Accreditation Results 2014

Chapter 1: Internal Quality Assurance and Management

• Standard 1: Academic Unit Management
• Standard 2: Governance System
• Standard 3: Self-Check/Self-Evaluation
• Standard 4: Staff-Development

• With a small number of the academic members (14) and the administrative staff, the school practice a flat organizational structure. The structure has less hierarchy and could offer a faster decision-making process. Nonetheless, the school’s top management could be ‘overloaded’ with various job scope and responsibility at one time. For instance, the administrative staff is also reporting directly to the assistant dean and the dean.
• The staff performance is evaluated once a year. As a reward, salary increment is offered to the staff. The percentage of the increment differed among the staff depending on their performance. However, the career development of the staff is limited as there is no higher administrative post offered at the school.
• The school has an academic board and administrative board (both is chaired by the Dean). Limited information was provided on the roles of both boards and how do they support the school’s mission.

• The explanation needs to be more detail, while the document is too general. In the management system one point that need to be highlight is the governance/management system that several activities mostly directed to the dean.
• Several explanations do not match the criteria requested by Abest21.

Issues to be improved:

• The school must have a governance system to examine systematically and periodically the appropriateness of its management.
• The school must disclose the analysis of self-check/self-evaluation to its stakeholders and have a feedback system to hear the opinions.

• A system must be designed to evaluate the school’s administration, education, and research and adjust it to comments per criteria.

The School’s Feedback:

CGSM is committed to enhancing its governance system with regular evaluations of management, education, and research. Annual meetings with the academic and administrative boards will assess these areas, ensuring alignment with our mission and standards.

To promote transparency, CGSM will publish self-assessment and evaluation outcomes in its annual report and online. Additionally, we are establishing a feedback system for stakeholders—students, faculty, and others—to share insights, which will be reviewed for continuous improvement.

We are also developing a comprehensive assessment system for managing, education, and research, which will undergo regular reviews in line with ABEST21 criteria to ensure compliance with international standards.

PRT Response:

Points noted.

Chapter 2: Mission Statement

• Standard 5: Mission Statement
• Standard 6: Financial Strategies

• The school’s mission statement includes integrating academic knowledge with business practices and being good individuals who do not forget to contribute to society and foster sustainable growth. The school integrates academic knowledge and business practices through its curriculum delivery. The faculty members include real-case study, business decision making, and industry visit to their course delivery to expose students to business practices and application of knowledge.
• In addition to the supporting faculty members (from industries), most of the school’s participating members have vast experience in industries prior to joining the school. Also, one of the faculty members interviewed runs her own business.
• The school is regarded as an autonomous entity, this includes its financial aspects.
• No funding is provided by the university. The academic and the staff salary and other expenses are paid by the school using its own fund, except for the expenses on facilities, electricity and its related expenses.
• 80% of the school’s source of income is from the tuition fees. To increase its financial strengths, the school target for offering more short courses with industry and securing more research grants.
• The roles of the Business Excellence Center (BEC), which conducts training for companies and organizations, particularly in the Northeastern Region is seen as vital.

• Mission statement is need to be clearly defined and disseminated to their important stakeholders. The financial strategy is also a challenge when the school find a decreasing in number of students.
• Several explanations do not match the criteria requested by Abest21.

Issues to be improved:

The school must plan short-term and long-term financial strategies to secure adequate budgets necessary for realizing its mission statement.

• Activities beyond just using media and websites are carried out to socialize the University’s and the school’s mission to all stakeholders, ensuring that outsiders are well-informed about the university/school’s mission.

The School’s Feedback:

• Financial Strategy: CGSM has developed both short-term and long-term financial strategies to strengthen financial stability. In the short term, the school aims to generate revenue through the BEC Center, which provides industrial training. For the long term, CGSM is focused on expanding programs and attracting students from within Thailand, China, and a broader range of regions.
• Mission Dissemination: CGSM uses its website, Open House events, and other activities to communicate its mission. Additionally, the school plans to enhance collaboration directly with alumni and industry stakeholders, establishing a systematic feedback mechanism to gather input from various stakeholders.
• Diversity of Faculty and Students: CGSM aims to recruit new-generation faculty members, both Thai and international, to bring diverse and global perspectives. The school is also working on expanding partnerships with institutions outside of China and ASEAN to attract a more diverse student body and foster a global learning environment.

PRT Response:

NA

Chapter 3: Curriculum

• Standard 7: Learning Goals
• Standard 8: Curriculum Policy and Management of Curriculum
• Standard 9: Quality Improvement of Curriculum
• Standard 10: Online Education
• Standard 11: Diploma Policy and Learning Outcomes
• Standard 12: Globalization of Curriculum

• The current curriculum is the revised curriculum. It includes the SDGs components e.g. ethics course and provide more choices of electives courses.
• However, the involvement of the stakeholders e.g. the alumni and the industry players in the curriculum review process are not clearly documented in the report.
• The Young Executive MBA is the MBA fast track. It requires 1.5 years to graduation, instead of 2 years (for other MBA tracks). The faculty members interviewed highlighted that different teaching approach was used for different MBA tracks classes as the profile /background of the students is different.

