ITS Campus, ITS News — The Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS) continues to support the realization of inclusive and accessible services for people with disabilities. To realize this effort, ITS collaborated with the Asia Human Development Center (AHDC) Japan and the Pijar Foundation to hold a discussion forum on Friday (August 7) to discuss improving the quality of disability services.
ITS Vice Rector III for Human Resources, Organization, and Information Systems Technology, Imam Baihaqi, ST, MSc, PhD, stated that this opportunity would strengthen the Campus of Heroes’ efforts to realize its commitments. One of these commitments is the development of policies supporting disability services. “This momentum is crucial considering that the development of disability services is currently in its early stages,” he said.
Imam added that ITS realized this commitment through its participation in the KRISAN Fellowship program organized by the Pijar Foundation. Through this program, ITS developed an action plan titled ITS Inclusive Campus Readiness 2027, initiated by Dr. Any Werdhiastutie, ST, MSi, Secretary to the Head of the ITS Disability Services Preparation Team, along with Sri Lestari, SST, a representative from the Disability Services Preparation Team.
Imam continued, explaining that the program will be implemented through eight activities throughout 2027. The series of activities will begin with a kick-off meeting and a consensus-building meeting among ITS leadership. Furthermore, ITS will develop governance and standard operating procedures (SOPs) for services for students with disabilities, as well as conduct inclusive education training for lecturers and educational staff.
Furthermore, an initial condition assessment was conducted to determine the readiness of human resources (HR), curriculum, and facilities in each ITS department. The assessment results then serve as the basis for mapping the level of readiness of each department and identifying aspects that still need strengthening. Each department will then receive recommendations as a reference in preparing and developing disability services according to its needs.
The lecturer from the ITS Business Management Department added that this program provides opportunities for students to participate through physical and digital accessibility audits. Furthermore, representatives from ITS students and student organizations will participate in focus group discussions (FGDs) to formulate peer support mechanisms. “This series of activities will involve monitoring , evaluation, and dissemination of results at the end of the period,” he explained.
Echoing Imam, ADHC CEO Prof. Hisao Chiba added that ITS is one of the universities in Indonesia selected to collaborate on developing a disability services unit. He stated that equitable academic access is key to the program’s success. “We hope the KRISAN Fellowship program can create effective service practices,” he emphasized.
Through this discussion forum, ITS had the opportunity to learn directly from AHDC Japan and the Pijar Foundation regarding best practices in disability services implemented in Japanese universities. Furthermore, the two institutions provided input on the action plan to be implemented next year, while strengthening national and international networks for the development of inclusive higher education.
The implementation of this program demonstrates ITS’s commitment to providing fair and equal access to education for its entire academic community. This step is an effort to build a higher education ecosystem that is welcoming to people with disabilities. This collaboration also supports the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically Goal 4 on Quality Education and Goal 17 on Partnerships for Achieving the Goals. (*)
Reporter: Mohammad Fariz Irwansyah
Redaktur: Andra Eka Wijayanti