Page 33 - Universitas Terbuka Center of Excellence In Asia 2010 and The World 2020 (A Journey Towards a Leading Open and Distance Education Institution 1984-2008)

After the fixed package of courses could no longer be employed anymore in
the following semester since students might take different courses, the

registration, education fee payment, and course material distribution became
very complex for UT. At that time, UT was still lacking of experiences which thus

generated various constraints in the field of student services.

The Opinion of Decision Maker about
Universitas Terbuka

When UT was officially announced in State Palace by President Soeharto
on the 4 h of September 1984, State Television Network {TVRI) broadcasted
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inaugural lecture of Prof. Sumitro Djojohadikusumo. At that time, the program
could be seen by all attendants of this ceremony.

Maybe an image was built that UT would use TV broadcasting as the main
means of delivering the courses.

When Indonesia launched the first satellite Palapa, one of the reasons of
the government was that the satellite could be used in education and

telecommunication as well. At the time, Hughes Aircraft, which sold the satellite,
came to the Minister of Education to make a kind of education experiments by

means of the satellite. Maybe, because of the high cost, that experiment never
happened except in the planning stage.

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