Nothing has been scrapped in the original plans, but construction has slowed down to match possible monthly payments. The campus is still scheduled for a soft opening in June 2000, with fewer buildings completed. At other universities like state-owned Srinakharinwirot, buildings under construction are being completed, but new construction that has already gained approval has been put on hold. Hiring Freezes Like most other universities, Assumption University declared a freeze on hiring last year. However, this policy is implemented with great flexibility so that departments under expansion may still hire additional full-time staff.
State universities have a more rigid policy.
Only 20 percent of the positions made available by retirement may be replaced, and the hiring freeze will stand until a new salary range for non-civil servants is set. Many have taken government incentives for early retirement in units like Ramkhamhaeng's Faculties of Law and Political Science, but the 20 percent replacement rate applies to the entire university rather than to individual units. As a result, the situation may become more labor-intensive for remaining lecturers because class sizes necessarily become larger. In departments that were overstaffed, however, the hiring freeze will not have so negative an impact upon instruction. Moreover, restructuring to eliminate duplication of services helps to pool resources and to equalize workloads from department to department.