THE PRESIDENT of Mahidol University, Udom Kachintorn, yesterday said the resignation of all 13 deputy rectors, following a request by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) for a declaration of their assets, was a personal decision by each individual.

The 13 vice presidents, whose resignations were accepted on March 31, had just over a year to serve until their administration terms expired and another committee would be selected to replace them, Udom said.

They had been asked to serve as acting deputy rectors of Mahidonl initially for six months, to keep the university administration unaffected, he said.

Udom said many viewed the resignations as a protest against the NACC request, but the anti-graft agency was within its rights and if anyone thought it was unfair or felt uncomfortable about the situation, they had the right to resign.

He explained that the position of vice president is an academic role, in which a selected staff member serves in the university administration along with his or her normal teaching. When the term is up, the deputy rector would return to normal lecturing duties, he said.

It was unlike the deputy director-general positions at government departments or ministries, which people often misunderstood to be equivalent, he added.

The Royal Gazette had earlier published the NACC announcement requiring state officials, including those serving as deputy presidents at public universities or autonomous public universities, to declare their assets from April 3 to May 2.

The declaration of assets and debts is part of the three guidelines to tackle corruption in the public sector. The aim is to reduce the monopolisation of power by creating a supervising mechanism (such as a university council) to balance and check the use of power, to reduce the use of discretion by issuing rules and regulations for clear practice on various matters, and to create transparency and develop a mechanism for accountability.

Meanwhile, Mongkolkit Suksintharanon, secretary-general of the National Anti-Corruption Network (NACN), said he would today submit a request for the NACC to investigate the 13 Mahidol vice presidents who resigned.

He also said deputy rectors at 200 universities might quit their positions because of the NACC requirement for asset declarations.

Mongkolkit said the NACC was right to ask for public transparency on the assets of university vice presidents, before and after holding the positions.

“Some lecturers had unusual wealth because the Revenue Code allowed the income from education to be tax-exempted. This is a matter that should be proposed for law amendment so tax can be collected from the income earned from tutoring classes,” he said.

“Some university’s deputy rectors earn 20 times more salary than a prime minister. While a PM earns Bt120,000 a month in salary, a deputy rector earns Bt500,000 to Bt1 million, excluding more income from special curriculum courses. So the NACC is doing the right thing.”

If all current university executives resigned, the universities could find other qualified persons to replace them or hire professional administrators to do the jobs in exchange for a properly taxed salary, he added.

Mongkolkit said the NACC should also require school directors, holding C8 or C9 state official ranks, to disclose their assets.