Shuri Mariasih Gietty Tambunan, Ph.D., Head of the Literature Postgraduate Program and Lecturer at the Faculty of Humanities, Universitas Indonesia, recently participated in the DIES-NMT (National Multiplication Training) Closing Conference in Berlin and Potsdam, Germany. The event brought together 15 teams from Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America, each of which had conducted National Multiplication Trainings in their respective countries.
The DIES-NMT programme, coordinated by the Centre for Quality Development at the University of Potsdam, is a key pillar of the Dialogue on Innovative Higher Education Strategies (DIES) initiative, jointly managed by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the German Rectors’ Conference (HRK), with funding from Germany’s Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The programme empowers DIES alumni to serve as multipliers in higher education management and ensures the sustainability of DIES trainings globally.
Gietty Tambunan, Ph.D. attended as part of the You-Lead Indonesia Training Committee, alongside fellow DIES alumni Prof. Yuli Rahmawati (Universitas Negeri Jakarta & Indonesian Cultural and Educational Attaché in Australia), Indira Prabasari, Ph.D. (Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta), and Condro Wibowo, Ph.D. (Universitas Jenderal Soedirman). The team was supported by two international experts: Prof. Kai Handel (Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences, Germany, and also the program director of the International Deans Course) and Prof. Ong Duu Sheng (Multimedia University, Malaysia, and also trainer/speaker in higher education leadership and quality assurance workshops such as DIES International Deans’ Course Southeast Asia, ASEAN-TrainIQA&-SQUARED, National Multiplication Trainings, SEAMEO-RIHED, and EU-SHARE).
You-Lead Indonesia was designed with three core objectives: build leadership skills tailored to the Indonesian Higher Education system and the “Merdeka Belajar – Kampus Merdeka” (MBKM) policy, equip young university leaders with governance, change, conflict, and project management skills to support sustainable Tridharma implementation (teaching, research, community engagement), and guide participants in developing actionable Project Action Plans (PAP) for sustainability initiatives at their home institutions.
The program trained 25 young Indonesian university leaders under the age of 45, including Directors, Vice Deans, Academic Managers, Heads of Departments/Study Programs, and International Office Heads. From the Faculty of Humanities, Universitas Indonesia, Rouli Esther Pasaribu, PhD. (Manager of Academic Affairs) took part, developing a Project Action Plan titled Systematic and Informative: Academic Management System of MBKM in the Faculty of Humanities, Universitas Indonesia.
The collective outputs of You-Lead Indonesia, showcased at the Closing Conference, included a book, a podcast series, a non academic (semi popular) article and an academic article under the Micro Fund Project, enabling the dissemination of participants’ work to a wider audience.
Reflecting on her journey, Dr. Gietty shared:
“This started from when I participated in the International Dean’s Course for Southeast Asia (IDC SEA) from 2022–2023. Meeting young university leaders from Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries, we often reflected on how we were academics suddenly assigned leadership or management roles—without formal training. Learning by doing was often not enough. Over the course of two years and three training phases, we learned about leadership, governance, change and project management, conflict management, and more. I realized that many other young university leaders desperately need such training. What started as a personal journey has now become a national initiative. In this collective, we share concerns about the ever-changing higher education landscape in Indonesia. Trainings like these must be available for academics appointed as Deans, Vice Deans, Managers, Heads of Programs, and other leadership positions.”
Gietty’s involvement in You-Lead Indonesia and the DIES-NMT Closing Conference marks another significant contribution of the Faculty of Humanities to both national and international academic leadership networks. By being part of the forefront in shaping young university leaders across Indonesia, the Faculty not only gains international recognition but also fosters a culture where leadership is seen not merely as a career peak, but as a continuous space for learning, growing, and becoming.
