Gadjah Mada University

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A. Overview

Inaugurated on December 19th 1949, Universitas Gadjah Mada or Gadjah Mada University (GMU) was an international university since the beginning. At that time, there were only six faculties namely Medical Science, Law, Literature and Philosophy, Agriculture, and Veterinary Science.

Gadjah Mada University was the first state university in Indonesia. The establishment was very urgent for the country as it needed to yield academically skilled generation to take up independence it just gained. First President Ir. Soekarno’s speech about the statutes of the university was a token of the inauguration. The first rector was Prof. Dr. Sardjito, whose name was used for a hospital where students of the Medical Faculty usually ply their apprenticeships.

At start, the academic activity took place in one of the halls in the Sultan’s Palace of Yogyakarta. It was a form of the Sultanate’s contribution to help realize the dream of enlightening the people of a country that was only four years old.

On July 19th 1952 in Surabaya, there were opened the branch of the Faculty of Law, Social, and Political Sciences. This was later made a faculty of Airlangga University on November 1954. In 1952, to the Faculty of Law, Social and Political Science was added the department of Economics. September in the same year, forestry department was added to Faculty of Agriculture. It was then known as the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry.

Big changes started to occur since September 1955. Names were altered from universitit to universitas and from fakultit to fakultas (faculty). Moreover, there were also many other significant transformations. Faculty of Medical, Dentistry and Pharmacy Sciences was separated to become Faculty of Medical Science, Faculty of Dentistry Science, and Faculty of Pharmacy Science respectively. Undergraduate Course of Biology that had used to be part of the faculty was upgraded to become a distinguished body, Faculty of Biology. As for the Faculty of Law, Economics, and Social and Political Science, it was broken up into three, i.e. Faculty of Law, Faculty of Economics, and Faculty of Social and Political Sciences.

Other Undergraduate Courses such as Mathematics and Civil Engineering Department of Natural Sciences Faculty were joined up in the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. While the Faculty of Literature, Pedagogy and Philosophy developed into three, namely Faculty of Literature and Cultural Sciences, Faculty of Education, and Faculty of Philosophy. The Faculty of Education constituted two parts, Department of Academic Education and Department of Physical Education. Faculty of Veterinary Science was changed into Faculty of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry.

In 1961, one of the departments in the Faculty of Education together with the Undergraduate I Course (B I) and Undergraduate II Course (B II) was joined up to become Faculty of Teacher Training and Pedagogy (FKIP). The in 1962, the Department of Physical Education in the Faculty of Education was upgraded into a separate faculty. There was also Faculty of General Science, which was joined up with the Faculty of Philosophy.

In 1961, the Faculty of Philosophy was dismissed with the Faculty of General Science followed the next year. In 1963, Biro Penyelenggara Kuliah-kuliah Khusus (Office for Special Studies) was founded to make up for the absence of Faculty of General Science and Faculty of Philosophy. In the same year, the Faculty of Physical Education was taken over by the Ministry of Sports and transformed into Sekolah Tinggi Olah Raga (Academy of Sports). Still in the same year, the Department of Forestry Science of the Faculty of Agriculture became the Faculty of Forestry Science and so did the Department of Technology and Department of Agricultural Engineering of the faculty. The two departments became the Faculty of Agricultural Technology. As for the Department of Geography in the Faculty of Literature and Cultural Sciences, it was changed into Faculty of Geography.

With the establishment of the Institute of Teacher Training and Pedagogy (IKIP) in 1964, starting from the same year, the Faculty of Teacher Training and Pedagogy was integrated into the institute. On January 8th 1965, Department of Psychology in the Faculty of Education was upgraded into Faculty of Psychology. On August 18th 1967, Faculty of Philosophy was resurrected and in 1969, the Office for Special Studies was merged with the faculty as the Office for Religious Studies. There was also set up the 18th faculty in 1969, namely the Faculty of Animal Husbandry which was a transformation of Department of Animal Husbandry of the Faculty of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry.

In 1983 there were founded three new faculties, i.e. Non-degree Faculty of Economics, Non-degree Faculty of Technology, and Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies. Therefore in details, Gadjah Mada University at that time ran educational programs as follows:

FACULTY	DATE OF ESTABLISHMENT
Faculty of Law	September 19th 1949
Faculty of Medical Science	September 19th 1949
Faculty of Veterinary Science	September 19th 1949
Faculty of Agricultural Science	September 19th 1949
Faculty of Engineering	September 19th 1949
Faculty of Cultural Sciences	September 19th 1950
Faculty of Biology	September 19th 1955
Faculty of Economics and Business Science	September 19th 1955
Faculty of Pharmacy	September 19th 1955
Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences	September 19th 1955
Faculty of Social and Political Sciences	September 19th 1955
Faculty of Dentistry Science	December 12th 1960
Faculty of Agricultural Technology	August 17th 1963
Faculty of Forestry Science	September 1st 1963
Faculty of Geography	September 19th 1963
Faculty of Psychology	January 8th 1965
Faculty of Philosophy	August 18th 1965
Faculty of Animal Husbandry	November 10th 1969

Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies has become the Post-Graduate School of Gadjah Mada University with over 40 concentrations at either Master (S2) level or Doctoral (S3) level.

