Preparing the Next Generation of Global Delegates: A Strategic Early Intervention by IO UIN SSC to Identify, Train, and Empower Future Contributors to International Collaboration
Cirebon, July 2 2025 — Like the sprawling roots of a rhizome that grow horizontally, silently but persistently expanding beneath the surface, the International Office (IO) of UIN Siber Syekh Nurjati Cirebon continues to nurture new growth, quietly fostering the next generation of global actors. Under the guidance of Lala Bumela, Ph.D., Director of the International Office, a training session was conducted to identify and shape early-stage talents from within the university. The initiative specifically targeted six second-semester students from the English Language Teaching Department who displayed early potential in communication, language agility, and global orientation. This strategic early intervention aimed to equip them with the foundational skills required to become future contributors to international programs, specifically within the institution’s Global Engagement Team (GET). Lala Bumela, Ph.D. opened the training session with words of encouragement, emphasizing that “we are not just training assistants, we are mentoring storytellers of the university’s intellectual identity in global arenas.”
In this initial onboarding, the trainees underwent an introduction to the principles and practices of institutional representation, with a focus on press documentation, academic correspondence, and content creation. While the session remained informal in tone, the intellectual rigor was apparent in every component, from the interview simulations to the hands-on writing exercises. Tsamara Bahira, one of the senior GET members, led the session by providing contextual orientation on how GET functions within the broader international framework of the IO. “To work in GET is to think globally and act precisely,” she explained. “Our role is not glamorous, but it is transformative. What we build behind the scenes becomes the public voice of the university on international platforms.” The session emphasized writing clarity, visual consistency, and the ability to understand institutional branding, all essential components of international collaboration.
The training was also structured around reflective learning. Rather than being handed instructions, the students were invited to think critically about global representation: what it means to be a university in a global conversation, and how small contributions such as press releases, social media designs, and translations form the architecture of international trust. Lala Bumela, Ph.D highlighted this point again in his mid-session feedback: “We often think diplomacy happens only at embassies. But what you’re doing here—writing, publishing, designing—is diplomacy. It's intellectual diplomacy in its earliest, most essential form.” These statements reflected the Office’s deeper philosophical commitment: that global readiness must be seeded in local classrooms, nurtured through deliberate practice, and grown organically, like the rhizome that expands, adapts, and renews.
Tsamara Bahira also stressed that GET is not a fixed position, but a platform, open to those who show consistency, initiative, and collaborative spirit. She provided examples from previous GET projects, where members played central roles in preparing documents for international MoUs, managing digital campaigns for symposiums, and co-authoring conference materials. “We’ve had students who joined like you and ended up presenting at international conferences just a year later,” she said. This aspirational perspective added motivational depth to the training, transforming it from a skills-based session into a narrative of future possibilities. It became evident that what was being cultivated was not just competence, but confidence.
As the session neared its end, the students began to engage more independently, drafting initial content, discussing formatting logic, and practicing internal coordination. Lala Bumela, Ph.D. revisited the room with a closing reflection, reminding everyone that institutional excellence grows from patterns of precision. “We cannot internationalize on good intentions alone. We need people—young, curious, precise—who are willing to build systems one sentence at a time.” The synergy between trainees and the experienced GET members created a model of mentorship that echoed the IO’s philosophy: growth is not hierarchical; it is rhizomatic, interconnected, and inclusive. Every small task, when done with care, becomes part of a much larger ecosystem of academic diplomacy.
In conclusion, the IO’s training for potential GET members was not simply an act of recruitment, it was an investment in the university’s long-term intellectual capital. By inviting students at an early stage to witness and participate in international collaboration mechanisms, the office affirms its belief in continuity, mentorship, and organic institutional growth. “We are not building a team for a project,” Lala Bumela, Ph.D. concluded. “We are nurturing a generation for a mission.” As the rhizome of internationalism extends further across UIN SSC, these young delegates now take their first step, not just as trainees, but as quiet architects of the university’s global presence.
Author: Muhammad Azkiya Bahtsulkhoir