Comparison of Clusterization of Higher Education Institutions in Regions XII Maluku and North Maluku based on the Science and Technology Index (Sinta).

This research aims to analyze the comparison of clustering results of universities based on data sourced from the Science and Technology Index (Sinta). The analysis results will serve as a guide for all higher education institutions in the XII Maluku and North Maluku regions to improve their performance in the three pillars of higher education to achieve better clustering. This study was conducted by extracting Sinta data from the years 2019 to 2021. The research results show that based on the Total All Score, the universities in Maluku are ranked in descending order from the highest to the lowest score. The main cluster is occupied by Pattimura University with a total score of 16.04, followed by State Polytechnic of Ambon with a total score of 13.45. In the middle cluster, we have Indonesian Christian University of Maluku with a total score of 9.19, and in the basic cluster, we have Darussalam Ambon University with a total score of 6.62, Maluku Husada Health Sciences Institute with a total score of 4.79, Doktor Husni Ingratubun Tual University with a total score of 2.5, and Institute of Technology and Business, Ambon School of Computer Science with a total score of 2.37. As for North Maluku, the universities are ranked in descending order from the highest to the lowest score. The main cluster is led by Universitas Kharun with a total score of 14.01. In the middle cluster, we have Muhammadiyah University of North Maluku with a total score of 11.62, and Halmahera University with a total score of 9.45. In the basic cluster, we have Nuku University with a total score of 5.45, Pasifik Morotai University with a total score of 5.3, Hein Namotemo University with a total score of 4.63, and Bumi Hijrah University Tidore with a total score of 3.31.


Introduction
Competition in the academic world among universities in Indonesia has led to changes aimed at improving the performance of the three pillars [1], [2].As a result, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, through the Directorate General of Research and Technology, has issued a circular on the clustering of higher education institutions [3].Clustering is considered as a mapping process for each university based on its level of development and serves as a description of the quality of higher education institutions in Indonesia [4].It can also be used to group homogeneous data [5].Furthermore, clustering is utilized to group data based on equivalence levels [6] and can be used as a preference in determining career choices [7], [8].One commonly used clustering approach in the clustering process is partitional clustering, where a set of data exhibits similarities among the data points [9].
Clustering of higher education institutions is essentially not a ranking of universities in Indonesia [10], [11], but rather serves as an indicator for grouping universities according to their performance qualifications.The purpose is to encourage universities to improve the quality of research and community engagement in a sustainable manner [12].It also serves as a basis for developing research roadmaps, strategic plans, and determining the authority for research management and community engagement in universities [13].
In 2023, the clustering of higher education institutions is based on the processed data of their performance using the Science and Technology Index (SINTA) [14].The clustering process has been developed and data has been collected from the period of 2019 to 2021.The performance data taken into account are those that have been verified and validated by the validators from the Institute of Research and Community Engagement of the respective universities.The performance data includes authors, affiliations, journals, research, community service, intellectual property rights, and books [15].
The performance data of academic educational institutions is identified based on six main criteria with the following weighting: (1) Institutional quality with a weight of 15%; (2) Human resources with a weight of 15%; (3) Research with a weight of 15%; (4) Community service with a weight of 15%; (5) Publications with a weight of 25%; (6) Intellectual property with a weight of 10%.Specifically for vocational education institutions, there is an adjustment in the weighting of two main criteria: publication criteria with a weighting of 20%, and intellectual property criteria with a weighting of 15%.
The parameters used as assessment components in the institutional criteria are the accreditation of study programs and the number of accredited national scientific journals.In the human resources criteria, the parameter used as an assessment component is the academic/functional positions of lecturers.In the research criteria, the parameters used as assessment components are the number of research projects funded through external, international, or internal sources, including the total funding amount in Indonesian rupiah for research programs.In the community service criteria, the parameters used as assessment components are the number of international and national community service projects (funded externally) as well as local community service projects (funded internally), and the total funding amount in Indonesian rupiah for community service programs.
In the publication criteria, the parameters used as assessment components are the number of publications and citations of scientific works [16] indexed in Scopus, Web of Science, Garuda, and Google Scholar, as well as the number of textbooks, monographs, and reference books.In the intellectual property criteria, the parameter used as an assessment component is the number of intellectual property assets, including patents, utility models, trademarks, geographical indications, industrial designs, layout designs of integrated circuits, plant variety protection, and copyrights.
The clustering score is determined based on the performance achievements of each parameter in the main criteria.The performance of each university is normalized with the data on the number of lecturers or the number of active study programs in each university, according to the data available in the Higher Education Database (PDDIKTI).Additionally, the data on the website is considered as a large-scale data mining source [17].
There have been numerous studies addressing the issue of clustering.Among them are studies aimed at describing the competition among universities based on clustering [3].There are also studies that utilize the K-Means Clustering algorithm, focusing solely on research documents [18], [19], while other studies employ the same method to group Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Madura based on the performance of human resources and students [1].Additionally, there are other studies that utilize clustering techniques to evaluate the quality of education in universities [20].This study aims to examine and describe the comparison of university clustering based on the presentation of the Science and Technology Index data.

