Thammasat University has four campuses. Thammasat Tha Prachan Campus is located at the center of Bangkok along the renowned Chao Phraya River. Thammasat Rangsit Campus is the largest campus located in Pathum Thani Province, 40 km. north of Bangkok. The other two campuses are in Pattaya (Eastern Thailand) and in Lampang (Northern Thailand). Hence, with the distances between campuses, telecommuting or remote working for employees and online/distance learning are the essential part of the “new normal” way of living.
Thammasat University (TU) is initiating a significant organizational shift through its ‘TU Work from everywhere’ program, driven by the realization that organizations must rapidly adapt to a world increasingly shaped by technological advancement and innovation. The key objective of this movement is to adjust the university’s traditional governmental working model to remain current with leading institutions and achieve its goal of becoming a ‘World-Class University for the People,’ focusing fundamentally on the happiness of employees who are essential gears in the university’s development. As part of policies promoting a Future Workforce and Future Workplace, the ‘TU Work from everywhere’ program introduces work flexibility, allowing employees to avoid daily office visits, though this requires overcoming the challenge of transitioning staff—some still attached to traditional methods like filing cabinets—to systems heavily utilizing technology. Thammasat, being an autonomous university, has the scope to make these changes, and a six-month pilot program has been conducted with three units to gather data on successes, failures, and necessary systemic improvements needed to establish rules ensuring efficient flexible work that also enhances staff quality of life.
‘ธรรมศาสตร์-ขับเคลื่อนองค์กรด้วยความสุขของพนักงาน-‘Work-from-everywhereWith the concern for the health and safety of the faculty staffs and employees having to travel for work or activities, Thammasat University issued several announcements and guidelines to promote and provide more safer, convenient and productive ways of working for the employees, faculty staffs and students. Office Heads are encouraged to delegate staff to work at the office only when necessary while the rest should work from home or schedule alternate working days among co-workers.
Online-Class_Open-House-Nov24
Despite the COVID-19 situation, Thammasat University allows employees and faculty staffs to manage their works from home or at one campus when possible to reduce commuting especially when there are conflicts of meetings between campuses.
7 Ways to Effectively Work or Study From Home – Thammasat University Facebook
Exercise when work from home – Facebook (Feb,2022)
Inter-campus Meetings
Thammasat University often holds inter-campus meetings and conferences. Currently, inter-campus online meetings can be arranged on Microsoft Team which reduces the need of long-distance commuting. The online teaching, online learning, and work-from-home guidelines were made available in Thammasat University and faculty websites.
1. Distance Learning Handbook and Guidelines for Faculty Staffs
2. Online Learning Handbook and Guidelines for Students
Sending Documents across Departments or Campuses
Written documents and original hard copies are legally required and still the main and necessary method of communications among departments and faculty. E-documents were incorporated into the procurement and departments’ communications to fasten the delivery time, reduce the amount of paper wastage as well as green house effect from the delivering process.
Hybrid Classroom
Thammasat University has prepared a few classrooms in all faculty buildings to be equipped with online and/or hybrid classes to minimize the time and distance in commuting to classes. transportation for both the staff and students, which would be required in the traditional classroom system. Besides helping with greenhouse gas emission, this policy also helps control the spread of COVID-19 during the pandemic.
Hybrid Learning at Lampang Campus
