In this issue:

A. Announcements 

B. Events 

C. Classifieds (jobs)

A. Announcements

1) Deputy Director of the Office of Public Affairs

Email by AIT President on 11 January 2021.

Dear AIT Family members, 

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Thiwari (Mae) Werayasobrasong as the Deputy Director of the Office of Public Affairs (OPA). 

Ms. Thiwari is currently the Senior Manager/Program Director of DTGO Corporation for Dhanin Tawee Chearavanont Foundation. She was a News Researcher/ Correspondent at Nippon Television in Bangkok Bureau and was also a Graduate Degree Fellow in East-West Center, Honolulu, Hawaii. 

Her previous experience includes working at IFA Media, Bangkok as Assistant Producer, a Television Producer/Director and successfully became a Production Manager. During her college days, she worked as a Trainee at the Associated Press Television News, Bangkok Bureau. 

Ms. Thiwari has a solid experience in journalism and content creation and excels in video/film production. She has a well-established relationship with Thai and foreign media which can contribute to the promotion and marketing of AIT.

She will have an important role in building the brand and promoting the global reputation of the Institute, working with the faculty and senior leadership.  She will oversee the entire Public Affairs portfolio of AIT.  Ms. Thiwari will assume the post on 1 February 2021 and will be directly reporting to me. 

Ms. Thiwari holds a Master of Arts in Political Science from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu. She also obtained her master’s degree in Rural Studies and Development and her bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from Thammasat University, Thailand. 

Let us welcome her to our AIT Family and give her our full support and cooperation. 

At this point, I would like to sincerely thank and acknowledge the services of Mr. Shawn Kelly for assuming the role of Director of the Office of Public Affairs for a year in addition to his role as the Director of the Office of International Affairs. He tirelessly worked to oversee both Offices and has carried it well with diligence. Shawn will relinquish all OPA tasks to Ms. Thiwari and he will focus on the management and operations of the Office of International Affairs. 

Dr. Eden Woon

AIT President  

 

2) 6 Jan 2021 TF Update - Thailand Situation and Additional AIT Restrictions

Dear AIT Family,

You would have all received the President’s message which was sent yesterday to the AIT Community on the subject “AIT Enters the New Year” in which AIT members were informed of the following decisions:

Classes and Work from Home

•The Spring Semester at AIT will begin on Monday, 11 January 2021 as scheduled, but all classes will be Interactive Online until 31 January 2021, and a decision will be made later in January whether to continue online or move back to Hybrid Instruction. 

•The Spring Semester 2021 Orientation scheduled for 11 January 2021 will be conducted online. 

•AIT’s current Work from Home (WFH) status, with only mission-essential personnel coming to the office when absolutely necessary, will be in effect until at least 31 January 2021.  Supervisors of these mission-essential personnel—mainly those who serve our students and AIT residential community—should stagger their hours to minimise staff appearances in the office, as was done in the Spring.

Self-Isolation and Temperature Monitoring

The Thai Government has declared the provinces of Samut Sakhon, Rayong, Chonburi, Chantaburi and Trat under the “highest and intensifying level of (disease) control”.  In light of this, new students from within Thailand joining in the Spring 2021 and continuing students who have spent overnight in any of these 5 provinces will be required to undertake a 7-day Self-Isolation (SI) when they come or return to AIT. 

•For new students from within Thailand, they will be required to do their 7-day SI in an AIT designated SI accommodation units before they are allocated their regular accommodation unit on-campus.

•For continuing students, they can do their 7-day SI in their own residences on campus IF it is a non-shared unit, or if their fellow unit student travelled with them.  BUT if their fellow unit student remained on campus the whole time, then the returning students from the above mentioned 5 provinces will be assigned to designated SI accommodation units.

•If you reside off-campus, you should not come onto campus during the 7-day SI period. 

During this 7-day SI period, you should limit your outside forays to absolutely essential trips, and you should not have any personal contacts or have any other meetings (even informal gatherings, such as coffee with friends), and should not leave the campus.  You are also required to enter your dates of SI and travel details in this Google Form and self-monitor your temperature for 14 days and report the daily temperature readings using this Google Form. After the completion of your SI you will be required to get a medical certificate from the AIT Medical Center. 

The AIT Student Union will be assisting the AIT COVID-19 Task Force in monitoring this and please let the Task Force know if you have any questions.  We must all do our part to keep the community safe and this is based on trust and self-declaration. However, if it is known that you were in one of the provinces overnight and chose not to inform the AIT COVID-19 Task Force, and refuse to do SI, AIT reserves the right to take disciplinary action as appropriate.

