Semarang, Semarang State Polytechnic (Polines) held an alumni meeting which was held at the Polines Integrated Lecture Building, Sunday (30/7/2023). The event was one of a series of activities to welcome Polines' 41st anniversary.
The alumni gathering event invited Polines alumni from the early generation in 1982, to those who had just graduated a few years ago. The activity was also attended by the Director and Deputy Director of Polines, and also the heads of departments at the polytechnic.
In his remarks, the Director of Polines, Totok Prasetyo said that the alumni gathering was also a symbolic form, in inviting alumni to remember their previous alma mater.
“It's time for us to fight together to be able to help this polytechnic even better. Polytechnic (Semarang State) calls alumni to take part, what can we do for our alma mater," he said.
According to Totok, the role of alumni in advancing Polines is very important. He hopes that alumni will also have a moral responsibility to their alma mater, not only giving criticism, but also actively participating. This figure, who is also the first generation alumni of Polines, relates this to the status of Polines, which has now become BLU. This condition affects Polines who can be more flexible in managing finances.
"The most important thing is that alumni can work there. We will later have what is called a business service unit, so the polytechnic may do business services. This is of course outside of the polytechnic organization, but it helps the polytechnic to be more advanced," he said.
He continued, this business service unit will be managed by alumni who are competent and have knowledge related to business in the outside world. Therefore, Totok hopes that before they can reap the fruits of their success, the alumni are invited to join hands to develop and raise the name of the business service unit idea.
Totok explained that this business service unit would then be synergized with student final project products as well as lecturer research. Before that, of course, the final project and research will be developed in advance by the technology development unit and superior products so that they can be sold in the outside world.
“These Polines are not fake, one of them is a mechanical engineering student who just won a silver medal in the competition yesterday mechanical engineering CAD ASEAN level. There are also many of our potential students, which must be there link with industry friends," said Totok.
In more detail, Totok revealed that this was in line with the vision of Polines which is not only recognized nationally, but also internationally. This view is also reflected in the cooperation between Polines and 50 universities abroad. Domestically, Polines can also make their name stand out with a number of programs Matching Fund which has increased compared to the previous year, which in 2023 will be the most in all the Director General of Vocational Studies, with a total of 18 projects.
"Come on, my friends, join together to build Polines. Polines calls on its alumni to join, to build, to make Polines even bigger," he concluded.
On the same occasion, the Head of the Polines Alumni Association (IKA Polines) Budi Pribadi admitted that he was surprised by the development of Polines so far. The second generation Polines graduate said that the appearance of Polines was very different from when he was studying.
"The current Polines are very, very different, and outside the alumni (also) they are really taken into account. Physically, you can see how much progress has been made surprise,” he said.
On this occasion, the Head of the IKA Polines for the 2023-2028 period said that going forward, alumni have planned several programs to assist the teaching and learning process. Some of them are CSR programs and also support for alumni who want to start or develop their businesses.
"Graduates and graduates in the future, later we will immediately give one KTA (membership card), to show that you are members of IKA Polines, so we can immediately have database complete," he said.
According to him, this is one way to make alumni still have a sense of love for the alma mater. For alumni who are still not registered, his party will also deploy coordinators in each department to collect data. Thus, if the Polines graduates want to contribute, they will be well accommodated.