On Thursday, 18 June 2026, the Cultural Anthropology Student Family (KEMANT) of Universitas Gadjah Mada held its annual Hearing Department event in Room 201 of the Poerbatjaraka Building, Faculty of Cultural Sciences (FIB) UGM, Yogyakarta. Running from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM WIB, the interactive dialogue was hosted by MC [Name] and moderated by Dionysius Nugroho Danumurti. The session was attended by student representatives across various cohorts alongside faculty members, including Agung Wicaksono, Sita Hidayah, Agus Indiyanto, Mubarika Dyah Fitri Nugraheni, Suzie Handajani, Atik Triratnawati, and Elan Lazuardi. The forum served as a communicative platform to gather, review, and address critical student feedback ranging from academic affairs and curriculum management to student organization governance and campus facility availability.
Through a presentation of pre-collected feedback slides, students highlighted several key issues affecting their daily learning environment. Core discussions focused on the disproportionate workload for introductory courses, course quota limitations during course registration (“War KRS”) that disadvantage internal anthropology students, clarity regarding the role and responsiveness of teaching assistants, and the need for greater transparency in grading. In response, the department welcomed the input constructively and committed to using these written recommendations as an official framework to push for policy improvements at both the faculty and university levels. Beyond classroom learning, the department outlined the strategic reasoning behind rescheduling the Integrated Fieldwork (TPL) to mid-year, primarily to mitigate the risks of natural disasters and extreme weather conditions typically affecting research sites toward the end of the year.
In addition to academic topics, the forum addressed physical infrastructure and internal organizational management. Students emphasized the importance of enhancing building accessibility for individuals with disabilities, reconfiguring classrooms to better facilitate group discussions, creating safe and comfortable public spaces, and optimizing place-of-worship facilities within the faculty grounds. Meanwhile, KEMANT officers took the opportunity to present a transparent financial report of the organization’s funds and introduced an updated leadership election mechanism designed to be more democratic, open, and accountable to all members.
The implementation of this participatory forum aligns closely with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) within higher education. First, it directly advances SDG 4 (Quality Education) through a sustained commitment to improving teaching quality, ensuring fair curriculum adjustments, and fostering a conducive learning environment. Second, the emphasis on providing disability-friendly and fully accessible campus facilities reflects a concrete effort to support SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities). Lastly, the hearing embodies SDG 16 (Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions) by establishing a transparent, accountable, and responsive institutional governance framework for the entire academic community.
Author: Zayyan Faadia Ayutty
