7 November 2011

Dear Dr.Chackrit Duangphastra

 Students’ Proposal Regarding the Current Flood Crisis

As we are well aware of, the current flood crisis in Thailand has significantly impacted many members of the Chulalongkorn University community, including staff and students of the Faculty of Commerce and Accountancy.  On behalf of the BBA students listed in the Students’ Proposal Regarding the Current Flood Crisis, I would like to take this opportunity to communicate our recommendations to the management team of the BBA program as to how members of our community could aid each other in overcoming this devastating situation.


At the moment, it appears to us that the decision as to whether or not our classes are to resume is dependent upon the day to day situation of the flood, resulting in many uncertainties. This uncertainty is causing anxiety upon students as they cannot decide whether or not to leave their homes to look for accommodations near the Campus, and whether or not classes would be cancelled again in the near future.  The water has already reached the Chatuchak District and it has a large tendency to move towards Victory Monument very soon. This leads us to think that the Pathumwan District and campus of our Chulalongkorn University could well be directly impacted, not to mention homes of students and staff in areas of Central Bangkok that the water would pass through.  In that case, the number of students (and teachers) unable to attend classes on campus would increase drastically and it may be worthwhile to look at compromising solutions.


Therefore, we have come up with ideas we believe is necessary to facilitate the learning and teaching that is necessary to complete the 2011 Fall semester.  We understand that the BBA program cannot postpone any exam dates due to the significant number of this term’s exchange students; however, we feel that it is unfair for many students who unfortunately, are unable to come to the University due to their circumstances regarding the flood.  Not only do we believe that these solutions will allow courses to resume despite the ongoing crisis, it will also allow everyone to feel a sense of certainty and security.  Our ideas include:

1.      Resume learning and teaching via online mediums instead of lectures

a.      We could utilize the Blackboard system which is available to all students and teachers in the BBA program

b.      We also suggest the use of Facebook Groups for each course. It is very convenient for everyone including exchange students

2.      Assignments to be handed in via Emails instead of printouts

3.      Shorten course syllabus/teaching materials realistically

a.      Despite the scheduled make up classes, we feel that the cancellation of classes for the past two weeks resulted in students not having enough time to study the planned materials in time for the finals exam, which are due to begin as early as 10 November 2011

4.      In case of long drawn flooding, projects/reports assignments completed at home could be assigned instead of a written final exam

 

We strongly believe that the aforementioned solutions would result in a compromise between all parties concerning the current situation.  Furthermore, it would also allow students who are already flood victims (e.g. whose houses are already flooded and cannot travel to the campus, whose transportation route to campus is already flooded) to participate in studying, as well as those who are in flood-prone areas to refrain from leaving their homes.

 

We understand that our proposed ideas may appear to be unconventional to the preference of faculty members, but we would also greatly appreciate it if you would contemplate the fact that we, as students, are trying to fend for the little remaining time we have left until the end of this semester and use that time efficiently.

 

We look forward to hearing from you regarding our proposed ideas and whether or not they are viable as soon as possible.


Thank you for considering our suggestions.

 

Yours Sincerely,

Nantaprong Leelahongjudha