Covid-19 began to appear at the end of 2019 and began to spread in January 2020 precisely in Wuhan City, China. The presence of this virus has successfully paralyzed all world activities from various sectors, ranging from education, business, politics, tourism and so forth. This condition does not only occur in Indonesia but also affects all countries in the world. Of the various problems that arise in the middle of the community, it is felt necessary to provide a form of community empowerment practice. The main objective is not only to overcome problems related to economic income, but also to make people have the ability to meet their physical, economic and social needs. The practice of community empowerment is not only understood as a change activity carried out from within individuals, communities or organizations but also requires support and encouragement from outside parties, especially support from institutions that have a role in empowerment practices. One of the many institutions that have a role in the implementation of community empowerment practices is the University or in other terms referred to as Higher Education. This research method uses a literature study approach which is a series of activities related to data collection techniques through literature, reading, recording and managing research material. The data taken in this literature study comes from the provision of online media, reference books and research journals that are considered relevant to be able to answer research questions. The results of this writing indicate that Higher Education has a role in the practice of community empowerment, both directly and indirectly through the implementation of Higher Education Tridharma. It's just that, in its implementation, the role of universities in the practice of community empowerment, especially during the Pandemic Covid-19 period is not as simple as imagined. Although there are opportunities in implementing empowerment practices, of course there are also forms of challenges that will be faced by universities in implementing community empowerment practices. Therefore, at least a strategic policy step from the central government is needed that can strengthen the role of Higher Education, as well as to answer the Challenges and Opportunities for Community Empowerment Practices during the Pandemic Covid-19 Through the Role of Higher Education.

Nowdays, there are 200.29 hectares of slum in Medan. The slum area is in 42 urban villages spread across 9 sub-districts. For the handling of slums in Medan, this is done through the Kotaku Program with funding for central and regional collaboration. Other parties that are expected to be involved in handling this slum area are the banks, in this case Bank Sumut, through their corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds. This is because Bank Sumut, which is a regionally owned company, has a commitment every year to channel CSR funds to all regencies / cities in Sumatera Utara. In 2015, Bank Sumut channeled CSR funds amounting to Rp. 13,746 billion. This study aims to find a new model of Bank Sumut CSR that is directed at empowering slum communities in the city of Medan. Research method with a qualitative approach. Data analysis by analyzing typological data. The output of this study is the Bank Sumut CSR model of community empowerment in slum areas in Medan City or scientific publications in national scientific journals and international journals. Bank Sumut's research results have a CSR Program that has been proven to help the community and its targets in the future should be directed to help empower the slum communities in the city of Medan. Bank Sumut's CSR model for the empowerment of slum communities in the city of Medan must reach infrastructure development, social assistance, and economic assistance with management involving Kotaku, the community, and non-governmental organizations.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a company's commitment not only to increase financial benefits, but also to develop a holistic, institutional and sustainable social, economic and regional development (Suharto, 2008). In practice, CSR is often regarded as corporate giving, corporate philanthropy, and corporate community relations. CSR cannot be separated from the practice of community empowerment or often referred to as community development. What is the relationship between CSR and community empowerment and how is the communication strategy for the CSR program in an effort to empower the community? The methodology in this study is of literature review type. The technique of data collection is done by secondary data techniques obtained through searching relevant books, research results related to the topic of writing, mass media news, and relevant journals. The data obtained are then analyzed and completed with qualitative techniques by describing the data obtained to answer the existing debate. The results of the study found that CSR programs cannot be separated from community empowerment. One of the objectives of CSR is to create empowered communities, especially those around the company. In carrying out CSR activities for community empowerment, the role of a communication strategy is expected. The relevant communication strategies include mass communication and intercultural communication. By using these two communication strategies, it is expected that CSR programs for community empowerment will be more effective and efficient.

