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Student dropout remains a significant challenge for higher education institutions as it impacts academic quality, educational management efficiency, and students' success in completing their studies. Therefore, an approach that can identify students at risk of dropping out is necessary so that timely academic interventions can be made. This study aims to develop a dropout detection model using an Artificial Neural Network (ANN). The data used come from a publicly available higher education dataset, ensuring research reproducibility. Data preprocessing steps were carried out to improve data quality before modeling, and the Synthetic Minority Over-Sampling Technique combined with Edited Nearest Neighbors (SMOTE-ENN) was applied to address class imbalance issues. The ANN model's performance was evaluated using accuracy, precision, recall, F1-score, and area under the ROC curve (ROC-AUC). The test results show that the ANN model can provide excellent predictive performance in detecting at-risk students. The application of SMOTE-ENN also proved to enhance the model’s sensitivity toward the minority class, as indicated by improvements in recall and F1-score. These findings indicate that the developed ANN model has the potential to be used as a student dropout detection system to support data-driven decision-making and strategy development within higher education institutions.

Improving the quality of education is one of the main priorities in developing a highly competitive human resource. In this context, excellent leadership serves as a key element that determines the direction, strategy, and success of educational transformation across all levels of education, from primary education to higher education. This article examines the urgency of visionary, inspirational, and adaptive leadership in driving the improvement of educational quality in a dynamic and complex era of change. Using a qualitative approach through literature review, policy document analysis, and observation of leadership practices, the study finds that effective educational leadership can foster a positive organizational culture, enhance motivation and participation among all stakeholders, and optimize innovation and professionalism among educators. Beyond managerial skills, excellent leadership is characterized by moral integrity, communication proficiency, collaborative abilities, and strategic decision-making skills that significantly impact learning quality. The findings indicate that educational reform cannot succeed without strong, consistent, and quality-oriented leadership. Furthermore, the development of leadership capacity within the educational ecosystem, including school principals, higher education leaders, and program administrators, should be a priority agenda in formulating policies and educational practices in Indonesia. Therefore, this article provides important implications for policymakers, educational practitioners, and researchers to design sustainable, innovative, and responsive leadership development programs. It also emphasizes the significance of leadership as a key factor in achieving high-quality, sustainable education capable of competing at the global level. The study underscores that investing in leadership development is not only a strategy to enhance educational outcomes but also a necessary step in ensuring that Indonesia’s education system can adapt to rapid changes and meet international standards.

This study examines the correlation between reading interest and writing ability of STIKOM Yos Sudarso Purwokerto students as an effort to understand the relationship between two basic literacy skills in the context of higher education. Low interest in reading is often blamed as one of the causes of students' weak writing skills, which impacts their academic quality and critical thinking skills. This study aims to determine the extent to which reading interest affects students' writing skills, as well as provide an initial mapping of literacy conditions in the campus environment. The method used is quantitative with a correlational approach. Data was collected through questionnaires to measure reading interest levels and writing tests to assess students' writing ability. The analysis was carried out by Pearson correlation statistical test. The results of the study showed a significant positive correlation between students' reading interest and writing ability. The higher the students' interest in reading, the better their writing skills, especially in terms of writing structure, vocabulary use, and logical argumentation. These findings reinforce the assumption that active reading habits can promote significant improvements in writing skills. Therefore, a learning strategy is needed that is able to foster a literacy culture among students.

This study highlights a unique and interesting phenomenon in the realm of higher education marketing strategy. The Al-Amien Prenduan Islamic University Institute (IDIA) has successfully maintained its sustainability for over 40 years despite offering relatively affordable tuition fees. This research aims to develop a comprehensive marketing strategy for educational services at IDIA, as well as to explore the institution’s contribution to the development of service marketing in Islamic higher education. The study employs a qualitative field research approach, with data collection methods including observation, in-depth interviews, and documentation. The data were analyzed using grounded theory techniques, consisting of open coding, axial coding, and selective coding. To formulate an effective marketing strategy, the research applies the marketing mix theory as a foundational framework. The educational service marketing strategy implemented at IDIA includes the provision of high-quality educational products, price humanization strategies that ensure affordability, selection of strategic campus locations, promotional activities tailored to community needs, human resource development, improvement of facilities and infrastructure, and the enhancement of service delivery systems. These strategies are designed to position IDIA as a competitive Islamic higher education institution. Furthermore, the research reveals the significant contributions of service marketing to IDIA’s growth. These include a steady increase in the number of new student enrollments, higher levels of customer satisfaction, an improved institutional image, and ongoing improvements in educational quality. Overall, this study offers valuable insights into how effective educational service marketing can support the sustainability and competitiveness of Islamic higher education institutions in Indonesia.