There is something different about how UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta views the conclusion of this year's Kuliah Kerja Nyata (KKN, Community Service Program). The withdrawal of students from the field is not simply a marker that the service period has ended. Behind the return of thousands of students from various regions lies a more important question: to what extent did their presence truly bring about change for the communities they served?

For UIN Sunan Kalijaga Rector, Prof. Noorhaidi Hasan, the success of KKN cannot be measured merely by the completion of students' assignments. Beyond that, the programs carried out within communities must deliver real benefit and become experiences students can carry forward into their work after returning to campus.

Prof. Noorhaidi further urged that the experiences and issues students encounter in the field should not remain merely stories from their time in KKN. Knowledge born from community issues needs to be further developed through research and translated into innovation, intellectual property rights, patents, and partnerships with the business and industrial sectors.

With this perspective, community service becomes part of UIN Sunan Kalijaga's broader academic cycle. Community issues no longer remain merely objects of activity, but can become sources of learning, research, innovation, and collaboration.

The question of impact found its answer in the results of the Sunan Kalijaga Social Impact Index measurement. Head of the Institute for Research and Community Service (LPPM) at UIN Sunan Kalijaga, Dr. Abdul Qoyum, S.E.I., M.Sc.Fin., reported that the social impact index of this year's KKN implementation rose nationally by 9.2 percent, from 60.18 percent to 69.74 percent.

This achievement was announced at the Closing Ceremony of KKN Cohort 120 and the 2026 KKN Awards, held at the Multi Purpose Building of UIN Sunan Kalijaga on Tuesday (9/8/2026). The closing ceremony, marked by the symbolic Kirab Cahaya (Procession of Light) ritual, signaled the end of the community service period that ran from July through August 2026.

For UIN Sunan Kalijaga, this rise in the index is more than just a statistic. It marks a shift in how community service is being directed, not only toward how many activities are carried out, but toward the changes produced and measurable results.

Carrying the theme “Utilizing Science and Service Innovation for Sustainable Development,” KKN Cohort 120 covered a wide geographic reach. Students were deployed across various regions of the Special Region of Yogyakarta and eight other provinces: Aceh, Bali, East Nusa Tenggara, West Kalimantan, North Maluku, East Java, West Java, and Central Java.

The reach of this community service even extended beyond national borders. UIN Sunan Kalijaga students carried out KKN programs in Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, and South Korea.

According to Abdul Qoyum, the rise in social impact is closely tied to the ongoing transformation of KKN governance at UIN Sunan Kalijaga.

A number of improvements have been made, including applying fairness principles free of favoritism in placements, refining a competition-based model, enhancing digital services through PTIPD (Center for Information Technology and Database Development), and strengthening financial transparency.

At the same time, the KKN program has been designed with reference to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Ministry of Religious Affairs' Asta Protas (Eight Priority Programs). This framework has been translated into various focus areas of community service, including education, community economic empowerment, strengthening social harmony, and eco-theology.

The measurement results also show that this impact is visible at the regional level. The five regencies with the highest increases in social impact index in this year's KKN implementation were Sintang, Rembang, Bantul, Kuningan, and Malang.

This achievement reflects a shift in how KKN itself is understood. Students no longer simply arrive bearing programs; they learn to read local issues, build dialogue, work alongside communities, and design solutions based on local needs.

The significance of KKN as a space for learning was also highlighted by the Director of Zakat and Waqf Empowerment at the Ministry of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, Prof. Dr. H. Waryono Abdul Ghafur, M.Ag.

Waryono recalled his own experience taking part in UIN Sunan Kalijaga's KKN Cohort 55 in 1995, in Mojolora (Sompok). That experience, he said, serves as a reminder that direct encounters with communities provide real, concrete lessons that complement the academic theory learned in the classroom.

For him, KKN is a space for students to learn to live within society while also developing their own capacities. He encouraged students to bring the energy and innovation of youth as preparation for taking on leadership roles in the future.

This message positions students not merely as implementers of service programs, but as future leaders who need social sensitivity and the ability to translate knowledge into solutions.

A similar view was shared by the Deputy Regent of Sleman, Danang Maharsa, S.E. He praised UIN Sunan Kalijaga's implementation of KKN as well as the rise in the social impact index achieved.

According to him, KKN serves as an important vehicle for students to complement classroom theory with direct experience within communities. He expressed hope that students would not merely show up to fulfill an academic obligation, but would become discussion partners, facilitators, drivers of change, and sources of inspiration for the communities they serve.

UIN Sunan Kalijaga's community service also continues to grow through collaboration with various partners. On this occasion, Prof. Waryono expressed appreciation to LPPM UIN Sunan Kalijaga for its active synergy with the Directorate of Zakat and Waqf Empowerment at the Ministry of Religious Affairs.

This collaboration has been realized through, among others, the Zakat Village Program, community economic development, productive waqf incubation, the Waqf City Program, and the distribution of the Indonesia Zakat Scholarship for UIN Sunan Kalijaga students.

This synergy demonstrates that university community service holds an increasingly broad space for contribution when connected with community empowerment programs and national development agendas.

For this reason, Waryono encouraged UIN Sunan Kalijaga to continue developing a KKN model that is systematic, thematic, innovative, and creative, so that it can be integrated with the nation's strategic programs in preparing for a Golden Indonesia (Indonesia Emas).

This message aligns with the direction UIN Sunan Kalijaga continues to pursue connecting education, research, and community service within a single academic ecosystem.

The closing of KKN Cohort 120 was marked by the symbolic Kirab Cahaya procession, a symbol that seems to encapsulate the students' journey while living among the communities they served.

They arrived carrying knowledge, ideas, and youthful energy. They returned home carrying experience, unresolved questions, networks, and lessons that cannot be fully learned within a classroom.

For this reason, the conclusion of KKN is not truly the end of community service.

The 9.2 percent rise in the Sunan Kalijaga Social Impact Index, as reported by LPPM, stands as evidence that this journey is beginning to be measured through more concrete impact, change that is pursued, felt, and quantified.

From various regions across Indonesia to four countries across Asia, KKN Cohort 120 shows how UIN Sunan Kalijaga continues striving to deliver education connected to reality, research that can be translated into real-world application, and community service that generates genuine impact.

Students have returned to campus. But they carry home with them the light of experience gained within communities, preparation to continue their journey as academics who not only understand problems but are also able to take part in bringing about change. (humassk)