English Version
OIA UGM, as an office that deals with foreign affairs, needs to establish partnerships with institutions from various nations. In this episode of OIA Behind the Scene, we will meet Maylany Ika Putri, familiarly called Maylany. Maylany is Program Coordinator (PC) for Europe and Middle East Regions at OIA UGM. Do you want to know what it’s like behind the scenes?
Maylany is in charge of UGM’s collaboration with European and Middle Eastern partners in general. “In this context, collaboration entails initiating, negotiating, and conversing with partners, among several other things. If it is mutually agreed upon, we will also assist in the processing of finalizing the agreement,” Maylany explained.
This collaboration can take several forms, including students and staff exchanges, double degrees, and lecturer visits. “Research, yes. Double degree, also yes. Mainly, we are in charge of collaboration in the academic affairs. For business affairs, there is another directorate that is in charge,” she went on.
This collaboration extends not only at the university level but also at the faculty level. “Faculty usually ask for our assistance (OIA, red),” Maylany elaborated. As the implementation of the agreements is carried out by the faculty or other working units, such as the study center, Maylany is also in charge of sharing information and bridging the communication between the working units and partners from Europe and the Middle East. “However, there are faculties with high mobility, for example, Fisipol. They usually take care of exchange agreements themselves,”
Maylany, as a PC, is frequently in charge of partner visits from Europe or the Middle East. One of them was set in March 2020, when the King of the Netherlands, Willem-Alexander, and Queen Maxima paid a visit to UGM. Maylany also took part in the event arrangement. “Alhamdulillah, it went well, and to my knowledge, no COVID-19 cluster was found as a result of the event,” Maylany stated. For most cases, PCs also assist the courtesy meetings and partner campus tours. Unlike the Mobility Division, PC is primarily concerned with institutions and does not interact directly with students. “The fun thing is that you often get gifts from OIA’s international partners when there are incoming visits,” Maylany added.
Of course, there are several stories of Maylany’s communication dynamics with European and Middle Eastern partners. “In terms of mailing, they are quite straightforward, discussing the collaboration’s aim directly. They also despise long-winded responses. They’d rather receive terrible news but clear, rather than have their expectations high but never meet,” Maylany explained.
Indonesia is certainly in a separate time zone from Europe and the Middle East. Maylany did not consider the time difference to be a significant issue because of the limited working hours. “Since I tend to have good relations with institutions that I’m working with, I can be more assertive when it comes to determining working hours. So, if I haven’t received a response, it’s possible that it’s not during their business hours, and vice versa” Maylany explained.
Interestingly, Maylany’s experience as a PC makes her a more open-minded person. “From institutions like universities, we can understand why the UK is unique, why they left Brexit, and several other reasons,” Maylany said, laughing. In addition, Maylany also learned not to take everything personally, considering that each partner has a different mindset and communication culture.
“There was also an incident in the past. It was when one of our UK partners emailed to say that they wanted to visit UGM. I sent them a confirmation email to ensure their arrival, but they did not respond. Suddenly, on the d-day, they arrived. We were shocked, then quickly prepared everything needed,” Maylany explained. “The partner then enlightened me that in their culture, i they have previously scheduled an appointment at the first place, they will show up, unless there is additional information that conveyed the opposite.”
Finally, policy and cultural contrasts between Indonesia and other countries necessitated Maylany’s ability to be astute and broad-minded. Learning something new and totally foreign to her academic background is also a challenge but at the same time a perk of this job. “I’d like to say that I enjoy this job more than I should complain,” Maylany said.
Indonesian Version
Sebagai kantor yang menangani urusan internasional, OIA UGM tentu perlu menginisiasi kerja sama dengan institusi dari berbagai negara. Pada segmen #BehindOIA kali ini, kita akan berkenalan dengan Maylany Ika Putri, atau akrab disapa sebagai Maylany. Di OIA UGM, Maylany memiliki posisi sebagai Program Coordinator (PC) for European & Middle Eastern Regions. Seperti apa, ya, detailnya?
Secara umum, Maylany bertanggung jawab atas urusan kerja sama antara UGM dengan pihak-pihak di Eropa dan Timur Tengah. “Kerja sama ini maksudnya berupa inisiasi, negosiasi, diskusi dengan mitra, dan lain sebagainya. Kalau sudah saling setuju, kita juga membantu memproses finalisasi kerja samanya,” terang Maylany.
