Page 327 - Universitas Terbuka Center of Excellence In Asia 2010 and The World 2020 (A Journey Towards a Leading Open and Distance Education Institution 1984-2008)
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2003, and one of active members of International Council for Open and Distance
Education (ICDE) . UT's membership in this international context is a form of UT's
participation in some best practices in the implementation of distance higher
education institutions.
UT's Strategic Plan 2005-2020 was formulated through a critical analysis by
taking into account the following aspects: (1) globalization and world 's economic
changes , (2) continuous improvement of quality, (3) information and
communication technology (ICT), (4) changes in social and political conditions ,
and (5) equality of access to education. These are the most important
considerations in formulating UT's Operational Plans, which are real istic,
concrete, measurable, and specific, which make it easy to be interpreted in real
actions annually, and is influential and beneficial for systematic, comprehensive
and continuous development of UT in the future .
However, until recently UT is still facing some challenges regarding the
perception of society and public image about distance education and UT's system
as well as UT as a distance higher education institution. The perception and
image should he continuously improved until the society truly convinced that
distance higher education institution is a realistic choice which can fulfill the
needs of the society to continue education at the university level. The program of
distance higher education institution should be in line with the progress required
by professional competence and cater for the need of lifelong education , with the
fee within the reach of the clients. At the same time, the culture of learning
should be fostered, so that the system of distance higher education can be
accepted as an effective mode for the government to improve the quality of
human resources and for the community to create, preserve and disseminate new
knowledge .
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