Number: 326/UN1/SU/Set-SU/HM.02.01/2025

Clarification Regarding Administrative Issues in the Promotion Process of UGM Lecturer 

Dr. Noer Kasanah

Yogyakarta, January 19, 2025 – Social media has been buzzing with the controversy surrounding Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), which has been perceived as obstructing the promotion of lecturer Dr. Noer Kasanah from the Department of Fisheries, Faculty of Agriculture, to the rank of professor. 

The individual concerned claimed to have been systematically impeded when applying for a promotion at the Department of Fisheries, UGM Faculty of Agriculture. Through its University Secretary, Directorate of Human Resources, Legal and Organizational Bureau, and Public Relations and News Division, UGM firmly states that these allegations are ‘untrue.’

The delay in the promotion process was in full accordance with UGM’s administrative procedures, as well as the prevailing rules and regulations.

The promotion process at UGM involves a series of evaluations covering various aspects, including academic performance, research contributions, community service, as well as integrity, ethics, and conduct as stipulated in the Lecturer Code of Ethics based on the applicable rules and regulations.

UGM has collected data and conducted fact-finding regarding the complaints raised by the individual in question, which can be used to verify the validity of their statements. Additionally, UGM has compiled a chronology of events beginning in 2011, when the individual was accepted into the Faculty of Agriculture. 

Previously, the individual served as a lecturer at the Faculty of Pharmacy, UGM. However, due to issues with professional relations among fellow lecturers at the faculty, the individual was reassigned to the university for further placement.

Through Rector’s Decree Number 1596/PII/SK/KP/2011 dated July 6, 2011, effective August 1, 2011, the individual was reassigned to the Department of Fisheries, Faculty of Agriculture, UGM. By the time the individual applied for a promotion in 2023, they had been serving at the Department of Fisheries for approximately 12 years.

The issues or cases that have occurred since 2012 follow the same pattern as when the individual was at the Faculty of Pharmacy, specifically concerning professional relations, not only with lecturers but also with students. The individual’s claims about favoritism and the non-alignment of academic disciplines were not the reasons for the temporary refusal of the individual’s promotion to professorship. 

The individual had been entrusted with responsibilities such as Secretary of the Aquaculture Study Program, Seminar Committee of the Aquaculture Study Program, and involvement in various committees. This shows that the Department of Fisheries provided the individual with career opportunities without discrimination, contrary to their statements.

Between 2012 and 2015, the individual had issues mentoring students, made derogatory posts about colleagues and UGM on their social media (Facebook) account, and refused to participate in certain departmental activities. As a result, on December 16, 2015, the Department of Fisheries decided to return the status of the individual to the Faculty of Agriculture, where they were eventually placed at UGM’s Integrated Agrocomplex Laboratory to minimize the negative impact. 

From 2016–2020, the Department of Fisheries attempted to mentor the individual in hopes of improving their behavior while continuing to assign them tasks related to UGM’s tri-dharma (three pillars) of higher education. However, the mentoring efforts failed, as the individual continued to have issues with student mentoring (power relations and bullying) and interactions with colleagues. They undertook overseas trips without permission from the department and made further posts distorting the facts about the department and study program’s conditions and policies. 

The Head of the Department of Fisheries issued a Warning Letter on November 21, 2016, to serve as a deterrent. Nonetheless, the individual continued their behavior, leading to another Warning Letter issued on December 29, 2020. Afterward, no behavioral improvements were observed, and further indications of issues with student mentoring (power relations and bullying) arose.

The individual applied for a promotion at the Department of Fisheries on February 8, 2023. A departmental meeting was held on March 3, 2023, during which it was decided to form an Ad Hoc committee to investigate alleged violations of the Lecturer Code of Ethics. Three days later, the department’s leadership coordinated with the Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture regarding the meeting results, and on March 8, 2023, the Ad Hoc committee commenced its work. 

The department sent a letter to both the dean and the individual regarding the promotion application, stating that the individual was “not recommended” for it. At the end of March 2023, the department submitted its objections to the promotion application, along with evidence, to the Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, UGM.

On May 10, 2023, a departmental meeting was held to present the Ad Hoc committee’s investigation results. It was agreed that the individual would be returned to the Faculty of Agriculture, effective May 31, 2023. In early June 2023, the dean summoned the individual to communicate the results, but they responded that they were ill and would be bringing a lawyer to the meeting. 

