Executive Committee Meeting
A meeting of the Executive Committee was held on 13 December 2004. The meeting was chaired by Ambassador Jan Axel Nordlander, Chairman of the Executive Committee. H.E. Mr. Anand Panyarachun, Chairman of the Board of Trustees also attended part of the meeting.
The meeting was attended by Mr. Dominique Antoine, Directeur des personeels, de la modernization et de l'administation; Professor Ashoka Chandra; Professor Rolf Dubs, former President of University of St. Gallen; former Japanese Ambassador Hiroshi Ota; Professor Yongyuth Yuthavong, Director, Thailand Graduate Institute of Science and Technology; Professor Mario T Tabucanon, Provost; Mr. Karma Rana, Institute Secretary; Mrs. Kulvimol Wasuntiwongse, Secretary to the Board and Mr. Jean-Philippe Thouard, IT Coordinator.
Invitees to the meeting were legal advisors Mr. Somchai Homlaor and
Dr. Prajit Rojanaphruk; Professor Tawatchai Tingsanchali, Chairman, Academic Senate;
Mr. Ng Eng Wan, Chief Financial Officer; Professor Nguyen H Phien, Dean, SAT and Professor N Ramachandran, Chief Internal Auditor.
At the meeting, Ambassador Jan Axel Nordlander was designated by the Chairman of the Board to continue serving in his capacity as Chairman of the Executive Committee until 1 July 2005. Professor Rolf Dubs was designated as Vice Chairman of the meeting.
In the effect of President Jean-Louis Armand's term ending at his request on 31 December 2004 and Professor Said Irandoust being due to join AIT on 1 July 2005, interim president's responsibilities of day-to-day affairs will be assigned to the Provost, in accordance with section 7.8 of the bye-laws. In addition to being Acting President, Provost will also act as Dean of the School of Advanced Technologies
until 30 June 2005. The Executive Committee expressed its gratitude to Professor Mario Tabucanon for ensuring continuity and a smooth transition and handover to the next President.
In order to support the Acting President during the interim period an Executive Committee meeting will be held on 28 February in addition to the already scheduled meetings in April, June, September and December 2005.
The Institute Secretary and Coordinator of the Executive Committee will serve as liaison between the Acting President and Chairman of the Executive Committee during the interim period.
The Executive Committee received with appreciation the President's concluding report on 'AIT's Achievements, Challenges and Opportunities'. The Executive Committee endorsed for approval by the Board of Trustees the conferment of the honorary title of President Emeritus on Professor Jean-Louis Armand in recognition of his contribution to the Institute during his term as President.
The Executive Committee expressed its gratitude to the Chairman of the Board of Trustees for his intervention with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs following which a cabinet resolution has recently been issued towards reaffirming the immunities and privileges of AIT and in resolving the issue of the land lease. The Chairman of the Board encouraged the AIT to establish closest possible relations with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and elaborate any further concerns that may need to be addressed directly with the Ministry towards arriving at a satisfactory long-term solution on the remaining issues. AIT Legal Advisors Dr. Prajit Rojanaphruk and Mr. Somchai Homlaor will be formally appointed to serve as liaison between the Institute and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in resolving the pending matters.
The Executive Committee was directed by the Board to make recommendations to the Board regarding the mandate, composition and operation of the Nominating Committee as called by sections 1.4 and 4.2 of the bye-laws, to be appointed by the Board in charge of assisting the Board in its deliberations on Board membership and other appointments made by the Board. The Executive Committee will proceed with the nomination of members of the Nominating Committee, which will be confirmed by postal ballot. The composition of the Nominating Committee should reflect the importance of gender balance and include members chosen outside the AIT community.
The Executive Committee considered and made decisions upon two new appointments to the rank of full Professor. The Executive Committee expressed its satisfaction with the new procedure now in place relying on the separate recommendations of School, Academic Senate and external referees.
The Executive Committee received the FY 2004 first nine months financial results which included the consolidated report on the operating revenues and expenditures, balance sheet and cash flow statement. Improvements were noted in the total operating revenue, total operating expenditures and cash flow when compared with the same period last year. The Executive Committee recommended that future reporting also include progress made on targets set during the period.
The Executive Committee approved the award of 2.54% Cost of Living Allowance (CoLA) adjustment, with a minimum of Baht 300 per month based on the official Consumer Price index figures issued by the Ministry of Commerce of the Royal Thai Government for Bangkok with effect from 1 January 2005.
The Executive Committee approved the administration's request to allow partial withdrawals of the Insured Savings Fund (ISF) balance by the members on completion of eligible years of service till conversion of the ISF balance to Provident Fund. Since in the past such repayments were made to eligible employees without income tax deduction, the Executive Committee also approved the administration's request for the Institute to bear the tax liability of such withdrawals for eligible members.
The Executive Committee received the progress report on the academic restructuring from the Chairman of the Academic Senate. The Executive Committee supported the idea to have a single task force that would provide recommendations on the practical implementation of the academic restructuring and shared the view of the Academic Advisory Panel (AAP) that flexibility should be retained within and across the schools by not having too narrow and small departments or fields of study that are rigid. The Executive Committee was informed that faculty have a better understanding of the process following the meetings held between AAP and the Academic Senate on 6 August and 8 December 2004 during which constructive exchanges of views and discussions took place. The Executive Committee urged the Task Force to continue working closely with the AAP and awaits its recommendations which is targeted for completion within
the next six months.
Professor Rolf Dubs was appointed as Chairman of the Audit Committee.
The Executive Committee endorsed for approval by the Board of Trustees the nomination of Dr. Sona Khan, Advocate Supreme Court of India, as a member of the Board Gender Equality Panel. Dr. Khan is renowned in India and beyond for her work on women's rights.
The Chairman of the Executive Committee was authorized to pursue the nomination of the Institute Ombudsman.
The Executive Committee received the report on the internal enquiry into anonymous e-mail attacks and postings on discussion websites presented by the
administration and reiterated its concern regarding the continuation and intensification of attacks targeted at the Institute.
The Executive Committee expressed its concern over the report submitted by the Academic Senate following the Board request to set up a faculty committee to
collect the opinions of faculty in assessing the current situation and to make positive recommendations to improve the situation. The Executive Committee reaffirmed that the key stakeholders of the AIT are its students and the society at large. Also, representation of the faculty on the Executive Committee, with the exception of the Chairman of the Academic Senate when deemed necessary, is not under consideration.
The administration was directed to look into ways in which the Faculty Relations Committee could be revived in a constructive spirit.
The next meeting of the Executive Committee will be held on Monday, 28 February 2004.