Community Service Activities (Abdimas) are one of the forms of the Tri Dharma in higher education, in addition to education and teaching as well as research.
Abdimas activities are one of the elements of the Tri Dharma of higher education. This is proof of the involvement of higher education institutions, especially lecturers, in community development, so that higher education institutions are not considered to be ivory towers.
Moreover, they are not considered to be actively involved in efforts to solve problems that exist in the community.
However, universities are expected to play an active, even proactive role in assisting local governments in solving the problems faced by the community.
Unlike previous community service activities at Widyatama University (UTama), this time the community service by UTama lecturers was carried out in an integrated manner. All faculties and study programs (Prodi) at UTama focused on the development of seven villages in Perongpong District, West Bandung Regency (KBB).
The initial idea to hold UTama’s community service activities in an integrated manner was conveyed by Prof. Dr. Dadang Suganda, M.Hum., Vice Rector 1 for Academic, Student Affairs and Learning at UTama.
In relation to this, the Dean of the Faculty of Languages, Dr. H. Hendar, M.Pd., who is also the Head of the English Study Program Cluster, explained that in the odd semester of the 2021/2022 academic year, this integrated community service program is something new and very necessary to be realized immediately.
“Considering that the issues in society are very complex, they certainly cannot be solved by one discipline alone. But it must be done in an integrative manner across study programs and faculties,” said Hendar recently.
Furthermore, Hendar said that this activity does not only involve lecturers, but also UTama students, as part of the Tri Dharma of higher education.
This is also an effort to implement one of the student learning activities outside the program in accordance with the Merdeka Belajar Kampus Merdeka (MBKM) Curriculum in the form of Village Development for 1 to 2 semesters.
“Specifically in this odd semester, lecturers and students from the English cluster helped create and fill the menu and content of the Karyawangi Village website, located in Parongpong District. This is in accordance with the information needs of the Karyawangi Village community, as conveyed by the Head of Karyawangi Village, Dadang Sudaryat,” concluded Hendar.
