Universitas Brawijaya (UB) provides a policy of free payment of Institutional Development Fees (IPI) for New Students with Disabilities (Madif) who are accepted through the Independent Selection for People with Disabilities (SMPD) pathway. Head of the Disability Services Sub-Directorate (SLD) Zubaidah Ningsih AS., Ph.D, Monday (12/8/2024), said that the policy that was just implemented this year, not only implements free IPI but also UKT fee assistance.
“The government also offers ADIK scholarships but can only be accessed in the first semester, so, UB leadership provides this policy. This is a form of UB scholarship support for students with disabilities,” explained Zubaidah.
This year, UB accepted 19 students with disabilities, of which 15 were accepted through the Independent Selection for People with Disabilities (SMPD) pathway, and four students from the SNBP and SNBT pathways. They consist of ADHD (1 person), Physically Disabled (6 people), Deaf (8 people), Blind (3 people), and Slow Learner (1 person).
They are spread across the Faculty of Economics and Business, Faculty of Administrative Sciences, Faculty of Computer Science, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, and Vocational Faculty.
UB has accepted students with disabilities since 2012. During lectures, SLD provides facilities in the form of mentoring, lecturers who have been trained to teach students with disabilities, wheelchair cars for mobilization on campus, screen readers to help blind friends read books or lecture materials, and coaching classes for intensive learning, training critical thinking, TOEFL preparation, and thesis writing. Regarding intellectual mentality, SLD also collaborates with the Counseling Unit for psychological assistance.
Meanwhile, the introduction of Campus Life for New Students of Universitas Brawijaya (PKKMB UB) for the 2024/2025 Academic Year was held for three days, Monday-Wednesday (12-14/09/2024). Different from previous years, this year’s new students were given the task of making an introduction video using sign language.
The Head of the 2024 UB Alma Mater Tour Series of Events (RABRAW) Muhammad Zaki Ibrahim said that the assignment was a form of support for disability inclusion on campus.
“This year’s RABRAW committee involved several disabled students, and the assignment for new students also came from the initiative of the disabled committee. This is one of the implementations of inclusivity on campus,” said Zaki.
Zubaidah appreciated the involvement of disabled students in the committee, including providing disability awareness training to 200 cluster supervisors.
“I am pleased with this development because disabled students have been able to work together with their friends, realized through their cooperation in the PKKMB committee,” said Zubaidah.
Zubaidah said that in preparing for PKKMB 2024, SLD recorded and accumulated the needs of disabled new students, such as the need for Sign Language Interpreters (JBI), assistance, or fast typists.
“Not all deaf friends can do sign language, so we provide nine fast typists so that disabled new students understand the material presented, which is written directly on Google Docs. We also provide twelve JBIs, companions for the blind, wheelchair pushers, and companions for ADHD and slow learners. All of this is to facilitate disabled students to remain focused on participating in PKKMB,” she concluded. [Irene/ UB PR/ Trans. Iir]
