AIT GAZETTE
Issue No. 8
25 JULY 2000
REPORT OF 11 JULY 2000 REFORM PROCESS COMMITTEE (RPC) MEETING
A. Welcome
The President welcomed Mr. Wanchai Sophonsakulrat, the newly elected International Staff Representative, to the meeting.
B. Review and Approval of the 4 July 2000 RPC Report
Members reviewed and approved the draft report of the 4 July 2000 RPC, which will incorporate comments and suggestions, made at the meeting.
C. Matters Arising from the 4 July 2000 Meeting
The administration will reconsider the case of those employees under the so-called local hire category who had reached step 12 prior to 1998. Employees who had reached step 12 or had received the merit award in 1998 were moved to the newly-created step 13 in 1999. Employees who had reached step 12 or had received the merit award in 1997 were moved to step 13 in 1999. They will in addition receive one-third of the merit award, awarded every three years for those who had been at step 12 for a period of three years. Employees who had reached step 12 or had received the merit award in 1996 were given the choice between merit award or step 13. Those who opted for step 13 will in addition receive two-thirds of the merit award. Those who opted for the merit award and are still at step 12 will be moved to step 13 in 2000, or retroactively awarded step 13 in 1999 and two-thirds of the merit award instead of the full merit award (which should be roughly equivalent). The intention is to discontinue the practice of the special merit award and to put in place a mechanism allowing staff to move up automatically. A new salary scale with more horizontal steps (possibly eighteen) will be introduced. Moving from one category to another should be facilitated. The reform process provides the opportunity to come up with a more simple and revised salary structure for all AIT staff.
D. Progress on the Reform Implementation Committee Meetings
The Provost provided information on the outcome of the following meetings of the Reform Implementation Committees.
1. AIT Medical Clinic
The review of the AIT Medical Clinic was conducted within the purview of the campus-wide services, to gain an insight into the operation of the unit and in recommending measures to improve the provision of basic health services to the AIT community. In the context of the overall medical care of AIT employees, it is thought that the Medical Clinic should mainly function as a health maintenance facility, with other medical insurance plans covering outpatient and inpatient services. For an AIT employee, an ideal medical care plan is one which does not leave any gap in health coverage from basic services to outpatient services to inpatient services, as provided currently by the centrally funded Medical Clinic, the ISF, Blue Cross and SSS. The Medical Doctor has been invited to provide input on the basic services to be provided by the AIT Medical Clinic to the Task Force on Group Medical Insurance. The Medical Clinic has five regular employees comprising of one full-time physician, one head nurse, two full-time nurses, and one clerk typist. The non-regular employees are five visiting nurses and four visiting specialists. The Implementation Committee recommended that it would be in the interest of the Institute to take an active role in the preservation of the health of its employees, because a healthy workforce is a productive workforce. Preventive healthcare must form part of health consciousness. To this end, health gardens could be introduced where simple structures for stretching and limbering exercises are installed in strategic places on campus, so that strollers can stop anytime and do short exercises. On the other hand, to ensure total quality management in health care, the physician is encouraged to attend regular courses organized by the General Practitioners Association of Thailand. The part time nurses should be encouraged to attend the CLET-organized English courses for AIT staff, to promote better communication with the AIT faculty, staff and students. Improving the atmosphere inside the Medical Clinic, upgrading the labeling of drug dosages and initiating an Institute-wide health care campaign are also encouraged.
For the next round, the Medical Doctor has been requested to prepare proposals on the following : 1) standard medical tests required before employment at AIT; ii) basic services to be provided by the AIT Medical Clinic and iii) charging for medicine, consultation and laboratory tests, preferably in comparison with other similar establishments.
2. Physical Plant and Golf Course
The present staffing at the Physical Plant stands at 83; some 112 personnel are casual laborers. Of the 83 regular staff, two retired this year, another two are due to retire next year, and another five in the next two years, including the Director.
