Six hundred ninety-six new UNY students participated in soft skills coaching at the UNY Auditorium on Tuesday (11/7). The number consists of new undergraduate students batch 2023 from the Faculty of Education and Psychology with 192 students, the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences with 194 students, the Faculty of Social, Law, and Political Sciences with 144 students, and the Faculty of Vocational Studies with 166 students. Students who participated in the soft skill coaching are specifically accepted through the Nasiolan Selection Admission Path Based on Achievement in 2023.

"Welcome to UNY. Today, you will participate in soft skills. It is mandatory and must be because hard skills will be obtained through your study program, which is realized in the form of your diploma and transcript. Hard skills are through cognitive control and general intelligence, while soft skills are more about emotional intelligence, which will continue to develop. Soft skills will make it easier for you to succeed. So today's activities provide provisions for you to achieve success following your dreams," said Prof. Edi Purwanto, the Rector of UNY.

"I hope that students can understand the policies and vision of UNY so that they can place themselves to support the achievement of UNY's vision and mission. In addition, we hope that you can understand and understand the main character as a UNY student so that later you will be able to foster the nature of independence in facing the shift from the high school / vocational school environment and its equivalent to the university environment," said Prof. Edi Purwanto.

Meanwhile, Arwan Nur Ramadhan, M.Pd., the committee chairman, said that students with competence will be able to excel at the national and international levels. "Student competence can be developed by improving hard skills and soft skills. Soft skills development is needed so that students can have the skills to interact with others and always develop themselves. These skills are needed because humans need interaction with others. Success in establishing interactions with others is one of the key factors to success in work and social life," said Arwan.

New UNY students participating in this activity will complete six theoretical and 12 practical sessions. In more detail, the material in fostering student soft skills at UNY is as follows: (1) Transformation of Campus Life and Policies Towards UNY Unggul; (2) Growth Mindset and Career Development in the 21st Century Era; (3) Development of Student Achievements in Reasoning, Arts, Sports, and Welfare and Special Interests; (4) Time Management; (5) Decision Making; (6) Student Behavior Ethics; (7) Improving Student Mental Welfare; (8) Local Culture-Based Student Character Development; (9) Building Student Organizations with Character, and (10) Empowering Student Potential and Religious Ethics.

Awan Nur Ramadhan added that it would be best not only to stop at soft skills; for sustainability, students also need to join student organizations. One form of extracurricular activity that can shape student soft skills is Student Organization activities. UNY facilitates the development of student soft skills in stages since students are accepted. The stages of coaching become a reference for developing soft skills for students following the vision and mission of UNY," he said. (Author: Sudaryono, Editor: Prasetyo Noviriyanto, Tj.Lak)