Gadjah Mada University has established mutual relations in education, researches, and public service with various institutions either domestic or abroad. Until 2005, the number of the university graduates has reached 157.304.

B. Features

Many Indonesian figures from many disciplines were GMU students. Among them are physical anthropologist T. Jacob, cultural figures Umar Kayam and Koentowijoyo, men of letters W.S. Rendra and Sapardi Djoko Damono, and philosopher Notonagoro.

The university’s Main Building (Gedung Pusat) is one of Soekarno’s designs. Its architecture was inspired by the buildings of Ancient Greek, precisely of Stoic period. Huge pillars were chosen because as in Stoic period, young people always studied together around them. Besides, the pillars also made the Main Building look sturdy.

There is also Grha Sabha Pramana. The building, usually called GSP, is the place where GMU graduation ceremony is regularly held. Before GSP, there is the GMU boulevard, another favorite spot in the complex in which many student clubs do their activities. For tourists, the boulevard is a good place for picture background. At the south end of the boulevard is the GMU circle monument (Bundaran UGM). This monument is a landmark for Jogjanese to define a public transportation route. During the fasting month, students usually crowd this area to sell and seek for typical Ramadan food.

Apart from the two buildings, each faculty in GMU has its own buildings with different architectural characteristics that are too good to miss. Another special feature you can find in GMU is the Sunday Morning, a temporary market only opens on Sundays, wherein people sell things on the sides of the eastern passages. In this market, visitors can shop fashion accessories, and food at relatively low prices. The market is usually used as a gathering place by students or other communities.

Gadjah Mada University is also dubbed as Kampus Biru or the Blue Campus. The nickname is originated from Ashadi Siregar’s novel entitled Cintaku di Kampus Biru (My Love in the Blue Campus) whose story sets in the university. The novel was filmed in 1976 under the same title, featuring actors and actresses Roy Marten, Ami Prijono, Rae Sita and Yati Octavia.

For GMU students, their hobbies, interests and talents are accommodated in the student clubs. There are 51 clubs in the university but only 45 active, namely: 23 sport clubs, 11 art clubs, 5 religious clubs, and 6 special clubs. The details are as follows:

Sport clubs: swimming, diving, karate Inkai, kempo, karate Kala Hitam, pencak silat Merpati Putih, pencak silat Perisai Diri, pencak silat Pro Patria, pencak silat Setia Hati Teratai, tae kwon do, judo, hockey, soccer, softball, volleyball, basketball, athletic, horse riding, bridge, badminton, chess, tennis, and ping pong.

Art clubs: Yogyakarta Arts (SWAGAYUGAMA), Surakarta Arts, Bali dance, new-creation dance, photography, Gama band, marching band, keroncong, student choir, theater and fine art.

Religious clubs: Islamic unit (Jama’ah Shalahuddin), Catholic unit, Christian unit, Hindu unit, Buddha unit.

Special clubs: student journalism body, mapagama (environmentalist club), medical club, scout, student regiment, students’ cooperative “Kopma UGM”.

To support students’ academic activity, GMU provides facilities as follows:

Gadjah Mada University Library Unit that consists of two units, Library Unit I, which is situated in Tri Dharma Street, and Library Unit II, in C. Simanjuntak Street.

Integrated Experiment and Research Laboratories (LPPT) that functions as the center for services of planning and conducting research and development program. The researches being undertaken are valuable and beneficial interdisciplinary applied researches. The researches are usually conducted in cooperation with other universities, government research institutions, industrial institutions, or common people.

Center for Educational Development. This unit is a university institution whose task is to dispose strategies and draw educational development plans and to develop a better system and mechanism for student registration process and for academic monitoring and evaluation.

Center for Language Training that is located in Kaliurang Street, Sekip Utara, Yogyakarta. The institution is established to manage and run language training programs for lecturers and students.

University Archive. The office keeps documents of static archive for public service.

Garden for Agricultural Training, Research, and Development of Gadjah Mada University. The garden was made in 1975 with the aid of the Rockefeller Foundation. It is a Sub-unit of Education Supporting Facilities. The garden’s objective is to promote the university’s role as a center for education, research, and public service for S1, S2, S3 students as well as lecturers. Moreover, the garden also provides rice seeds and non-staple food seeds. It also holds workshop for farmers. The garden is situated around 12 km east of Bulaksumur Campus of Gadjah Mada University. It occupies an area as wide as 35 Ha, which consists of irrigated field of 15 Ha, dry field of 15 Ha, fruit plantation of 0,7 Ha, mulberry garden of 1,5 Ha, and a slanted ground in which there are bamboo plantation, offices, barns, plain square, laboratory, and green house.

