and Animal Science (FPP) of Muhammadiyah University of Malang is currently collaborating with several universities in Thailand to strengthen its performance in the field of international cooperation. This collaboration is in accordance with the Main Performance Indicators (IKU) made by the Directorate General of Higher Education (Dikti) of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (Kemendikbudristek). These include indicators of study programs collaborating with international campuses, lecturers doing activities on foreign campuses, and student mobility.
Furthermore, four campuses in Thailand were visited to directly sign and initiate cooperation. This visit opened up opportunities for students on both campuses to conduct student exchanges and credit transfer programs. For lecturers, this visit opened up opportunities to organize guest lectures. The first and second campuses visited included Prince of Songkla University and Silpakorn University. The signing agenda was attended by all levels of the Dean, Head of Study Program, and Secretary of Study Program at FPP UMM directly in Thailand.
Figure 1. The signing of a collaboration between the Faculty of Agriculture and Animal Science, Muhammadiyah University of Malang and the Faculty of Natural Resources, Prince of Songkla University, Thailand.
Figure 2. The signing of a collaboration between the Faculty of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry of University of Muhammadiyah Malang and the Faculty of Animal Husbandry and Agricultural Technology of Silpakorn University, Thailand.
The third campus visited by the FPP group was Chulalongkorn University, where this campus will establish cooperation, especially with the Halal Science Center. The signing of the MoU is planned to be carried out on the UMM campus during the Halal National Seminar on September 5 and 6. Cooperation with the Halal Science Center is to strengthen research collaboration, especially related to forensic testing to determine whether the product is halal or not. At the faculty level, FPP also opens opportunities for cooperation in the fields of research and education with the Faculty of Science at Chulalongkorn University.
Figure 3. Visit and cooperation between the Faculty of Agriculture and Animal Science, Muhammadiyah University of Malang and The Halal Science Center Chulalongkorn University Thailand.
Figure 4. Initiation of cooperation between the Faculty of Agriculture and Animal Science, University of Muhammadiyah Malang and the Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand.
The fourth campus visited was Kasetsart University, where an MoU was signed between Kasetsart University and UMM, which was attended by UMM Rector Prof. Dr. Fauzan, M.Pd. The signing of the MoU is all about supporting student mobility activities, research collaboration with each study program in accordance with scientific fields, and internship programs in the field of research.
Figure 5. The signing of a collaboration between University of Muhammadiyah Malang and University of Kasetsart, Thailand.
Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture and Animal Science, Dr. Ir. Aris Winaya, MM. M.Si., IPU, ASEAN Eng was met after the visit, explained that the consideration in choosing a campus in Thailand is the excellence of each university in the fields of agriculture and Animal science; besides that, the selected campus is ranked among the best QS in the world. Through this international cooperation, it is hoped that it can increase collaboration so as to create innovations in their respective scientific fields that help improve the quality of universities in Indonesia. Several cooperation programs were agreed upon in order to synergize between the two universities so that they could later facilitate activities. The results of this collaboration will open up opportunities for all students of the Faculty of Agriculture-Animal Sciences, University of Muhammadiyah Malang, to conduct research, student exchanges, and international seminars, which are useful for improving academic levels.
