5 UMS Student Teams Advance to PPK Ormawa 2025 with Social Innovation Projects

Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta (UMS) has once again achieved a proud national-level accomplishment. Five teams from UMS student organizations (Ormawa) successfully passed the funding selection for the 2025 Organizational Capacity Strengthening Program (PPK Ormawa), held by the Directorate of Learning and Student Affairs (Belmawa) of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (Kemendiktisaintek).

This achievement was directly appreciated by Muhammad Al Fatih Hendrawan, S.T., M.T., Head of the Reasoning, Creativity, and Soft Skills Division at the UMS Office of Student Affairs. He stated that this success reflects UMS students' focus not only on internal organizational activities but also on their empathy and commitment to contributing to community empowerment.

“In a year when the government is implementing efficiency measures, this PPK Ormawa achievement is certainly something to be proud of for the UMS academic community, especially for student organizations,” said Fatih on Wednesday (23/7/2025).

To select the best proposals, the UMS Office of  Student Affairs conducted a rigorous internal selection. Out of 30 proposals submitted, only 10 were forwarded to the national system.

After undergoing the desk review and presentation stages by national reviewers, five proposals were finally declared eligible for funding. This lengthy process, Fatih added, required full support from the university.

From the beginning, the Office of  Student Affairshas socialized the program, held proposal writing workshops, formed an internal review team, provided coaching and mentoring, and uploaded documents to the national system. UMS also provided a matching fund of IDR 2 million to each team that secured national funding.

One of the biggest challenges for student organizations was adapting their proposal format to match the ministry's guidelines. According to Fatih, many student organizations were still used to using their internal format.

"That’s why we formed a special coaching team to ensure they followed the guidelines properly, including in budgeting preparation,” he explained.

This success also indicates a significant improvement in the quality of UMS student activities. Whereas before the pandemic only 1–2 teams typically received village development grants, the number has now increased. This reflects a positive trend in UMS students’ interest in community engagement.

The five programs that received funding are:

• HMP Informatics Education FKIP UMS – Empowering Entrepreneurial Villages Based on Tempe Commodities through Digitalization in Sentono Village
• HMP Elementary School Teacher Education FKIP UMS – Transformation Toward a Smart Village through a Contextual Approach in Jagoan Village
• IMM Ar Razi, Faculty of Medicine UMS – Blindness Prevention through Cataract Education and Early Detection Using the Snellen Chart Kit in Sanggung Village
• UKM Hizbul Wathan UMS – Kiringan Lestari: Developing an Eco-Educulinary-Based Tourism Village
• IMM Averoes, Faculty of Engineering UMS – SMARTANI JATI: An IoT-Based Women’s School Toward a Food-Self-Sufficient Village

UMS Office of Student Affairs also ensures that the funding is used effectively by forming a monitoring and evaluation (monev) team, both on campus and through direct village visits. In addition, program implementation involves student affairs managers at the faculty level to ensure a synergistic process.

“We involve each faculty to support the monitoring process so that program implementation in the field runs optimally,” said Fatih.

Concluding the interview, the UMS lecturer delivered an inspirational message to all students, encouraging them to continue developing themselves through strategic programs like this.

“Challenges coming from outside the organization, such as from village communities, the government, and the real world, will cultivate students' values and capabilities. This is how they learn to become problem solvers, managers, and leaders,” he concluded.

Writer: Fika Annisa Solihah

Editor: Maysali Sudarwati

Translator: Farizal Luqman Majid