Page 198 - Universitas Terbuka Center of Excellence In Asia 2010 and The World 2020 (A Journey Towards a Leading Open and Distance Education Institution 1984-2008)

importance of improving the quality of occupational health and safety, intensive

preparation is also conducted for OHSAS 18000:2007 in 2008. Financial
management is also given a serious attention with the preparation for audit to

secure a government statement of Wajar Tanpa Pengecualian, meaning that UT
has a sound fi nancial management system .

For the year 2009, it is expected that the remaining 12 Regional Offices will
be awarded ISO 9001:2000, i.e., (1) Banda Aceh, (2) Pekanbaru , (3) Mataram,

(4) Palangkaraya , (5) Banjarmasin , (6) Samarinda, (7) Kupang , (8) Ambon, (9)
Ternate, (1 0) Jayapura, (11) Batam, and (12) Majene. Step-wise preparation is

also being done to improve the quality of information technology services through
implementing the ISO 20000 Information Technology Service Management (ITSM)

(Zuhairi & Nugraheni, 2008) .

Conclusion

UT effort to attain international recognition through certification of quality
management system in distance education and the implementation of quality

management standards is not an end in itself, but instead it is an instrument for
structuring the management system and a comprehensive approach to improving

the quality of performance. Through the ass-essment parameter determined by an
internationally accrediting organisation , the management process implemented by

UT can be triggered and directed to achieve international standards . Therefore,
UT can achieve its vision to be "one of the centres of excellence among distance

higher education institutions in Asia by 2010 and in the world by 2020". These
efforts will never yield significant achievement unless all members of the

university community are committed to support these efforts for continual quality
improvement.

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