Campus gatherings – Gathering of any size larger than 15 will not be allowed, and organisers of any gathering of more than 5 people must receive permission from the AIT COVID-19 Task Force.

Food outlets — In keeping with the recently updated directive from the Pathum Thani, social distanced dine-in at all food outlets on campus will be allowed from 6 am to 9 pm (within the food outlet's opening hours), with only take-away allowed after 9 p.m.  Double seating per table will be allowed for diners at all food outlets on campus.  Diners will be seated diagonally across each other with empty seats on both sides. 

Closures — As conveyed earlier all indoor sports / fitness: e.g. SU Gym, China Center, swimming pool; as well as the Thai massage shop will be closed until further notice.

International Travel – It has come to our attention that some international travel was taken without informing the AIT COVID-19 Task Force. Please note that reimbursements will not be made for official trips without TF approval.  For personal trips without TF approval, other measures will be taken.  As conveyed in earlier messages of the Task Force, International (outbound) travel will NOT be allowed for AIT members except in extreme circumstances until further notice.

Please stay updated on news from the Government of Thailand and other updates from the AIT COVID-19 Task Force and the Intranet, as the situation is very fluid.  Policies will be changing all the time to fit the developing circumstances.  We want you to know that AIT takes strict measures to protect our community, and all of us now need to be very vigilant and cooperative to keep our community and our campus safe during this Second Wave. 

AIT COVID-19 Task Force

 

3) Library orientation for new students

Email from AIT Library on 11 January 2021.

AIT Library would like to invite all new students to attend the Library Orientation via zoom during 18 - 22 January 2021. Please register for one of the sessions below.

•Morning session: 10 - 11 AM

•Afternoon session: 2 - 3 PM

Topics include the following:

•Library hours, rules and regulations

•Library resources, facilities, and services

•Finding Library materials

•Finding journal articles and other online resources

•Accessing online resources from off-campus

Register: library@ait.ac.th 

An invitation to the Zoom meeting will be emailed to you after registration. 

If you can not join the scheduled sessions, please register for an individual orientation at your convenience.

We look forward to welcoming you to the orientation.  

AIT Library 

Web Site: http://library.ait.ac.th

Facebook: https://bit.ly/3a2ScpZ

 

4) 2021 AIA Insurance Medical Cards are now available

Email from the Office of Human Resources Services on 8 January 2021. 

Dear AIA Medical Insurance Policy Holders, 

Please be informed that the new AIA medical insurance cards are now available. Please collect it at the Office of Human Resources Services during office hours. 

Important reminders: 

•If you are a foreigner, please provide your passport and your AIA medical insurance card to the hospital reception staff before seeing a doctor.

•If you are a Thai person, please provide your Thai identification card. 

•You can also use the AIA cardless or eCard system (attached is the manual for your easy reference).

•Laboratory coverage is up to a maximum of Baht 5,000. To claim your reimbursement for your laboratory expenses, please submit to OHRS the original receipt and the medical certificate.

•For consultations/hospitalizations in a non-network hospitals, please pay the bill first then submit the original receipt and medical certificate to OHRS to process the reimbursement. 

•Medical reimbursement is valid only within 90 days from the date of the consultation/discharge, otherwise, AIA will not process the reimbursement.

The AIA handbook and the list of AIA network hospitals can be found on the HRIS. Please click "About the Medical Plan". 

If you or your dependents have recently changed your passport number, please contact Khun Jirada immediately by email at jirada@ait.ac.th.  

 

5) Thai courses

Email from AIT Language Center on 6 January 2021 

Dear AIT Community

The Language Center is pleased to announce the opening of Thai courses (online via ZOOM). If you are interested, please click the link below to register and email proof of payment to us via languages@ait.asia before January 21st to confirm your attendance. 

•Listening and Speaking Level 1

oGroup 1: 25 January – 10 March 2021, Monday and Wednesday from 17:00 to 18:30  [click here to register]

oGroup 2: 26 January – 11 March 2021, Tuesday and Thursday from 18:30 to 20:00 [click here to register]

•Reading and Writing Level 1

oGroup 1: 25 January – 10 March 2021, Monday and Wednesday from 18:30 to 20:00 [click here to register]

oGroup 2: 26 January – 11 March 2021, Tuesday and Thursday from 17:00 to 18:30  [click here to register]

Course Fee: 2,500 baht (AIT community) and 3,000 baht (outsider)

PAYMENT PROCESS 

1) PAY AT THE AIT CASHIER

•Provide your name, ID number and cash to the Cashier.

