Rifa Uli is a student majoring in Communication Science at Jenderal Soedirman University batch 2020. Taking 7 semesters at Faculty of Social and Political Science UNSOED, Rifa decided to take the Merdeka Belajar Kampus Merdeka (MBKM) research program. This program can be converted into the equivalent of 20 course credits. This activity is one of the collaborations between Fisip Unsoed and several partners. In this project, students are allowed to collect data from related agencies that are needed as research material for their final assignments. One of the available partners is Diskominfo, PDAM, BMKG, hospitals in the Banyumas Regency area, and Java Herritage hotel.

Rifa chose the Banyumas Regency Communication and Information Office as the place to carry out MBKM research activities. “I chose the agency at Diskominfo because I have been specializing in Public Relations (PR) from the beginning.” she said. For Communication Science students like Rifa, there are several specialization courses including Public Relations, and Journalism. Rifa took the title of a research topic on the implementation of Government Public Relations in reducing stunting rates in Banyumas Regency. “According to stunting data, Dinkominfo will educate the public using media, such as leaflets and so on to reduce the stunting rate”. In this case, in addition to academic interests, the results of her research will also be used by the relevant agencies as an archive.

Participating in the MBKM research program has made a positive contribution to Rifa, especially in the progress of her final project. “It becomes more structured since I can fight laziness to do my thesis because this program has its timeline, so that I know the target when to have a proposal seminar and when to have the result seminar. Usually those who participate in MBKM research also graduate quickly,” said Rifa. She admitted that she is given a lot of convenience or privilege because she can choose a supervisor and reviewer, besides that the employees at Dinkominfo (where she took the research data) are also very helpful, making it easier for Rifa to complete the final project she is carrying out.