Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia (UPI) reaffirmed its dedication to transparency in public information, as expressed by its Rector, Prof. Dr. M. Solehuddin, M.Pd., M.A., following his participation as a speaker at BUKA Magazine by the Central Information Commission on Friday (April 19, 2024), held at the UPI Rectorate Building, Bumi Siliwangi Campus.

During the session, Rector Solehuddin expressed gratitude for the recognition and acknowledgment received by the university as an informative institution. However, he acknowledged the accompanying challenge for UPI to continually enhance the quality of information provided to the public.

“Alhamdulillah, this is a recognition, an acknowledgment, that we should be grateful for. However, it also poses a challenge because we are already recognized as a fairly informative institution, which is good in this regard,” he stated.

According to Solehuddin, UPI bears the responsibility to respond to this challenge by translating the recognition into even more maximal efforts in providing the information needed by the public. “Therefore, we should learn from our experiences to continuously improve and maintain, so that we do not revert to the previous state, which tended to be less informative,” he added.

UPI has taken concrete steps to ensure public information disclosure, including issuing a Rectoral Regulation on exempted information. This measure is taken to ensure that the university’s policies genuinely serve public interest and do not violate applicable regulations.

“We issue the rectoral regulation without hesitation. The rectoral regulation concerning which information is exempted. If there are improvements later on, that’s fine, but we issue it first. This is what we know, what we understand, and what we maintain,” explained Solehuddin. He emphasized that ensuring information disclosure requires not only clear regulations but also strong commitment from all elements within UPI. “We must have commitment because this is a public institution, it is our mandate. This is a public institution and therefore we must ensure that our policies, that the implementation of our policies, are truly maximal for the public interest,” he emphasized.

Furthermore, the Rector emphasized the importance of receiving input from various parties to continue improving and enhancing information transparency. “To know that, they must be open so that they can also provide input to us. Is that right? Don’t just say it’s right. But it must be right, it must be seen from various parties. Of course, if there are differences of opinion, we discuss them,” he said.

The statement by UPI’s Rector was well-received by the Commissioner of the Central Information Commission (KIP), who acknowledged that UPI is among the 32 percent of universities already categorized as good in terms of information transparency.

“Yes, when we talk about information transparency in the education sector, especially universities, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia is among the 32 percent that are already categorized as good. This is certainly thanks to the commitment of the rector and his staff because when we talk about transparency, the most important thing is the commitment from the leadership of the public body,” said Rospita Paulyn Vici, KIP Commissioner.

With the commitment demonstrated by UPI’s Rector towards information transparency and the enthusiasm to improve information services, UPI hopes to set an example for other universities in this era. Additionally, UPI also hopes that all universities can be categorized as good and achieve the expected standards in terms of information transparency.