Productive Professors and Barren Professors

Many awards are given to lecturers and researchers based on "ter" so many people pursue it.

KOMPAS/HERYUNANTO

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Currently being widely discussed, an Indonesian professor, young, just inaugurated in January 2024, is able to publish 160 articles in journals during 2024 which has only been running for 3.5 months.

Hundreds of these articles can easily be found by searching the professor's name and 2024 on Google Scholar. Aside from the issue of false use of the Malaysian professor's name that is still being disputed, the writer is more focused on the number 160.

Even though not all of them are published in reputable journals and are joint publications with students or colleagues and the submission process may have started several months or years ago, 160 articles in 100 days is extraordinary.

Unfortunately, we are not used to being critical. Everything that is "best" - fastest, youngest, most, most productive - is still the basis for giving awards. Many awards are given to lecturers and researchers based on "ter" so many pursue it even though the process is unnatural.

Also read: Scientific Publications and Intellectual Maturation

Title assignment

The author does not wish to further discuss the professors or those who are capable of being productive. As a fellow professor, the author is actually reflecting. It is clear that the author is not part of the productive group, but also does not hope to be part of the unproductive group, not achieving 160, but zero.

From the author's observations as a visiting scholar at Purdue University currently, at Purdue, like at universities in other developed countries, the title of professor is not placed in front of the name, but under the name. Sometimes it's not even pinned.

This is different from Indonesian professors who like to add the word "prof" in front of their names, including in the naming of their profiles on WhatsApp, Telegram, or other communication media. The education title is permanent and recognized anywhere as long as it has been obtained through formal and standardized education, thus deserving to be directly attached to their names.

However, professorship is a local nature and only applies when tied to teaching, research, and service work. The author's doctoral degree is acknowledged at Purdue and written in every activity the author undertakes there, but not with the author's professorship.

When giving an internal seminar at Purdue, the moderator, who is also an associate professor, calls the author a doctor, not a professor. Previously, he had confirmed, "... and you are a professor of architecture, right?" The author confirmed this and said that professors in Indonesia are at state level and the decree (SK) is signed by the minister.

”Really? "Your professorship must be special then," he commented. It should be, but is it true? Regarding this title, the author once argued with the business card team on campus who insisted on putting "prof" in front of the name, while the author felt it was unnecessary, or at most under the name. For the author, business cards are to be distributed to foreign colleagues to explore opportunities for international research collaboration with developed countries, which do not recognize "prof" before their name.

Apart from being involved in discussions regarding the surprising number 160, since the beginning of this year the author has also received surprising but encouraging news.

Many awards are given to lecturers and researchers based on "ter" so that many pursue it even though the process is unnatural.

There are quite a few friends from school, childhood friends, and work friends who have been confirmed as professors. Actually, it is not surprising because now the process of proposing a professor has become more transparent and the timing is clearer, even up to the level of the ministry.

Don't be barren

Becoming a professor is a source of pride for every lecturer and researcher - even those who are not lecturers or researchers can obtain it in Indonesia - because it gives a prestigious impression.

Unfortunately, after chasing it tirelessly, the professors were then grouped into three categories. Firstly, those who are highly productive, and sometimes do unusual things to become even more prominent.

Secondly, those who are sterile, because they already feel victorious and confirmation is the pinnacle, causing productivity to decline sharply. Even for the purposes of reporting lecturer certification, they resort to manipulating books that are "not books".

Third, the mediocre group.

I hope to belong to the last group, namely those who are still trying to maintain their eligibility as a professor even though they have not been able to do extraordinary things.

"Distinguished" is not the same as productive

In many developed countries, the termdistinguished professor is known, which the author only read the definition of when he received an invitation to visiting scholarfrom Purdue. The department chair is a distinguished professor and my research partner is an “ordinary professor”.

Their title was written below the name in the invitation, making the writer curious. Distinguished professor is a professor with extraordinary productivity in terms of research, publication and implementation that is internationally recognized. Like the awarding of the title of professor which is the authority of each university, the awarding of the title of distinguishedis also internal, but is accompanied by extraordinary responsibility, not just pursuing "the most and the fastest".

Even if we observe, many professors at Purdue are highly productive in terms of quality and reputation, but still considered "ordinary professors." This makes me reflect on myself, someone who already feels productive but has not achieved anything. Feeling like I belong in the "middle professor" group in Indonesia, but in America, I am still considered a zero professor.

Also read: Scientific Publications that Increasingly Focus on Quality and Maintaining Integrity

By diligently presenting and handing out business cards when meeting foreign colleagues, hopefully this will be a way to continue collaborating internationally. Not to become a distinguished professor by means of a top-scorer, but rather to maintain one's dignity as a professor so as not to fall into a barren group who have to manipulate here and there to keep certification benefits flowing.

Christina Eviutam Mediastika, Lecturer at Ciputra University Surabaya, Fulbright Visiting Scholar at Purdue University