DEPOK, Indonesia—Dodik Setiawan Nur Heriyanto, S.H., M.H., LL.M., Ph.D., Director of the Base for International Law and ASEAN Legal Studies (BILALS) and lecturer at the Faculty of Law, Universitas Islam Indonesia (UII), was named Best Presenter at the 6th International Conference on Law and Governance in a Global Context (ICLAVE), hosted by the Faculty of Law, Universitas Indonesia.
The award was presented on 5 November 2024, recognizing Dodik Setiawan Nur Heriyanto, S.H., M.H., LL.M., Ph.D.’s presentation of his paper entitled “Between Reality and Ideal Standards in Services for Students with Disabilities: Assessing National and International Accreditation Standards for Indonesian Higher Education Institutions.” The paper addresses a critical issue in Indonesian higher education: the gap between formal institutional commitments to inclusive education and the actual provision of adequate services for students with disabilities. It proposes a more substantive approach to measuring how universities fulfill their obligations to provide inclusive, accessible, and non-discriminatory education.
Dodik developed the study based partly on his professional experience in managing the Undergraduate Law Study Program at the Faculty of Law, UII, as well as his experience assisting several Indonesian law schools undergoing international accreditation processes under an assignment from the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture. These experiences provided practical insights into how inclusion and disability-related standards are incorporated into accreditation frameworks and, more importantly, how such standards are implemented at the institutional level.
The paper was presented during The 6th International Conference on Law and Governance in a Global Context (ICLAVE), a two-day international academic forum held at the Faculty of Law, Universitas Indonesia, in Depok. The conference formed part of the Faculty of Law, Universitas Indonesia’s centennial celebrations, marking 100 years of legal education and scholarship.
During his presentation, Dodik highlighted the growing importance of inclusive education within the internationalization of Indonesian higher education. “Indonesian law schools are increasingly pursuing international accreditation. Many international accreditation bodies require higher education institutions to demonstrate that they provide inclusive and non-discriminatory educational services. However, in many cases, Indonesian universities still address these requirements primarily through regulations and policy documents rather than through comprehensive and effective implementation.”
He further emphasized that accessibility cannot be understood merely in terms of physical infrastructure. “Where measures have been implemented, they often remain focused on physical facilities. There is therefore a pressing need to develop a new institutional performance index that can measure whether the principles of inclusion and non-discrimination are genuinely and effectively implemented within higher education institutions.”
The proposed performance index would provide a more comprehensive mechanism for assessing universities beyond the existence of formal regulations or accessible infrastructure. It would instead examine whether institutional policies, academic services, learning environments, and student support mechanisms effectively guarantee equal access and meaningful participation for students with disabilities. The Best Presenter Award was formally presented by the leadership of the Faculty of Law, Universitas Indonesia, during the conference’s closing ceremony on 5 November 2024.
For Dodik, the recognition represents more than an individual academic achievement. It reinforces the importance of transforming practical experiences in higher education governance into research capable of contributing to institutional reform. He hopes that the award will serve as an encouragement to continue producing meaningful academic work alongside his responsibilities in managing academic programs and developing BILALS as a platform for research and international academic collaboration. The achievement also reflects BILALS’ continuing commitment to promoting legal scholarship that responds to contemporary challenges in education, governance, human rights, and institutional development at both the national and international levels.