Office for Inter-university Relations. The institution aims at increasing and developing the quality and capability of Indonesian universities at S1 level. The objective can be reached by giving the academic staff opportunity to take part in post-graduate academic activities (S2 and S3) and conduct researches.

The university provides scholarships and subsidy for economically troubled students, especially those with good academic achievements. There are also scholarships for high achieving students, either in academic field, sports, or arts.

C. Location

Gadjah Mada University complex is situated in Catur Tunggal Sub-district, Depok District, Sleman Regency, Yogyakarta. It occupies a land as wide as 357 Ha which is divided by Kaliurang Street.

D. Access

The access to get to the campus is very easy because public transportations in Yogyakarta make the spot as one of their route marks.

E. Ticket

Visiting the campus of Gadjah Mada University is free of charge.

F. Accommodations and Facilities

To support students’ activities related to their study, hobby, or talent, Gadjah Mada University has various facilities such as:

Madya Stadium. The stadium is situated in Lembah UGM (GMU Valley) area and used for soccer, athletic, hockey and other activities given permission by the rector. Not only is it for GMU students, Madya Stadium is also available for public.

Softball/baseball Court. The court is open only for softball and baseball club either from GMU or others.

Tennis Court. There are indoor and outdoor tennis courts in Lembah UGM that are available for GMU academic society or public.

Gelanggang Mahasiswa (Student Center). The building consists of secretariat rooms, a meeting room, and a hall. Secretariat rooms are the bases of the Student Clubs. As for the hall, beside used for basketball, volleyball, badminton, and martial arts, it is also where art exhibition and performances are held.

Students’ Cooperative (Kopma UGM). Students’ Cooperative of Gadjah Mada University was founded on March 20th 1982 and today has members of more or less 1150 students. Kopma UGM runs post and telecommunications shop, stores, cafeteria, photocopy shop, and educational institution. Moreover, Kopma UGM also manages the supplies of GMU alma mater jackets, notebooks, and other legal businesses. The ventures are open for public. The stores and photocopy shop are open until 09.00 p.m. and the post and telecommunications ship is open 24 hours a day. Other businesses work from 08.00 a.m. until 02.00 p.m. on workdays.

Open space. Gadjah Mada University provides an open space in Lembah UGM for musical/art performance or other student activities.

Student Dormitory. Gadjah Mada University has three dormitories for its students under the management of Student’s Wellbeing Supervisory Board (Bagian Kesejahteraan Mahasiswa). The three dormitories are:

Darma Putra Dormitory. Located in Andong Street, Baciro, Yogyakarta (± 3 km east of the campus of Gadjah Mada University). It consists of 96 rooms, three stories, and a lobby for every six rooms.

Cemaralima Dormitory. Located in Karanggayam, Depok, Sleman (± 1 km north of the campus). The building has two wings, each consists of 4 stories. There are 12 rooms in a story. For every three rooms, there is one lobby, kitchen, and bathroom.

Ratnaningsih Girl Dormitory. Located in Kartini Street, Sagan, Yogyakarta (± 500 m south of the campus). It has two stories with 30 bedrooms. Each room measures 4 x 5 m and can accommodate 3 students.

Gadjah Mada Healthcare Center (GMC). The clinic provides healthcare service for GMU students.

Center for Information and Communication Technology Services (PPTIK). The unit facilitates and helps students, lecturers, staff, and all GMU work units with communication technology. The facilities provided are:

Fiber Optical Network covering all the faculties and work units. It is built up based on gigabyte technology.

Ethernet in Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Economics, Medical Sciences, and Agricultural Technology Faculties. The network makes possible the communication among GMU work units.

Hot spots in many places in GMU complex. Today there are at least 18 hot spots and the number will likely increase in the coming years.

Email for students, lecturers, employees, and all GMU work units. The email capacity is 10 Mbps at minimum and can be enhanced according to the needs.

Web hosting facility for students, lecturers, employees, organizations, and all work units under the university. The minimum capacity is 50 Mbps and can be enhanced according to the needs.

Telephone networks.

Computer networks and server terminal.

University Repair Shop. Located in Grafika Street, Sekip Utara, Yogyakarta, or north of Gadjah Mada University Press and south of Gadjah Mada Postgraduate Schools. It occupies a land as wide as 10.500 m². The main building’s width is 4.160 m². The repair shop provides services of reparation, maintenance, and manufacturing various tools to support the works of all work units of Gadjah Mada University.

Apart from the above facilities, around the complex of Gadjah Mada University there are also some banks and ATMs. As for inns, there are lots of them along Kaliurang Street. Tourists can also buy GMU souvenirs in the Kopma UGM.

Text: Adi Tri Pramono
Photo(s): Collection of Jogjatrip.com
Translation: Reza Daffi
(Primary data and various sources)

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