The Drafting and Instrumentation Units could be turned into cost centers by charging users accordingly. The Store, Workshop, Communication and Grounds Maintenance could also be turned into cost centers within the Physical Plant but with staffing pattern adjustment and review of appropriate charging of services. Once implemented, a management audit should be carried out annually. Air-conditioning/refrigeration and building maintenance can be completely outsourced as well as a part of the electrical services. The Motorpool has been fully sustained by its own operation including the capital for purchase of 'blue plate' cars. Outsourcing its services is deemed not advisable, in consideration of the duty privileges enjoyed by AIT, which are not transferable, and the foreseen difficulty to meet the necessary capital investment. For long-term financial viability reasons, the Motorpool will be allowed to operate but with no replacement of vehicles. In the meantime, a further attempt to reduce costs should be made. The chiller plant, heavy equipment, water/sewage/flood control, and energy conservation will constitute part of the Physical Plant's essential services.
The Golf Course should be made an integral part of the Institute's sports and recreation facilities to be managed by Physical Plant. If all the sports facilities are placed under one umbrella, then the present 11 staff of the Physical Plant could be assigned to look after the entire sports facilities on campus.
The Director of the Physical Plant has been requested to prepare proposals on the new structure of the Physical Plant operation, keeping in mind the improvement of efficiency and quality while cutting costs as the main objective. The proposals must indicate clearly which services are to be retained and which are to be outsourced, including sources of funds and / or charging mechanisms. The Physical Plant has already effected a saving of 6.0 mio Baht. Upon completion of the restructuring exercise an additional saving of 7.0 mio Baht can be further achieved.
Comments from RPC Members
1. It was felt that building maintenance be best handled by professionals. The costs of building maintenance will be incorporated into the future computation of space rental.
2. There should be no more rental of Motorpool vehicles to non-AIT personnel. The conditions of long term use of the 'blue plate' AIT vehicles by individuals should also be modified.
3. With the move of the waste treatment plant from across the campus to inside AIT it is important to have proper waste management and treatment of any toxic hazardous waste for e.g. decommissioning of the former PTT gas station should be conducted to prevent against any hazardous environmental effects it might have. The Schools must work together with the Director of the Physical Plant in ensuring that the Institute upholds the principles of environmental awareness on campus
3. Bus Service
The provision of bus service by AIT is a joint commitment between AIT and its employees, with concomitant financial responsibility. Under the current arrangement, the employee contributions account for 44% of the bus rental payment while 56% is subsidized by AIT. The utilization rate of the nine buses is only 40%, which on the average translates to Baht 1,250 AIT subsidy per rider per month. However, the bus service cannot be completely eliminated. This reduction in utilization rate is a recent phenomenon brought about by many factors, such as the development of new public transport systems, use of own cars, relocation of residences close to AIT, preference to live on campus, etc. At most, only a gradual reduction in the number of buses can be attempted. Dr. Voratas, in coordination with Dr. Yordphol, will supervise the conduct of the bus routing optimization study, with a view to identifying strategic embarkation/disembarkation points and arriving at optimum charging rates for employees.
Comments from RPC Members
1. The review of the Bus Service should also take into consideration the introduction of flextime. The decision on who among the staff would be allowed to choose flextime rests mainly with the Unit Heads. Flextime is seen to produce the greatest saving in the Physical Plant, and to improve efficiency in other units. Rather than a strict imposition on the number of working hours, the problem could be solved locally by mutual consent arrangements within the unit, e.g. to ensure that there is someone in the office during lunch hours. Many faculty and staff live on campus and it is also a matter of making better use of each other's time.
4. Government Relations Office
AIT, being an international postgraduate institution, necessarily requires and will continue to rely on the services of the Government Relations Office (GRO), which discharges its functions in a consistent and efficient manner, in accordance with RTG laws and regulations. It is possible to cover the operating budget of GRO through cost recovery, i.e., by charging for GRO services to either individuals or units, according to users pay principle. The GRO supervisor has been requested to prepare a fee structure for GRO services based on actual jobs rendered.
E. Next Meeting
The next meeting of RPC is scheduled for 25 July 2000 at 11:00 a.m. in the Board Room, Administration Building.