Research Methods
In this study, a quantitative descriptive method is used, where the research findings are obtained from the statistical data of university clustering presented by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology in March 2023.The research process consists of the following stages: a. Literature Review In this stage, a literature review is conducted to gather information and data necessary for the research and to compare it with previous studies.b.Data Collection Data collection is carried out based on the available data sources in the Science and Technology Index (Sinta).c.Data Processing Data processing in this study is based on the collected data from university clustering, according to the performance data of universities during the period from 2019 to 2021.d.Data Analysis and Interpretation This stage involves analyzing the processed data and comparing the clustering results of higher education institutions in Region XII.

Results and Discussion
Based on the performance data of universities measured over a period of 5 years from 2019 to 2021, taking into account the Science and Technology Index (SINTA) database, the university clusters are divided into five categories: Independent, Main, Intermediate, Primary, and Developmental.According to the data provided in the Announcement of University Clustering issued by the Director of Research, Technology, and Community Service, Number 0183/E5.5/AL.04/2023dated March 8, 2023, the results of higher education clustering can be seen in table 1 There are a total of 880 Academic Higher Education Institutions, with 40 institutions in the Independent Cluster, 160 institutions in the Main Cluster, 238 institutions in the Intermediate Cluster, and 442 institutions in the Primary Cluster.As for Vocational Higher Education Institutions, there are a total of 165 institutions, with 4 institutions in the Independent Cluster, 32 institutions in the Main Cluster, 71 institutions in the Intermediate Cluster, and 58 institutions in the Primary Cluster

Clusterization in Maluku and North Maluku
There are 6 academic educational institutions in Maluku province, with 1 institution in the Main Cluster, 1 institution in the Intermediate Cluster, and 4 institutions in the Primary Cluster.As for Vocational Education Institutions, there is only 1 institution that is classified in the Main Cluster.In North Maluku province, there are 8 academic educational institutions, with 1 institution in the Main Cluster, 2 institutions in the Intermediate Cluster, and 5 institutions in the Primary Cluster.As for Vocational Education Institutions, there is only 1 institution that is classified in the Intermediate Cluster.
In Maluku province, the universities included in the Main Cluster are Pattimura University (UNPATTI) and Ambon State Polytechnic (POLNAM).The university classified in the Intermediate Cluster is Indonesian Christian University of Maluku (UKIM).As for the Primary Cluster, it includes several institutions such as Institute of Technology and Business-Ambon School of Computer Sciences (ITB-STIKOM Ambon), Maluku Husada Health Sciences Institute (STIKES Maluku Husada), Darussalam Ambon University (UNIDAR Ambon), and Husni Ingratubun Tual University.
In North Maluku province, there are 8 academic institutions, with 1 university in the main cluster, 2 universities in the intermediate cluster, and 5 universities in the primary cluster.As for vocational institutions, there is only 1 university in the intermediate cluster.In Maluku province, the universities in the main cluster are Pattimura University and State Polytechnic of Ambon, the university in the intermediate cluster is Indonesian Christian University of Maluku, and the universities in the primary cluster are Institute of Technology and Business, Ambon School of Computer Science, Maluku Husada Health Sciences Institute, Darussalam Ambon University, and Husni Ingratubun Tual University.In North Maluku province, the university in the main cluster is Khairun University, the universities in the intermediate cluster are Halmahera University, North Maluku Muhammadiyah University, Halmahera Peace Polytechnic, and the universities in the primary cluster are Kie Raha College of Education and Teacher Training, Bumi Hijrah University Tidore Hein Namotemo University, Nuku University, and Pasifik Morotai University.See table2.

Comparison of Clusterization Scores for Universities in Region XII
The comparison of clusterization scores is calculated based on the Total All Score, which is derived from the following normalized scores: Total Score Publication (25%), Total Score HKI (10%), Total Score Institutional (15%), Total Score Research (15%), Total Score Community Service (15%), Total Score Human Resources (15%), and Total Score Revenue Generating (5%).
The SINTA (Science and Technology Index) scores for universities in Maluku province are as follows: Pattimura University: 16.04 and State Polytechnic of Ambon: 13.45 in the main cluster, Indonesian Christian University of Maluku: 9.19 in the intermediate cluster, Darussalam Ambon University: 6.62, Maluku Husada Health Sciences Institute: 4.79, Doktor Husni Ingratubun Tual University: 2.5, and Institute of Technology and Business, Ambon School of Computer Science: 2.37 in the primary cluster.
In North Maluku province, the SINTA scores are as follows: Khairun University: 14.01 in the main cluster, Muhammadiyah University of North Maluku: 11.62 and Halmahera University: 9.45 in the intermediate cluster, Kie Raha College of Education and Teacher Training: 7.8, Halmahera Peace Polytechnic: 6.4, Nuku University: 5.45, Pasifik Morotai University: 5.3, Hein Namotemo University: 4.63, and Bumi Hijrah University Tidore: 3.31 in the primary cluster.

Figure 1 .Figure 2 .
Figure 1.Percentage of University Clustering for Academic Institutions in Indonesia

Table 1 .
. Recapitulation of University Clustering in 2023 based on Academic Education Providers

Table 2 .
Recapitulation of University Clustering in 2023 based on Academic Education Providers