Excepts from Proceedings of The Faculty Senate Meeting held on March 16, 2000

The Chairman of the Faculty Senate, Dr. P. Martin Komolmas called the meeting to order at 14.00 hrs. by referring to the minutes of the last meeting held on October 7, 1999 and reiterated the significance of the ex-tracts from UNESCO Manifesto quoted in italics on page 4 of the minutes. He said that it was important to be able to differentiate between the justification for renunciation of outdated method of rote learning and the need for development of power of concentration, memory and thought in the new process of teaching/learning.

The Chairman then informed the meeting that he had personally pointed out to Professor Adul, the head of the Q.A. Committee the ridiculous example of some schools/universities trying to simulate the IS0 9002 crite-ria to claim that they are topnotch institutions in their field. He said that IS0 certification was intended for factories and industries to demonstrate that certain products such as glassware or sausages produced by them were of exactly the same quality or specifi-cations but that in the case of human beings it was impossible to guarantee that they possessed precisely the same mental or intellectual attributes. Bro. Martin further explained that we have to work in conformity with regulations issued by the M.U.A. as much as possible although there are instances where we cannot comply fully such as the ratio of teachers according to qualifications which is set at something like 62.5% of Ph.Ds, 32.5% and 5% respectively of Master and Bachelor degree holdeis. He said that we have already established the Graduate School of Education to produce more qualified teachers and a good number of our faculty members are also attending the Ph.D. program at Leuven. Additionally, he pointed out that the Graduate School of Education is also working on plans to launch our own doctoral courses in education-related disciplines jointly or in cooperation with a foreign university.

The Chairman next dealt with points outlined in a special paper on Quality Assurance dated March 16, 2000 and distributed to all participants. He said that Quality Assurance is divided into external and internal compartments and that M.U.A. is in charge of applying the external controls and we have to observe and comply with regulations framed by this government agency which is em-powered to pass judgement on the standards and performance of all educational establishments. The Chairman then explained that long ago we have had such guidelines as ABAC’s standards of excellence framed and published for the benefit of faculty members which stipulated inter alia, that subjects must be taught in-depth, assignments submitted by students must be of a high order and that questions papers drawn up must be beyond reproach both in terms of language and the extent of coverage. He said that it was essential to clearly indicate and spell out the class objectives, the prescribed texts and reference materials, activities planned, methods of evaluation etc. He emphasized that teachers must be able to maintain discipline, check attendance to ensure that there is no delinquency because absenteeism is a very contagious infection. He said everything must be carefully planned and tightly organised so that there are no loopholes and nothing is left to chance or happenstance. There must always be essential ways and means to maintain and improve efficiency and the institutional guidelines and quality assurance procedures are designed to serve as the mechanism by which we keep teachers and staff members intellectually vigorous, sharp, alert and fully aware of their duties and responsibilities.

The Chairman further pointed out that teachers must have empathy in dealing with the students most of whom are weak from scholastic point of view and they are also at a disadvantage where our language of instruction is concerned. They are not the cream of our youth and the Deans and Chairpersons must appreciate these fine points and handle the students with patience, understanding and compassion. It is not the objective of a school or university to fail students en masse. Even at prestigious institutions like Oxford weak students are screened, seperated and put through special tutorial classes where they have the opportunity to improve their capability and perform well like other peer groups. If teachers are kind and solicitous students will be encouraged to work harder. The Chairman suggested occasional videotaping of classroom sessions in all departments and that this will enable proper evaluation of teachers and that outstanding achievers will be recognized and rewarded appropriately.

Bro. Anupatt Petcharayuttachai, Vice President far Financial Affairs then announced that all activities and programs involving expenditure from our revenues must be covered by budget allocations and he cited the recent case in which a request for funding a project which commenced in November 1999 was submitted in March 2000. Ex post facto appropriations and sanctions are improper and impermissible and must be avoided, he pointed out.

The meeting concluded at 15.30 hrs with a vote of thanks from the Chair.