• Participation and contribution by the stakeholders are the issue and still limited.
• Several explanations do not match the criteria requested by Abest21.

Issues to be improved:

• The learning goals must be reviewed regularly by collecting opinions from the stakeholders and involving users and alumni.
• The school is strongly encouraged to systematically and formally engage with their alumni in reviewing the program learning outcomes.
• Students exchange program is not available.

• To globalize educational programs, CGSM must accept foreign lecturers and exchange lecturers. The collaboration with foreign researchers should include conducting global classes, adding foreign directors and exchange students, joint degree programs, double degree programs, and overseas internships from China and several other countries.

The School’s Feedback:

• Curriculum Review with Stakeholders: CGSM conducts annual feedback sessions with graduate users systematically and gathers input from other stakeholders, including current students, alumni, and industry professionals. This process is carried out in a structured manner for each curriculum revision to ensure alignment with industry needs.
• Expanding Internationalization and Faculty Diversity: CGSM seeks collaborations with institutions in ASEAN and China to attract more international students and experts.
• Continuous Improvement of Learning Goals: CGSM regularly reviews and updates its learning goals to meet industry demands, taking into account input from key stakeholders.

PRT Response:

NA

Chapter 4: Students

• Standard 13: Admission Policy and Student Selection
• Standard 14: Student Encouragement and Support
• Standard 15: Student Body Diversity

• The school has a clear admission policy and selection process.
• About the candidates’ selection process, according to the staff interviewed, the success rate is about 80%.
• The school provides several financial initiatives and supports to the local and international students.
• The international student interviewed is from Indonesia, she received the scholarship from the school.
• The placement services – No specific reason is provided on why the program has not yet officially commenced (14-3).
• Orientation day was organized for both local and international students.
• In terms of the study and career advice, the students interviewed said that they usually refer to the dean or their lecturers for an advice.

• The school need to consider more student intake to have more potential students particularly from the countries that have different semester time with Thailand. Promotion in an effective way is a key to expand the students,
• Compliant with Abest21 standards.

Issues to be improved:

The school must review the academic support and reward system systematically and periodically.

• Schools and faculties should enhance scholarships for international students to boost the number of international students. This strategy will attract more individuals interested in studying at Khon Kaen University. Additionally, there should be a collaboration with industry or government agencies to establish special classes tailored for these entities.

The School’s Feedback:

• Financial Support System: CGSM provides financial support options for Thai students, including deferred payments, credit card payments, and alumni fund loans. For international students, there are dedicated scholarships for students from ASEAN and Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) countries. Additionally, students with outstanding academic achievements receive honorary plaques and gold medals on graduation day, recognizing their academic success.
• Career and Study Abroad Counseling Support: CGSM has initiated the establishment of a career planning and development advisory service, which provides information and guidance on career options, career advancement, and opportunities for further study abroad. Academic affairs staff are responsible for managing this support, though the program has not yet been formally launched.

PRT Response:

NA

Chapter 5: Faculty

• Standard 16: Faculty Structure
• Standard 17: Faculty Qualifications
• Standard 18: Maintenance of Education and Research Environment
• Standard 19: Faculty Development
• Standard 20: Faculty Diversity

• There is a limited information about the school’s academic promotion policy.
• Based on the data provided, the school has no professor.
• As per the faculty interview, there was no clear answer on the challenges faced by the academic faculty in applying for the academic job promotion i.e. professorship, associate professor.
• The data about the backgrounds of the practically qualified supporting faculty members (total 42) are needed. (16-2) (16-3)
• The school supports its faculty members’ competencies development and research activities by allocating 50,000 Thai Baht yearly for each member, such as for attending conference and training courses.

• The school will benefit from inviting more visiting lecturer to gain more diversity and encourage the current lecturers to have more international experiences.
  The nuance of research for some faculty member is also limited. Therefore, need more incentive to encourage them.
• Several explanations do not match the criteria requested by Abest21.

Issues to be improved:

• The school must have a system to reward its faculty members who have excellent achievements in academic research or education.
• The faculty members’ international exchange program is one of the issues for improvement.

• The school must include several full-time and associate professors. According to the CGSM Report, it currently needs full-time professors but employs four associate professors. The strategy to augment the number of professors and associate professors must be determined.

The School’s Feedback:

• Academic Promotion Policy: CGSM actively supports academic promotions and research by providing research funding and awards for publications in high-quality journals. Additionally, annual performance evaluations are conducted to monitor faculty progress and plan further development.
• New Faculty Recruitment Plan: CGSM plans to recruit both Thai and international faculty members to enhance diversity and strengthen its team. Selection will 40 be based on the specific needs of the college.
• Support for International Exchange: CGSM supports faculty exchanges and international seminars, as well as inviting guest lecturers from abroad, to bring international perspectives and foster academic collaborations.
• Research Achievement Reward System: CGSM has a reward system for research publications in high-quality journals, including those indexed in Web of Science and Scopus, based on the university’s established criteria.

PRT Response:

NA