However, on June 12, 2023, the individual, through their lawyer, instead sent a first legal notice (Somasi I) to the Department of Fisheries and the Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture. The Department of Fisheries issued a response to the legal notice on June 23, 2023, which was followed by a second legal notice (Somasi II) from the individual on July 9, 2023. The Department of Fisheries and the Faculty of Agriculture responded to the second legal notice on July 18, 2023.

The individual then submitted a request for public information disclosure to Yogyakarta’s Regional Information Commission (KID). On July 25, 2023, KID summoned the Rector of UGM as the respondent to the individual’s lawsuit. Within a month, on August 18, 2023, KID held a hearing and ruled that the dispute was outside KID’s jurisdiction. This led the individual’s lawyer to file a Registration Deed of Dispute with the Central Information Commission (KIP) of the Republic of Indonesia, with UGM as the respondent.

In response, KIP conducted an adjudication hearing, ruling that UGM must provide the minutes of the Department of Fisheries meeting, redacting the names of individuals who provided opinions. UGM refused to disclose the entire document, as protecting the parties who had expressed their opinions was necessary. The individual did not accept KIP’s decision and filed an appeal with the State Administrative Court (PTUN) in Jakarta. PTUN ruled that all of the individual’s claims were rejected and upheld KIP’s decision.

On August 30, 2023, the individual sent a letter to the lecturers of the Department of Fisheries that included provocations and threats, while portraying themselves as a victim. This behavior persisted, with the individual making additional derogatory, threatening, and personal intimidation, all while belittling the institution. 

Over the past two semesters, the individual has been subject to ethical sanctions after being examined by the University Honorary Council (DKU) based on Rector’s Decree Number 1554/UN1.P/KPT/DSDM/2024, effective from April 1, 2024. 

The individual’s behavior has harmed the Department of Fisheries, the Faculty of Agriculture, and UGM as a whole through their social media posts, which do not reflect good ethics, professionalism, or integrity as a lecturer from 2012 to 2023. 

The issue at hand is not related to credit points, as the individual claimed, but rather to numerous violations of the Lecturer Code of Ethics. The violations have entered the realm of ethics and indiscipline.

Contact Information:

Public Relations and News Division, UGM

Universitas Gadjah Mada Yogyakarta

Phone: +62 (274) 588 688

E-mail: humas@ugm.ac.id, pemberitaan.humas@ugm.ac.id

Artikel UGM Clarifies Administrative Issues Regarding Dr. Noer Kasanah’s Promotion pertama kali tampil pada Universitas Gadjah Mada.

The ad hoc team, consisting of six FIB lecturers representing the positions of professors and lecturers outside the History Department of FIB UGM, collected relevant data and facts and called upon the writing team to examine allegations made anonymously and in an insinuative manner on the social media platform Facebook under the account name Peter Carey.

To test the truth of the plagiarism claims, the ad hoc team applied international standards and academic studies on plagiarism as well as the national guidelines set out in Permendikbud No. 17 of 2010 on the Prevention and Handling of Plagiarism in Higher Education. The team took the following steps: collecting references on plagiarism standards, both international and national, and studying the materials related to the allegations attached in a letter from Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia (KPG) dated November 4, 2024.

The team also examined the material in the accused book and compared it with the contents of the book ‘Kuasa Ramalan’ by Peter Carey, first published in 2012 by KPG. Importantly, the team conducted clarifications with the book’s writing team.

To assess the presence of plagiarism, the ad hoc team used several definitions, rules, and regulations on plagiarism from international and national sources, such as The Oxford University, Standard Office of Community Standards, California State San Marcos, ‘Defining Plagiarism: A Literature Review,’ Chapter II Article 2 (1) items a-e of Permendikbud No. 17 of 2010, Law No. 28 of 2014, Permendikbudristek No. 39 of 2021, definitions of verbatim quotations, and the differences in plagiarism perspectives across institutions, countries, and cultures.

Based on the above criteria for plagiarism, the ad hoc team concluded that according to various internationally recognized concepts of plagiarism, the proper citation of sources is key to preventing plagiarism.

The materials provided by KPG and Peter Carey claimed that long verbatim quotations were found in the books ‘Madiun: Sejarah Politik dan Transformasi Kepemerintahan dari Abad XIV ke Abad XXI’ and ‘Raden Rangga Prawiradirdja III Bupati Madiun 1796-1810: Sebuah Biografi Politik.’ These quotations were considered to have been directly taken from Peter Carey’s book ‘Kuasa Ramalan.’

