After the Regulation of the Minister of Administrative Reform and Bureaucratic Reform No. 1/2023 was issued, many universities have been producing professors. The proponents immediately proposed professors to avoid the credit score that had been collected being forfeited if the proposal was late in mid-2023.

However, what exactly is the nature of a professor? Is it just a functional academic position or is there a much greater responsibility? Is a professorship the end of a journey or the beginning of a new academic journey?

For a lecturer, of course, a professorship must be one of the targets pursued. According to Law No. 14/2005, a professor is the highest academic position in a higher education unit that has the authority to guide doctoral candidates.

The existence of professors is very important for a higher education institution because it can emphasize the academic maturity of lecturers in a scientific field. The presence of professors is expected to encourage the improvement of the quality of education and teaching. Professors must be able to exemplify a good academic atmosphere in the study program and in the process of guidance to students, both at the S-1, S-2, and S-3 levels.

The Function of a Professor

One of the functions of a professor is as a wise academic leader for the community. The position is more than just a bearer of his/her scientific flag, because he/she must also be able to become a role model for the academic community in building, upholding, and maintaining academic values and dignity. A professor must be able to provide a critical analysis and source of answers to various national problems, according to his scientific authorization.

Unfortunately, some professors do not understand their academic responsibilities. There are still some professors who rely on their assistants to teach in class, while they are busy "busking and looking for projects" everywhere. In the end, students do not get knowledge from experts in that scientific field.

In the final project guidance process, both at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, there are still professors who guide only as needed. Even if given a tandem of other supervisors, they will depend on other supervisors and will immediately approve the draft submitted by students when other lecturers have approved.

This problem arises because some professors make the academic position of professor only to target the honorary professor allowance of twice the basic salary. This inaccurate initial intention has led many professorship candidates to use any means possible to achieve the title of professor.

One of them is by engaging in the practice of perjury in making scientific papers, as has been covered by Kompas. The mode can be by forming a special team to help candidates prepare scientific articles that will be used as a requirement for proposing professors without any active contribution from the candidate.

Another mode is to use the services of scientific article brokers to find scientific journals that meet the requirements or write from scratch the scientific articles needed. The negative impact of this practice is that not all professors have the appropriate qualifications in their scientific fields.

In addition to eyeing the honorarium allowance, some professors consider that once the decree (SK) for professorship is issued, the academic journey is over. Therefore, once the decree is received, the production of the professor's scientific work stops.

Indeed, the government has issued regulations monitoring the special obligations of professors. However, because it is only administrative in nature, some unproductive professors "hang" their names on the scientific work of junior lecturers. In fact, a professor should remain active in producing thoughts and research, both to be published in scientific journals and popular writings.

Being a professor is not the end of a lecturer's academic journey. A professor must be able to provide inspiration and new ideas to the academic world and society. Able to assist young lecturers to produce quality research so that it can be published in reputable journals, and most importantly, the knowledge is useful for the community. Don't let criticism arise again: GBHN (Professor is Only a Name).