This was stated by the AIT President Prof. Said Irandoust during the
faculty forum organized at AIT's temporary location at the Silpakorn
University in Cha-am on 15 December 2011. The President was responding
to queries of AIT faculty members during the forum.
The President added that the reconstruction, renovation and upgrading
of AIT's facilities would be conducted in phases. The first phase would
involve creating a showcase eco-friendly building with nearly two dozen
classrooms at the AIT Extension building. This would allow students to
return to classrooms, but who would continue to live outside the
campus.
The second phase would involve academic buildings and the
administrative building. The third and final phase would target the
residential buildings which would be done by the private sector that
would operate it on a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis.
During the forum, Dr. Peter Theisen, AIT's external consultant for
strategic planning, outlined AIT Online, undergraduate, satellite
campus and professional programs as four potential income streams for
AIT. He suggested strengthening marketing and sales, program and
capacity optimization and campus upgrade to improve AIT's bottom-line.
Since AIT has already taken recourse to significant cost-cutting, it is
not advisable to proceed on this path again, he suggested. He stated
that within two months, the draft "roadmaps" for AIT, will be
presented.
On the queries to the links with Laureate International Universities,
the President explained that they are among the several education
groups AIT has been in discussions with in an effort to take AIT to its
next level of growth. Among the areas AIT is seeking expertise on
includes faculty and student exchange programmes, as well as access to
graduate and post-graduate programmes in new and emerging fields of
study. He mentioned that AIT has signed a non-binding MoU on 30
September 2011 with Laureate which outlines the intention of both sides
to explore to which extent and in which areas a partnership might
create mutual benefits. The President invited interested members of the
AIT community to contact or visit his office if they would like to
learn more, and also clarified that since both sides are still in the
exploration state, neither AIT nor Laureate have made any commitment
regarding a potential partnership. He added that Laureate has seconded
a person to AIT to explore different options. The President stated that
the work is led by an Executive Committee Working Group of the AIT
Board of Trustees.
Elaborating on AIT's exploratory MoU with Laureate Inc., Dr. Theisen
stated that Laureate would help in benchmarking and cost information.
They will undertake brand and student research and conduct a detailed
market research analysis. "In February-March we will come back to the
AIT community with the suggested proposal for further consideration,"
he said.
Reservations were voiced by some faculty members that the private
partnership option is being positioned as the "best and only option"
rather than being "one of the available options." The President invited
AIT community members to suggest other concrete proposals.
In an impassioned plea, faculty members called for an "early return"
and "time-frame" of returning to AIT's mother campus, particularly in
light of the report by internal experts stating that AIT is
structurally safe to return. The President stated that AIT would move
into its own campus "sometime during the next semester." He added that
he could not give a definite date, because there are health issues, and
opinion by external experts who possess considerable expertise in
rehabilitation work. "If we rush, it will be more costly for us and if
we return too early, we may have to evacuate again, he added.
AIT alumnus Dr. Waheed Uddin, Professor in the Department of Civil
Engineering, University of Mississipi, who also attended the forum,
described the sentiment expressed by the AIT faculty to return to the
campus early as "inspiring", stating that this shows the commitment of
the AIT faculty.
The issue of accident of two AIT students at Hua Hin was raised, where
the President stated that AIT is seized of the matter. Later in the
day, the AIT President held personal meetings with the two injured
students and assured them of all legal help from AIT to pursue their
case.
The AIT President dismissed comments originating from different
non-AIT platforms stating that he would never react to anonymous
e-mails which was also the position of the Board on this matter. He
reiterated that Government support to AIT has been declining and it is
within AIT's right to explore all possible options.
Later in the day, the AIT President also held a meeting with
representatives of the AIT Student Union (AITSU) including its
President Mr. Avishek Kumar Karky and AITSU spokesperson Angel
Huang.