2) PAY BY BANK TRANSFER

•Account Name: ASIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Current Account number: 468-046301-2

Saving account number: 405-999567-0

•Bank Name: Siam Commercial Bank Pcl., Ltd.

•Bank Branch: Thammasat University Hospital

•Branch Address: 95 Moo 8, Klong Nueng, Klong Luang, Pathumthani 12120 Thailand

•Swift Code: SICOTHBK

•Message to Beneficiary: Japanese course

You must pay for any service charge or transaction fee separately.

3) PAY BY CREDIT CARD

click here to pay by credit card

The Language Center

http://www.languages.ait.ac.th

 

6) January 2021 EL Registration

Email from AIT Language Center on 6 January 2021

Dear Students,

The registration for Academic English (EL) classes for the January 2021 Semester is now open. Please click here and choose from the available time slots (AIT login is required) before the deadline on Friday 15 January 2020 (Adding/Dropping). The registration is on a first-come-first-served basis. Classes start on 20 January 2021 

Please note that students are NOT ALLOWED to change their class times after the first 2 weeks of classes. 

Students with English scores below AIT’s admission requirements will be automatically enrolled in the mandatory English Language (EL) courses listed below. The EL course level will be automatically assigned based on a student’s current English score:

5.0 - EL15 Intermediate English Composition

5.5 - EL19 Academic and Technical Writing

English course fee: 3,000 Baht one-time flat fee to all newly enrolled students. 

Remarks: Important!! Please read.

1.    Students whose program schedule conflicts with their EL schedule must consult their advisor. Please note that you must attend 2 EL classes per week and that you are required to successfully complete all designated EL courses within 3 semesters in order to enroll for your thesis credits.

2.    New students of January 2021 will be invoiced in the SIS for the one-time EL fee of 3,000 bht. The fee must be settled in the first semester. 

3.    In order to keep the number of students in each class low (12-15) to ensure highest teaching and learning effectiveness possible, LC will not allow students to change their EL time slots after the first 2 weeks of classes. 

4.    Students must obtain 80% EL attendance each semester. If they fail to do so, they will not be allowed to take the final exam and must repeat the same EL class the following semester. 

5.    If students can no longer attend their registered EL time slots and thus cannot obtain 80% EL attendance, they can write a memo signed by their academic advisor stating that they need to drop the EL class for the semester and will resume in the same EL level in the following semester. The memo must be emailed to LC to be approved by LC Director.  

6.    Students can also drop the EL classes completely and submit the IELTS writing score of 6.0 or higher to LC. In this latter case, such students will not be required to take EL classes and will not be tested by LC. A memo stating this request is also needed. 

For more questions, please email languages@ait.asia. 

 

Training Courses/ Conferences

1) 100 Innovations x Entrepreneurs : What Drives the Future?

WHAT DRIVES THE FUTURE?

The first 100 Innovations x Entrepreneurs (100X) event was organized by the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) in 2019 as Southeast Asia’s first Research-to-Commercial conference to bridge the gap between academia and industry. The event also served as the venue to launch AIT’s Entrepreneurship Center, a breeding ground for future business leaders as well as a learning center with the ultimate goal of enhancing economic and social development. As our signature annual event, this year also AIT is organizing the second 100X in a new normal hybrid mode, a combination of online and in-person to also reach out to more people from different parts of the world. The theme for this event is What Drives the Future with a mindset to rethink our future by focusing on how we can improve the basic human needs such as Food, WellBeing, Living, Education, and Communication in context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).We believe that collaboration among different stakeholders: University, Industry, Government, and Civil Society is the key to safeguard our future and each stakeholder has a critical role to play in achieving the SDGs. Through this event, AIT, as one of the stakeholders, is reaching out to the Government, Industry and Civil Society to collaborate with us as co-organizer, partner, and participants.

More details:

100 Innovations X Entrepreneurs (ait.ac.th)

 

2) Online training course on "Connect Learning with Monitoring and Evaluation: A Strategy for Project M&E in Current COVID-19 Pandemic"

Date: 26 April - 13 May 2021
Time: 14:00 - 16:00 hrs. (Bangkok time)
Learn from practitioners on how to develop M & E pathways that foster measurement of results and respond to current changes of M&E contexts. Broadening perspectives for innovative ways to develop tools and reporting mechanisms that help to make decisions for project implementation. 

Aims of the program

Enhance practical knowledge and scope for M&E approach and practices during COVID-19.
Be acquainted with appropriate research design and data collection tools.

Apply M &E concept to create information sharing and reporting strategies.

For more information and registration pls. visit https://extension.ait.ac.th/course/1127

 

D. Classified (jobs)