Transition to an Autonomous University :Concepts and Experience of KMUTT – Why Autonomy

• Economic crises in 1970’s and impacts on bureaucracy and public universities – control of new posts creation, brain drain to private sector, universities no longer attracted the best and the brightest A great university begins with a good teacher.•Bureaucratic constraints- clumsy and messy implementation of allocated budget, personnel recruitment (Budget Bureau, Ministry of Universities Affairs and Universities).•Lack of flexibility on decisions on academic programs and subsidiary units. Decisions made outside, sometimes required administrative or Royal decrees. Nobody bothered to change. •Development of a good university, on par internationally, within the bureaucracy, is impossible.•Decision on autonomy in early 1980’s, internally driven.

Transition to an Autonomous University :Concepts and Experience of KMUTT - Movements

• 1909 Memo of HRH Prince Mahidol on autonomy of the first university – Chulalongkorn University

• 1964-1967 Movement on autonomous universities• 1987-1989 Development of the 15-Year Long Range

Plan (1990-2004) on Higher Education by MUA, chaired by Professor Vichit.

Autonomy is one flagship“…..developing state universities under MUA to

become autonomous, responsive efficient and academically excellent. This is to be achieved by transition of existing state universities into autonomous universities while new state universities to be created should be autonomous from the beginning.”

Transition to an Autonomous University :Concepts and Experience of KMUTT - Movements

• Simultaneous transition of 16 state universities in 1992• United we perish, not united we may succeed.

KMITT decided to push ahead by itself after 1992• Continuity in policy and administration (1992-1998)

- the University Council (external members unchanged)

- senior administration (2 Presidents)• Support from the Lecturers Council, normally opposition

group in many universities.

Transition to an Autonomous University :Concepts and Experience of KMUTT - Movements

• Learning form inside Thailand

-Suranaree University of Technology- autonomous university from 1990

-National Science and Technology Development Agency (and its 3 national centers )-autonomous agency from 1992

Both were autonomous from beginning• Learning from outside Thailand

- US (MIT and Michigan State University)

- Australia and New Zealand ( Thai University Adminis-trators Shadowing )

Transition to an Autonomous University :Concepts and Experience of KMUTT - Movements

• KMITT 7 working groups on autonomy preparation (Planning and personnel administration, Finance, budgets and procurement, Administration, Academic matters, Personnel remuneration and benefits, Students affairs, Information services), and one umbrella working group on university autonomy-still function to this day.

• Continuity and discontinuity in Ministry of University Affairs(1992-1998) – Grade C portfolio

- 9 Ministers

- good support and understanding of senior officials

Transition to an Autonomous University :Concepts and Experience of KMUTT - Movements

• Success in 3rd attempt

1992 with 16 universities, House dissolution

1995 KMITT on its own , House dissolution

1998 KMUTT Autonomous University Acted published in the Royal Gazette on 7 March 1998

Transition to an Autonomous University :Life after the Transition

• Suranaree and Walailak have strong backing of politicians where universities are located. Founded when economy was buoyant. Governement could direct bureaucracy away from entrenched position.

• KMUTT established right after 1997 economic collapse. Government was not strong and preoccupied with pressing problems.

• Dual personnel management system

- civil servants can stay on as civil servants as long as they wish or resign and be recruited into the new system as university contracted employees.

- new staff are employees.

Transition to an Autonomous University :Life after the Transition : Climbing Bureaucratic Mountains

• Contention points to be negotiated after transition

- salary top up for civil servants who joined the new system- new remuneration scheme

- additional budget for university provident fund and employees benefits

• It took 24 months after transition before decision made by government and 30 months before decision institutionalised in KMUTT budget system. KMUTT got what the country could afford then, not what others have got.

Transition to an Autonomous University :Life after the Transition : Climbing Bureaucratic Mountains

• Autonomy is incognito• Public sector run by bureaucracy and does not recognize

autonomous agencies (only civil service or state enterprises)• Difficulties encountered in public instrument -the Public

Administration Act, the Budget Act, the Customs Act,

regulations of the Police Department on bails on criminal offences, government bondages for scholarship holders,

Provident Fund scheme, regulations on royal decorations, practices of Comptroller Department.

• Governments attempted to help by setting coordinating committees chaired by ministers, but political discontinuity makes this frustratingly slow.

Transition to an Autonomous University :Life after the Transition : Prevailing Ignorance

• The State will not fund autonomous universities and make them self-financing.

• Students pay more in autonomous universities.• There will be unfair evaluation and staff easily dismissed.• Personnel in autonomous universities are fat cats.

Transition to an Autonomous University :Life after the Transition : Change in Paradigm and Work Culture

• The legal transition of the university and its personnel v.s. change in paradigm and work culture.

• What the university gets from the transition before what individual gets.

• Visions of the university- what we want to become (not university of so and so)

• Cost- effectiveness, goal and outputs-oriented.• Monitoring and evaluation as constructive tools for

improvement.• Same expectation on quality and standards of work

Transition to an Autonomous University :Life after the Transition : Some Anxieties of Civil Servants

• Why civil servants have not joined the new system

- personal reasons : want to work 10 years to get pension, still in process of academic promotion, parents objection, can work equally hard as civil servants.

- salary not attractive, unclear benefits, uncertainties in salary increase

- contract not attractive, uncertainties on tenure.

- possibility of unfair evaluation.

We are dealing with human beings.

Now 58% of university personnel are contracted employees, should reach plateau around 80% in 10 years time.

Transition to an Autonomous University :Life after the Transition : What have We Achieved

• Foundation and a system of administration for the University to reach its vision with its stakeholders.

• Surmounting psychological barrier of civil servants normally passive and subservient to problems.

• Confidence in potentials of personnel, quality and dynamics of the system.

• Good governance in place.• Demonstration of potential and innovativeness : cost reduction,

sense of saving, higher productivity, awareness of quality and cost effectiveness, technical outputs increase, revenues and assets increase.

Transition to an Autonomous University :Life after the Transition : What have We Achieved

• Personnel accept the mechanisms of monitoring and evaluation of individuals and organizations as tools for improvement.

• Increase of income and assets based on technical capability. Earning more incomes, not just given.

• New working culture with stakeholders.• Recruitment more open for outsiders.