Head of Higher Education Service Institute Region III (LLDikti III) Prof. Dr. Toni Toharudin, S.Si., M.Sc. opened the Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and Talk Show entitled “Strategic Role of Public Relations of Private Universities in Supporting Reputation” at Untar campus, Monday (6/11). The event, which was held in collaboration between LLDikti III and Untar, was attended by representatives from 109 universities.
Head of LLDikti III in his speech revealed that a university must be able to manage the information received by the public well, especially with the rapid development of technology.
“Public Relations determines the success of key performance indicators to improve the reputation of a university through media recognition and technology-based publications,” said Toni.
Farencia, one of the high school student representatives present, said that the communication channels that are widely used by high school students to find out information about the campus are through social media and websites.
“Social media and websites are communication channels that are often used by our generation to find out information about campus, but sometimes the information on campus social media is incomplete and less informative. Likewise, the content on the campus website is not updated,” said Farencia.
Meanwhile, Head of Untar Public Relations Office Dra. Paula T. Anggarina, M.M. in her report said that out of 302 universities under LLDikti III that have a public relations department in their organizational structure is around 45%.
“This event aims to provide input to universities that the existence of a PR organization is very important in encouraging reputation enhancement. It is hoped that in the future all universities will have public relations,” she explained.
The FGD was conducted with public relations representatives from private universities (PTS) in LLDikti III to provide recommendations in the form of operational guidelines. This guideline serves as a reference for PTS in the LLDikti III environment in managing university public relations management.
Each FGD group was guided by Head of Bachelor of Communication Science Program at Universitas Multimedia Nusantara Cendera Rizky Anugrah, M.Si., Head of Communication Reputation Department LSPR Emilya Setyaningtyas, M.I.Kom., and lecturer at Universitas Bhayangkara Jakarta Raya Tri Alida Apriliana, S.I.P., M.I.Kom.
In addition to the FGD, a talk show was also held which presented speakers namely the Person in Charge of Public Relations of the Directorate General of Higher Education Doddy Zulkifli Indra Atmaja, S.I.Kom., M.Si. and Dinna Handini, S.Sos., M.I.Kom., as well as the Head of the Public Relations Bureau and Public Information Office of the Universitas Indonesia Dra. Amelita Lusia, M.Si., CPR.
Doddy explained that reputation will be quickly obtained if there is a public relations structure in each university. “Through the FGD that we do today, it can encourage each university to have a real public relations structure because it can help increase the reputation of each university,” he explained.
Rector of Untar Prof. Dr. Ir. Agustinus Purna Irawan, M.T., M.M., I.P.U., A.E. in his speech viewed the role of public relations as the spearhead of information dissemination and absorbing information from all stakeholders.
This activity is an opportunity for institutions to explore the field of public relations through collaboration between universities that can benefit education in Indonesia. (VW/YS/AW)