Semarang, November 18, 2025 — The Agribusiness Study Program, Faculty of Animal and Agricultural Sciences, Universitas Diponegoro successfully held an Online Visiting Professor program as part of its internationalization strategy toward becoming a World Class University. The session featured Prof. Kim E. Dooley from Texas A&M University, USA, a distinguished scholar in Agricultural Extension, and Community Empowerment.
The event was officially opened by the Dean of the Faculty of Animal and Agricultural Sciences, Prof Sugiharto, S.Pt., M.Sc., Ph.D who emphasized that this international collaboration will strengthen academic excellence and global engagement within the university.
The online interactive lecture, conducted via Zoom with the theme:“Sustainability Outcomes in Extension and Community Empowerment” received remarkable enthusiasm with 256 participants, including lecturers of the Agribusiness Study Program, Bachelor and master students.
Prof. Dooley discussed the EVAL Framework, a participatory evaluation approach focused on four principles: Evaluation, an ethical analysis of programs to ensure their impact. Second, community empowerment activities must emphasize values, upholding the principles of diversity and cultural relevance in empowerment. Another important factor is the capacity-building process, which is based on active and experiential learning, namely learning based on farmers’ real-life experiences. The fourth factor is leadership, strengthening the capacity of local leaders to maintain empowerment activities.
This approach is considered highly relevant for Indonesia in increasing the effectiveness of agricultural extension and inclusive, evidence-based community empowerment programs.
Prof. Dooley also presented tools for measuring empowerment assessment and evaluation, emphasizing the need for this to ensure the validity of data used in community empowerment evaluation activities.
The Head of the Agribusiness Study Program stated that this Visiting Professor program strengthens international academic networks, opens up opportunities for research collaboration, and improves the quality of learning in the fields of agribusiness and rural community development. Next year, follow-up joint research is needed to strengthen the collaboration between Universitas Diponegoro and Texas A&M University in the United States.
Universitas Diponegoro remains committed to strengthening productive international partnerships to deliver globally competitive education while supporting sustainable agricultural development and community well-being.