This was the visionary tone set by the AIT President at the Institute
Forum which was attended by a large gathering of faculty, staff and
students at the auditorium. “The business model of 1959 is not relevant
today and will not work for the next 50 years”, the AIT President
remarked. He added that AIT was not looking for donations, but wanted
to proceed on the lines of business thinking. He highlighted the
challenges being faced by higher education due to rapid changes,
complex environment, lack of core funding, new technology and difficult
competition. He drew a parallel with Harvard University’s president who
has cautioned his own university on the threats and forces impacting
universities in America.
While inviting suggestions from everyone for proper business models,
the AIT President stated. “In today’s challenging environment for
universities, public and private partnership (PPP) models for financing
and governance could hold the key for AIT’s future prosperity and
growth”. He added that no model is perfect and a combination of various
models would help AIT achieve its goals.
“In the new landscape for higher education, the institute would focus
on education for professionals, enhancement and at specific target
countries”, the AIT President said. He identified Asia and Africa as
two target areas, since the maximum growth in education is expected in
Asia, and that Africa requires a huge amount of capacity building. The
AIT President added that even the host country, Thailand is expecting
that AIT would expand its capacity.
President Irandoust was happy to outline many of the many positive
initiatives taking place and planned under the umbrella of AIT’s
five-year strategic plan called Strategy 2013 and its four strategic
themes. In an interactive session lasting three hours, the President
answered questions about how AIT can further enhance its reputation as
a regional network institute while focusing on research and capacity
building.