UNU Jogja Prepares RPL Assessors to Recognize New Students’ Prior Competencies

Yogyakarta, Indonesia - Recognizing the knowledge, skills, and work experience of prospective students is an important focus for Universitas Nahdlatul Ulama Yogyakarta (UNU Jogja). This is reflected in the steps taken by UNU Jogja’s Directorate of Academic Innovation and Curriculum to prepare for the implementation of Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) ahead of the new academic year.

Director of Academic Innovation and Curriculum at UNU Jogja, Harisna Hikmah, S.Pd., M.Pd., said RPL is one of UNU Jogja’s efforts to provide academic recognition for competencies already possessed by prospective students.

The program will be implemented as part of the 2026/2027 new student admission process. Competencies gained through work experience or previous education can later be assessed and recognized as equivalent to learning outcomes for certain courses.

“RPL is intended for prospective new students who have already worked, have previously undertaken formal or non-formal education, or are vocational high school graduates with certain skills. This means they do not necessarily have to start from scratch. Their existing skills can be assessed and recognized for certain courses, allowing them to continue their undergraduate studies at UNU Jogja in accordance with applicable regulations,” she said.

To support the implementation of RPL, UNU Jogja is strengthening lecturers’ competencies and professionalism to prepare them as prospective RPL assessors. One of the initiatives is the RPL Assessor Training Workshop, which featured Siti Rochmah Ika, S.E., M.Sc., Akt., CA., from Universitas Janabadra Yogyakarta.

“We organized this workshop to help lecturers understand the regulations, assessor ethics, evidence criteria (VATM), and how to analyze RPL assessment instruments. Hopefully, after this training, our lecturers, as RPL assessors, will be ready to conduct assessments objectively, measurably, and in accordance with established standards,” Harisna said on Thursday, August 27.

According to Harisna, assessors play an important role in RPL implementation because the recognition of prior learning must be based on verifiable evidence and competencies. Assessors will be responsible for evaluating prospective students’ learning evidence and experience to determine their equivalence with the established learning outcomes.

The assessors’ responsibilities include verifying documents, evaluating self-assessments, determining transfer or credit recognition, and reporting assessment results.

“Our target is for UNU Jogja to have qualified RPL assessors and for our study programs to be ready to open RPL programs. So, we are not only preparing the assessors but also the study programs to ensure that RPL can be implemented properly,” she added.

Reporter: Latifah