AIT GAZETTE
Issue # 13, 31 October 2000
Report of the 19 September 2000 Reform Process Committee (RPC) Meeting
A. Meetings of the Board of Trustees: Summary of the Most Important
Decisions
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A summary of the most important decisions arrived at the 15 September 2000
Board meeting approved for release by the Acting Chairman of the Board
has been communicated to the AIT Community and posted on the On-line Bulletin.
This document is for the purpose of informing the AIT community of key
decisions taken as soon as possible. It does not replace the minutes, which,
although submitted to the approval of the Chair, are not yet confirmed
until they have been formally approved by the Committee or Board itself.
Until then, minutes should be considered a draft, and, therefore, not widely
circulated. -
The importance and need to establish a clear distinction between the role
of the Board and that of the Administration was stressed. The Board has
set up a small by-laws task force, which, in close consultation with the
newly appointed Board Chairman, will further review the by-laws and look
at the structure of the Board, as well as the number, task, size and role
of the Board Committees. It is important to have in place both a rigorous
and transparent system, which ensures the academic independence of AIT
as well as acknowledges the important role of the Board.
There was a view expressed that even though the minutes are not
yet approved by the Committee or Board, the moment the concerned Chair
has reviewed them, they are in a way confirmed since any changes to them
would be minor and more of a technical nature. It was clarified that the
summary of important decisions and draft minutes should already provide
the general directions and that it is important to go ahead with the proposed
actions and recommendations. The verbatim of the Board meetings will also
be kept as reference.
B. On-going Reform Process
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The Board has accepted the Reform Steering Committee (RSC) Report on the
Action Plan. As recommended by the Board the RSC will continue to monitor
the implementation of the on-going reform process. The summary table of
the Action Plan is now available on the On-line Bulletin. -
RPC members agreed on the use of the term 'Voluntary Early Retirement'
for the proposed retirement scheme. The AIT P&P; Statement governing
the employment of Direct-Hire Faculty and Direct-Hire International Staff
uses the terms 'early end of employment' and 'voluntary premature end to
employment'. However, according to the Terms of Employment for Permanent
Local Hire Personnel, 'early resignation' is used in the title but the
term 'premature end to employment' is used in the content. From a legal
point of view, both terms can be used with the condition that the employee
must voluntarily submit a resignation letter to AIT. -
It is important to coordinate efforts among the Schools and to maintain
some overall central coordination in the promotional activities so as to
maximize efficiency and not duplicate efforts. -
There is a proposal to extend the ceiling of Local-Hire staff from 13 to
at least 20 steps and to gradually reduce the amounts in between the steps,
thereby discontinuing the need for a special merit award for those having
reached the ceiling. According to the terms of employment agreement document
for Permanent Local-Hire personnel, they are normally entitled to a one-step
annual increase. There is a need to look at the agreement more closely
and not to discriminate against any other category of staff. All Local
Hire staff and non-academic International Staff will retroactively receive
a merit increase as of 1 July 2000, based on the recommendations of the
task force comprising of representatives of the administration and of the
staff and Labour Union. In the case of Faculty and International Staff
employed in academic activities (teaching or research) there will be no
more automatic merit increase. Instead, there will be promotion within
ranks and merit between steps based on existing, well-known criteria in
rigour in academic institutions. A more rational salary scale needs to
be established where the movement along the steps of Assistant, Associate
and Full Professor should be part of the merit process, as a by-product
of performance evaluation. The Academic Senate has been requested to look
into this matter and to come up with a proposal.
C. Other Matters
The proposal to create an association of former AIT Faculty was welcomed
and will be further pursued by the Faculty Representative. The Professorial
lectures will also be reinstated.
D. Next Meeting
The date of the next RPC meeting will be announced later.