However, after conducting a thorough examination of ‘Madiun: Sejarah Politik dan Transformasi Kepemerintahan dari Abad XIV ke Abad XXI,’ it was found that the long quotations in the text were introduced with the phrase “According to Peter Carey…” and were indented with endnotes providing full and detailed citations of Peter Carey’s book ‘Kuasa Ramalan’ in accordance with scholarly citation rules.

Similarly, for ‘Raden Rangga Prawiradirdja III Bupati Madiun 1796-1810: Sebuah Biografi Politik’, all quotes and references in the book clearly cited ‘Kuasa Ramalan’ by Peter Carey, both within the text in footnotes, and in the bibliography.

It was noted that the long quotations in both books were made because, during the research process, no primary source was found. At that time, ‘Kuasa Ramalan’ was the only reference available regarding Raden Rangga Prawiradirdja, and the authors wished to preserve the integrity of the information from the referenced text.

Based on Law No. 28 of 2014 on Copyright (Copyright Law), an assessment of whether there was a copyright violation must also consider the provisions of the Copyright Law. According to Article 44, paragraph (1) letter a of the Copyright Law, a citation is not considered a copyright violation if the source is properly cited and is used for educational, research, scientific writing, reporting, critique, or review purposes without harming the legitimate interests of the creator or copyright holder.

Although the Copyright Law does not explicitly define “complete citation,” there are three types of citations: body note, footnote, and endnote. The body notes mention the name, year of publication, and page number of the citation, with the full citation appearing in the reference list. Footnotes provide the name, year of publication, title, city of publication, publisher, and page number. Endnotes mention the name, year of publication, and page number.

The ad hoc team’s report stated that the long quotation began with the phrase “According to Peter Carey…” (up to the final quote) and was followed by an endnote. Regardless of the type of citation used, the team concluded that the citation met the requirements of Article 44, paragraph (1) letter a of the Copyright Law.

Based on the above assessments and considerations, the ad hoc team concluded that neither ‘Madiun: Sejarah Politik dan Transformasi Kepemerintahan dari Abad XIV ke Abad XXI’ nor ‘Raden Rangga Prawiradirdja III Bupati Madiun 1796-1810: Sebuah Biografi Politik’ can be categorized as plagiarism.

The team also added that the first and second editions of ‘Madiun: Sejarah Politik dan Transformasi Kepemerintahan dari Abad XIV ke Abad XXI’ and the first edition of ‘Raden Rangga Prawiradirdja III Bupati Madiun 1796-1810: Sebuah Biografi Politik’ did not include the Author’s Foreword and were temporary versions. These editions were withdrawn and destroyed at the request of KPG through a letter dated March 6, 2020, a step acknowledged by KPG based on a letter from the Dean of FIB UGM dated March 11, 2020, as confirmed in KPG’s official statement of November 4, 2024. As such, these versions no longer exist.

Following a thorough review, the ad hoc team concluded that none of the long quotations or parts alleged to be plagiarized remained in the final versions of the books, namely the third edition of ‘Madiun: Sejarah Politik dan Transformasi Kepemerintahan dari Abad XIV ke Abad XXI’ and the second edition of ‘Raden Rangga Prawiradirdja III Bupati Madiun 1796-1810: Sebuah Biografi Politik’.

Nevertheless, the team noted that while both books provided complete source citations, the long quotations could be considered to violate the “proprietary” standard. However, according to Permendikbud No. 17 of 2010 on the Prevention and Handling of Plagiarism in Higher Education, there is no specific regulation regarding the allowed length of quotations in the text.

Although Permendikbud No. 17 of 2010 has been revoked with the enactment of Permendikbudristek No. 39 of 2021 on December 14, 2021, the latter regulation did not exist at the time the books ‘Madiun: Sejarah Politik dan Transformasi Kepemerintahan dari Abad XIV ke Abad XXI’ and ‘Raden Rangga Prawiradirdja III Bupati Madiun 1796-1810: Sebuah Biografi Politik’ were published. Therefore, the evaluation of the books was based on the provisions of Permendikbud No. 17 of 2010.

This is the conclusion delivered by the ad hoc team of FIB UGM.

Dean of FIB UGM  

Professor Setiadi

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