SUT and Thailand Shine Bright at WACE International Research Symposium

For the first time since his rectorship, Associate Professor Dr Weerapong Pairsuwan, SUT Rector, was invited to attend the WACE Board of Directors Meeting at the 3rd WACE International Research Symposium (IRS) hosted by Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University (DHBW) in Stuttgart, Germany from June 23rd-27th, 2018. For the same Symposium, Professor Dr Wichit Srisa-an, Chairman of SUT Council and a WACE Executive Committee Member, Associate Professor Dr Kongpol Areerak, SUT’s Director of Cooperative Education and Career Development Centre, and Assistant Professor Dr Issra Pramoolsook, an assistant to SUT Rector and an international review committee member of this IRS, were also invited to attend.

Representing the Thai Association for Cooperative Education (TACE), Dr Kongpol Areerak also participated in WACE National Association Committee (WNAC) Meeting in which the issue of possibly creating a global Cooperative Education Standards and Frameworks was extensively discussed. As a resource material for the drafting, the Thai Cooperative Education Standards and Framework, which was created by TACE and endorsed to be used as a national standard by the Office of Higher Education Commission (OHEC), will be shared with other National Associations for further study.

Praised for its strength in Cooperative and Work-Integrated Education (CWIE) research, SUT is the first university in the world that offers the PhD programme in cooperative education. Some of the research works from this programme were presented at this IRS by both SUT academic staff and students, and were all well received. On the practical side, Dr Weerapong made an important comment during a panel discussion about the sheer size of German investment in the industrial sector in Thailand, and urged both Thailand and Germany to maximize this opportunity for the increase of international cooperative education student placements. He offered that SUT can be a key player and facilitator for this effort in Thailand.

In all, the highlight of SUT’s CWIE research that shone bright at this 3rd IRS has confirmed the status of SUT as a well-rounded leader in cooperative and work-integrated education in the world.