The Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) is on the right track, Prof.
Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai says in an article published in the English
daily, The Nation on 8 July 2013.
Read the article here:
Q: Congratulations on your appointment as Interim President. What other
changes have taken place at AIT?
Besides my appointment as Interim President, AIT has witnessed a change
in its governance and administration. On
December
12
last year when the Board of Trustees resumed its duty under the
AIT Charter of 1967, Mr. Nopadol Gunavibool, Deputy Permanent Secretary
of Thailand?s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was elected as its Chairman.
Then the Board appointed Emeritus Professor Dr. Sahas Bunditkul, Former
Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand, as the new Chairman of its Executive
Committee to oversee the operation of AIT.
At the administration level, the Board has approved my appointment of
two esteemed faculty colleagues, Prof Sivanappan Kumar as Vice
President for Academic Affairs and Prof Kanchana Kanchanasut as Vice
President for Research. Prof Kumar is a renowned professor in Energy
and former Dean, while Prof Kanchana has just been inducted among 32
global internet leaders into the Internet Hall of Fame. It is a matter
of great pride for AIT and Thailand that an AIT Professor has received
such an honor.
Q: As Interim President, what are your top aims and
targets?
AIT has gone through unprecedented crises in its history due to the
devastating flood that inundated the campus for almost four months,
followed by a catastrophic leadership failure that resulted in grave
repercussions, and an alienation from its traditional supporters.
Although it is a daunting task, as an AIT alumnus, faculty and
administrator, it is my duty to serve AIT whenever I am asked.
During my short period of presidency, I wish to focus my
immediate attention on these five issues: (a) to disseminate factual
information of our financial health so the community understands the
real situation and unites in saving costs and generating more income;
(b) to restore our relationship with our strategic partners, especially
our host nation; (c) to seek private cooperation to renovate our
deteriorated campus infrastructure; and (d) to boost the morale of the
faculty and staff, who had to endure physical, emotional, and
psychological distress during these years.
Q: Are donors and supporters helping AIT?
Yes, major supporters are coming back to AIT in a big way. It is
most encouraging that the Royal Thai Government has resumed its
generous support of the prestigious scholarships under the names of
their Majesties the King and Queen, along with the Greater Mekong
Sub-region (GMS) Scholarships which have been set up under the auspices
of HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn for students from the Mekong
region. We recently organized a welcome event for 50 students from
Myanmar who are supported by the Norwegian government. Similarly, India
has indicated its firm support to AIT during the visit of the India
Federal Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dr. Veerappa Moily. I am
confident many traditional partners will return once the report of the
Board-appointed Fact Finding Committee (FFC) is disclosed.
Q: AIT has a very strong alumni base. Are they also supporting AIT in
its rebuilding?
AIT is very fortunate that its alumni are networked across 109
countries. All of them were very concerned when AIT faced devastation
during the 2011 floods. They are continuously supporting AIT in many
different ways. Last week after hearing that AIT was about to enter a
new era, three different private companies came forward to assure me of
their strong support. Each one has offered scholarships for AIT. The
beautiful part of this story is that all these three companies are
founded by AIT alumni. I look forward to more and more alumni-owned
companies making similar offers.
Q: Do you see any issue concerning the legality of AIT
degrees?
With the premature announcement of the operations of AIT under the new
Charter, there were some problems concerning the validity of the
degrees, which have since been resolved with the return to the original
Charter of 1967.
I wish to take this opportunity to reassure those concerned about the
validity of AIT degrees, that it is the same degree that has been
conferred upon close to 20,000 alumni over the past 54 years of AIT?s
history. AIT?s degrees have been recognized by the Royal Thai
Government (RTG) since its inception in 1959 and a large number of our
graduates, myself included, have used our degrees as a key to pursue
their doctoral studies in top universities around the world.