Makassar, June 26, 2025 — The Board of Trustees (MWA) of Hasanuddin University has given its approval in principle for the opening of a Master’s Degree Program (S2) in Educational Management at the Unhas Graduate School. This approval was conveyed during a plenary meeting of the MWA held in Meeting Room A on the 4th floor of the Rectorate Building, with a number of substantial improvements that must be completed before formal approval is granted.

The meeting was chaired by the Chair of the MWA, Prof. Dr. Andi Alimuddin Unde, M.Si., and attended by MWA members, Graduate School leaders, and the Task Force team proposing the study program. The main agenda of the meeting was to provide final considerations and evaluations on the readiness to establish the new study program from non-academic, general policy, financial, and operational sustainability aspects.

During the discussion, MWA members provided various critical inputs. Prof. Andi Niartiningsih emphasized the importance of benchmarking with similar programs at other universities such as UNM, as well as the need for clarity in the direction of curriculum development, graduate profiles, and infrastructure capacity. Prof. Andi Zulkifli stressed the importance of improving the proposal document in terms of substance, format, and continuity between the vision, graduate profiles, and the Tridarma Perguruan Tinggi (Three Pillars of Higher Education).

Dr. Jumiaty Nurung and Prof. Kartini highlighted the aspect of financing, particularly the need to prepare a realistic cash flow and partnership strategies with the education office and local government to support the sustainability of the study program. Meanwhile, Prof. Muh. Arsyad Thaha and Prof. Hasanuddin Thahir emphasized the importance of a clear curriculum and faculty specifications, so that graduate profiles align with the needs of the education management field, rather than merely preparing educators. Prof. Bahruddin Thalib also emphasized that the focus of this program should be addressing the challenges of education management in the region, not just producing teachers.

In response to this input, the Task Force Team stated that the curriculum had been developed based on focus group discussions (FGD), and that strengthening the differentiation of study programs with similar programs at other universities had become a major concern.

Closing the meeting, the MWA Chair stated that this study program had been approved in principle, but would be evaluated periodically. If the implementation of the program did not meet the established baseline, the MWA had the authority to review the continuation of the program.