MU looks to future after degree win

Mahidol University (MU)’s dispute with the Office of Higher Education Commission (Ohec) over granting a Bachelor of Music for all the seven programmes offered by MU’s College of Music ended last week – with Ohec announcing officially it had approved all seven programmes.

“Finally, our quality curriculum and people’s acceptance have proved that our programmes deserve to be granted the Bachelor of Music,” college dean Associate Professor Sukree Charoensuk told The Nation in a telephone interview from inside the flooded MU, Salaya campus on Friday.

The chairman of the commission, Prof Vichai Reutrakul, announced last Thursday that Ohec had granted all seven programmes the music degree.

They include Western Music, Jazz Studies, Thai and Oriental Music, Music Industry Technology, Music Business, Music Entertainment and Composition.

Previously, Ohec said Music Industry Technology and Music Business programmes should be awarded a bachelor of arts, music major as they were based more on academic theory than practice. 

However, it changed the decision after college students and lecturers protested in late August and early September, calling on Ohec to review its opinion. Sukree submitted his resignation letter on August 1 claiming responsibility for the refusal by Ohec – but MU’s president, clinical professor Piyasakol Sakolsatayadorn blocked his resignation.

“Opinions and support from people voiced through different media, including social media could well guarantee our quality of education and show how much people support the college,” Sukree said, adding that he believed they helped convince Ohec to reconsider its decision. 

He said the two major factors that led to success were quality education and people’s support. “If our quality is not good enough, the programmes won’t be certified. And, since I was confident in the quality, I decided to put my beloved career as a guarantee without worrying about losing it.”

The dean wanted this case to be a study for other universities. MU bore the criticism and public doubts about its quality, which it could later refute. “Though MU had to face disgrace, it was worth experiencing this problem.” It showed that a university could control its own quality, which was acceptable. 

Sukree added that neither the university’s foreign partners nor the students’ parents had doubts about Mahidol challenging the refusal of Ohec. 

“Parents have not questioned me about the issue, but instead they cheered me up. Also, the foreign university partners have not paid attention to the issue as they trust our quality,” he said. 

The college has had exchanges with many foreign universities in Europe and the US in terms of research, knowledge and performance. Also, its students have furthered their masters’ degrees in music at renowned universities in Austria, Germany and the US, according to Sukree. 

He said it’s time for the college to devote its attempt to lead the Southeast Asia region in promoting the region’s culture through music. 

Sukree said a music museum of Southeast Asia was being built at MU and was to open late next year or early 2013. The museum would gather knowledge of the region’s local music, musical instruments, performances and culture. Further, it would be like a market for musical professors or experts from different countries in this region so they would be invited to teach interested people across the world about their local music and performances.

“People overseas, in Japan, Britain and the US are interested in our culture and music. It’s an important mission of our university to promote the region’s valuable cultural assets. So, we will have those musical experts teach them at the museum – selling our culture through music,” he added.

The college will also provide an international curriculum for precollege students – a boarding school where international students can study music when in upper secondary level in Thailand. It will open for application in 2013. The international curriculum has been created in response to demand from foreign students, as many from Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Korea, China, Japan and the US have studied at MU – although the college does not yet have an official curriculum. 

“The school and the museum would help MU promote itself as hub of music of Southeast Asia,” said Sukree.