Penerapan kerja sama ini juga beragam, mulai dari pertukaran mahasiswa dan staf, double degree, hingga kunjungan dosen pun termasuk di dalamnya. “Riset iya, double degree, iya. Yang jelas kerja sama di ranah akademik. Kalau bisnis ada direktorat lain lagi,” lanjutnya.
Urusan kerja sama ini tidak hanya pada tingkat universitas, namun juga pada tingkat fakultas. “Biasanya dari fakultas, terus minta tolong ke kita (OIA, red),” jelas Maylany. Mengingat implementasi kerja sama dilakukan di tingkat fakultas ataupun unit kerja lainnya, seperti pusat studi, Maylany bertanggung jawab untuk mendiseminasikan informasi dan menjembatani komunikasi antara unit kerja dengan pihak mitra dari Eropa ataupun Timur Tengah. “Tapi, ada fakultas yang mobility-nya gede banget, misal Fisipol. Nah, mereka biasanya ngurus exchange agreement sendiri,”
Sebagai PC, Maylany juga tidak jarang perlu menangani kunjungan mitra dari Eropa atau Timur Tengah. Salah satunya pada Maret 2020, UGM menerima kunjungan dari Raja Belanda Willem-Alexander dan Ratu Maxima. Maylany ikut andil dalam perencanaan dan pelaksanaannya. “Alhamdulillah terlaksana dengan baik, dan sepengetahuanku, nggak ada klaster Covid-19 dari acara itu,” ujar Maylany. Normalnya, PC juga turut menangani courtesy meeting ataupun campus tour mitra. Berbeda dengan Divisi Mobility, PC lebih berkaitan dengan institusi, tidak handling mahasiswa secara langsung. “Serunya, saat kunjungan sering dapet souvenir oleh-oleh dari negara mitra,” kata Maylany.
Tentu banyak cerita dari dinamika berkomunikasi Maylany dengan pihak asal Eropa maupun Timur Tengah. “Kalau di e-mail, mereka sangat straightforward, bahasnya apa yang memang menjadi tujuan kerjasama. Mereka juga nggak suka jawaban yang bertele-tele. Mereka mending tahu berita yang jelek sekalian tapi jelas, daripada di-PHP,” terangnya.
Indonesia berada pada zona waktu yang berbeda dengan Eropa dan Timur Tengah. Terkait perbedaan waktu tersebut, Maylany merasa tidak ada masalah berarti karena adanya batasan jam kerja. “Kalau di tempatku hubungannya sama institusi, jadi bisa lebih tegas untuk menentukan working hours. Jadi kalau belum dibalas, mungkin memang di jam itu sudah bukan working hoursnya mereka, begitu juga sebaliknya” terang Maylany.
Menariknya, banyaknya komunikasi yang dilakukan Maylany membuatnya menjadi pribadi yang lebih terbuka. “Dari institusi seperti universitas saja kita bisa paham, kenapa ya UK ini unik, kenapa ya mereka keluar dari Brexit, dan kenapa-kenapa lainnya,” kata Maylany sambil tertawa. Selain menjadi lebih terbuka, Maylany juga belajar untuk tidak memasukkan ke dalam hati apa-apa yang terjadi, mengingat tentu tiap pihak memiliki pola pikir dan kultur komunikasi yang berbeda-beda.
“Dulu pernah juga ada kejadian, mitra UK kirim email, bilang mau datang ke UGM. Saat dikonfirmasi lagi mereka nggak bales. Tiba-tiba, di hari-h mereka datang, dong. Langsung, deh, siapin segala hal saat itu juga,” terang Maylany. “Intinya, mereka kalau sudah set waktu dan konfirmasi di awal, mereka bakal komit sama itu. Kecuali kalau misal ada informasi lanjutan yang menyatakan sebaliknya.”
Pada akhirnya, adanya perbedaan kebijakan dan budaya antara Indonesia dengan negara lain juga menuntut Maylany untuk menjadi pribadi yang solutif dan berwawasan luas. Belajar hal-hal baru dan sama sekali berbeda dari latar belakang pendidikannya juga merupakan tantangan, tetapi di saat yang sama juga menjadi keuntungan. “Menurutku lebih banyak enjoy-nya sih daripada sedihnya,” pungkas Maylany.
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