ANNUAL REPORT BY VICE PRESIDENT FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
Rev. Brother President: It gives me great honor to have your presence at today's AU Awards for Excellence conferral ceremony. The AU Awards for Excellence is held yearly to recognize good deeds and achievements of outstanding professionals who are committed in one way or the other in enhancing the academic programs, research, student's life, and the Au community at large. Prior to the awards conferment, I would like to address several issues that mark the success of the University in its ceaseless effort to ameliorate qualifications of the University's faculty and staff members, the University's core competence that would enable her to weather through the increasingly intense competitive environment and retain her leading position in the years to come. 1. The University's Human Resources To ensure the quality and the sufficiency of her faculty, the University has for the past years put forth her effort in recruiting only well-qualified faculty members with degrees from competitive universities. As part of the University's recruitment process and as a very essential qualification of both full-time and adjunct faculty members, a notable attention has also been given to English proficiency of non-native English speaking faculty members to ascertain their proper use of English both in and outside the class. Currently, the University has 820 full-time faculty members carrying out various tasks to fulfill the University's four key missions i.e. teaching and learning, conducting research, providing public services, and promoting Thai culture and heritage. Of these 820 faculty members, 142 are Ph.D. holders, while 544 and 134 are master degree and bachelor degree holders respectively. The number of international versus Thai faculty members at present is 53 to 89 (with a ratio of 5.9 is to 4.1) for Doctorate degree holders; 159 to 385 (with a ratio of 4.1 is to 5.9) for master degree holders; and 67 to 67 (with a ratio of 1 is to 1) for bachelor degree holders. 2. Human Resource Development Currently, more than 115 faculty members and staff are involved in the human resources development program to upgrade their professional qualifications both in Thailand and abroad. Of 28 faculty members receiving the scholarship to study abroad from the University, 7 are pursuing master's degree while 21 are pursuing a doctoral degree. Furthermore, a total of 81 faculty members, 35 of whom are studying in master's degree, while 20 are in doctoral programs in the state universities, and 23 others, with an aim of strengthening their teaching pedagogy and performance, are studying in a program for Graduate Diploma in Education, have been granted scholarships to enhance their qualifications as well as knowledge in the country. Having been fully aware of the importance of supporting staff members in rendering good quality services to students and hence their contribution to the attainment of the University's vision, the University has offered scholarships to three staff members to pursue their master's degrees in Thailand, and to one staff member for her doctorate degree in joint program and outside Thailand. With her ceaseless effort to meet if not to surpass the 3:6:1 ratio of Doctorate, Master and bachelor degree holders required by Ministry of Education, the University has been implementing a strong and committed human resources development programs, and since last year has strengthened her human resource capital with 18 Doctorate Degree and 25 Master Degree holders. From academic year 2002 -2003,11 faculty and 2 staff members completed their doctorate degree; and another faculty member completed his master's degree abroad. During the same time from local state universities in Thailand, 5 faculty members received their doctorates; another 14 theirmaster's of which 10 are faculty members and 4 are staff members. . As part of the University's scheme to encourage faculty members to get more involved on academic research and article writing, and to expose themselves to the scholastic communities, 4 faculty members have been granted permission to present their papers at international conference in several countries. In an effort to strengthen her human resources and enhance professional skills as well as competency, the university has also sponsored 264 faculty and 199 staff members (a total of 463) to attend various seminars and training programs both in Thailand and abroad. It is also noteworthy to report that of those 463 recipients of the university's sponsorship, a total of 34 faculty and 35 staff members have received training programs abroad. 3. International Programs and Initiatives Of approximately 20,000 enrollments in both graduate and undergraduate programs, 10 percent or 2,100 students are international students representing 57 countries. Some of the countries are China, Mynmar, Vietnam, Taiwan, India, Bangladesh, Korea, Japan and USA. With quality education as well as excellent teaching-learning and accommodation facilities provided, the University also anticipates that foreign student admissions will continue to increase in the future. 4. Research and Article Writings As part of the scheme in promoting research and article writings, the Office ofVice President for Academic Affairs has published the University's "Research Manual" to facilitate the University's lecturers with desire and determination to seek a career advancement in research writing to have a better understanding about the procedure in writing research and preparing budget proposals. In addition to the numerous journals published by various faculties in the University; namely ABAC Journal, IJCEM (International Journal of Computer and Engineering Management), Prajna Vihara: The Journal of Philosophy and Religion, The Journal of Risk Management and Insurance, Au Journal of Technology, Au Tech Note, The English Teacher, "The Journal of Management", initiated by the ABAC School of Management, has also recently been added to the University's existing publications. More importantly, the incessant effort and wholehearted commitment of the university in shifting herself towards "Research University" and in encouraging faculty members to obtain academic titles have brought about fruitful results, as in 2003 academic year, 10 research proposals from the Faculty of Science and Technology were approved and granted fund by the University, and a total of 7 faculty members have been conferred academic titles, 6 of whom have earned Assistant Professorship and 1 Professorship titles. |
Dr. Vindhai Cocrakul reading the annual report.
President Emeritus watching the choir group.
Excellence Award winners listening to announcement by MC.