Tangerang Selatan, August 27, 2025 – Universitas Terbuka (UT) held its annual Rector Greets event for new students of the Odd Academic Year 2025/2026 on Wednesday (8/27) at the Universitas Terbuka Convention Center (UTCC), South Tangerang. This event served as a strategic moment to welcome new students from across Indonesia and abroad and to reaffirm UT’s commitment to providing inclusive, flexible, and quality higher education.
The event was opened with an official welcome from the Rector of UT for the 2025-2030 period, Prof. Dr. Ali Muktiyanto, S.E., M.Si., followed by an almamater pinning ceremony for 15 inspiring new students. In front of thousands of participants, the UT Rector emphasized that UT is not a second choice but a primary one for anyone who wants to pursue higher education. “Enrolling in UT is easy, but graduating requires hard work and discipline,” he stated. He added that UT continues to transform into an open and flexible campus, using digital technology and AI to bring the campus not only into classrooms but also “into our homes, our devices, and even into the depths of our hearts.”
During the event, the Director of Learning and Student Affairs (Belmawa), Dr. Beny Bandanadjaja, delivered a scientific oration titled “From Distance to a Mark,” stressing the importance of UT students mastering digital technology, having self-discipline in learning, and developing problem-solving skills. He reminded students to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) wisely to grow into a resilient and innovative generation in the digital era.
Meeting with the media, Rector Ali Muktiyanto shared his vision of making UT a world-class provider of distance education. UT is targeting 300 research projects per year, producing at least 15 reputable international articles, and creating five downstream products from research. UT is also encouraging lecturers to pursue doctoral studies with university funding support, expanding international research collaborations, strengthening scholarship programs for foreign students, including teachers from Timor Leste, and pioneering academic networks in Africa.
The Rector Greets event reaffirms UT’s role as an Impactful Campus that provides unlimited access to higher education. This commitment aligns with Asta Cita 4—increasing the access, quality, and relevance of higher education to support the vision of Golden Indonesia 2045—and supports the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 4: Quality Education) by promoting equitable and inclusive education for all.
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