This study aims to determine what steps aretaken by the Independent Election Commission (KIP) of Pidie Regency in increasing the level of marginal voter participation.  And want to know what strategy the Independent Election Commission (KIP) of Pidie Regency has done in increasing the level of marginal voter participation.  The research method used in this study is a qualitative research method with a descriptive approach.  The theory used in this research is political participation theory, election theory and strategy theory.  Where from the results of his research, it was obtained that the low level of marginal voter participation was caused by several factors, including (1) apathy, (2) lack of understanding and education on elections (3) candidates who were carried out were not in line with expectations (4) there was a promise  politics that are not fulfilled (5) prioritize daily needs, (6) there is no change and improvement in every election implementation.  Actors that can increase voter participation are community leaders, religious leaders or elders in the gampong area.  And the strategy taken by the Independent Election Commission (KIP) of Pidie Regency in increasing the participation rate of marginal voters is to increase socialization activities to the maximum and massively by involving democratic volunteers.

This paper aims to examine how an inappropriate traded‐off design scheme of monetary rewards as reinforcers to task motivation and performance can promote poor quality of publication in academia and create the potential ‘hidden costs of rewards.’ Six universities in the western and eastern regions of Indonesia were selected to investigate this issue, and 70 academics from different social science backgrounds were interviewed. Our research results show that the monetary rewards implemented by the Indonesian government only act as a trigger for the initial motivation and become a quantitative lever for journal publications, not a quality lever. Consequently, the quality of publication is still poor because of the low‐powered incentive schemes that are designed based on task‐completion, disregarding the ‘synergistic effect’ between the government's intentions and the academics' attributions. The implications of this study and recommendations to policymakers are provided in this paper.

The implementation of the 2020 Regional Head Elections (Pilkada) in the Covid-19 pandemic requires cooperation and synergy of every existing element to uphold the constitution and suppress the outbreak of Covid-19. This study was conducted to determine the public's perception of whether the simultaneous regional elections in 2020 became a new cluster in the spread of covid-19. The method used in this study is a descriptive quantitative approach, using a questionnaire as a data collection tool. The data obtained were analyzed through percentage analysis and multiple regression tests. This study found that 400 respondents (36.36%) did not trust the information conveyed by mass media and social media regarding the development of 553 respondents (50.30%) stated that they would attend the polling stations only if there were strict safety procedures and implementation of health protocols.

The purpose of this research is to find out and analyze the dynamics of the implementation of the Facilitation of Campaign Props (APK), the inhibiting factors and the implementation of facilitation in the Covid-19 Pandemic Period in the Election of Regents and their representatives in the Regency. Sergai Year 2020. Based on the description of the problem, the researcher chose to use a qualitative approach that is exploratory and inductive, the postpositivism paradigm with descriptive research type because it clarifies or explores phenomena or facts of social phenomena. The results showed that the implementation of APK facilitation in the 2020 Sergai Regent and Deputy Elections went in an orderly and peaceful manner despite the delay in submitting the APK to the Trendy Faithful Paslon. This is due to the dynamics and the nomination dispute where the KPU cannot print the APK if the Paslon has not been determined. The inhibiting factors in APK facilitation are (a) the lack of response from the Paslon in submitting the APK design and materials on time (b) the auction process (if any) and human resources who lack control over the procurement of government goods and services (c) corruption in the 2020 election grant budget corruption. Regency. Sergai has executed a good strategy in APK facilitation.

The implementation of Community-Based Education (CBE) for the benefit of the community is the recommended national policy in Indonesia. However, reviewed literature provides little guidance in curriculum development, implementation, and evaluation for social work education in a distance learning context. The goal of this research was to create a CBE framework for social work education that would allow students and teachers to engage in meaningful learning in a distant learning environment. Guided by the grounded theory approach, data were collected by interviewing ten social educationalists and the coding process was conducted through raising awareness of the principles of online learning and social work education. Validation of the results provided by three senior researchers from different universities. The findings revealed that self-directed and collaborative effort involving all stakeholders, selected community learning sites, Government support and engagement, as well as collaboration between academic institutions and communities, emerged as key criteria for the CBE program's success.