Khon Kaen University enhances its 2026 Integrity and Transparency Assessment process by customizing evaluation criteria to match specific departmental missions, aiming for institutional excellence.
Under the vision of driving Khon Kaen University towards becoming a “World-Class Research and Development University”, the University Council has laid a solid foundation for transparent operations through its sixth strategy: Beyond Good Governance. This strategy focuses on preventing corruption and upholding strict ethical standards to foster trustworthiness and establish the university as an exemplary institutional role model within the community. This commitment represents a continuation of the university’s long-standing mission over several decades to build a sustainable management system that addresses public needs.
Mrs Natsamol Tanakulrungsarit, Vice President for Legal and Communications, who holds primary responsibility for implementing this policy, explained that the Integrity and Transparency Assessment (ITA) serves as a vital mechanism reflecting the university’s institutional image. The assessment is understood through three core dimensions: the Internal Integrity and Transparency Assessment (IIT), which measures internal staff perceptions regarding official duties, authority, and budget management; the External Integrity and Transparency Assessment (EIT), which captures the perspectives of external stakeholders regarding service quality and transparency; and the Open Data Integrity and Transparency Assessment (OIT), which evaluates the disclosure of basic information and online accessibility to facilitate public scrutiny.
The Vice President emphasized that the assessment scores serve as essential data indicators for continuous operational improvement.
“The ITA is not merely a scoring exercise,” Mrs Tanakulrungsarit stated. “It is a crucial instrument for enhancing governance and operational transparency. The resulting scores reveal specific areas where Khon Kaen University needs improvement, allowing us to utilize that feedback to enhance our organizational efficiency.”
For the 2026 operational year, the university has intensified its evaluation process to overcome previous analytical limitations and pinpoint authentic departmental challenges. Mrs Tanakulrungsarit elaborated on this key transition:
“In 2026, the ITA has moved past the limitations of the traditional ‘one-size-fits-all’ format. It now transitions into an in-depth assessment tailored to specific departmental missions through a combination of standardized and specialized inquiries. This methodology enables us to diagnose institutional weaknesses and identify risk coordinates across distinct workgroups with high precision.”
Furthermore, the 2026 assessment places greater emphasis on external feedback by increasing the EIT score proportion to 40 per cent. Qualified third-party organizations specializing in institutional contexts have also been appointed as evaluators to ensure complete neutrality and capture an accurate reflection of the university’s public standing.
In driving the organization toward these institutional goals, the Vice President for Legal and Communications underscored the vital role of every staff member as a core contributor to this collective effort.
“I would like all Khon Kaen University personnel to view the ITA as an opportunity for institutional growth rather than an administrative burden,” Mrs Tanakulrungsarit concluded. “I invite everyone to cooperate in performing their duties with integrity and transparency, ensuring that our university remains a well-governed role model, a reliable pillar, and a source of pride for society.”
The comprehensive development of governance at Khon Kaen University extends beyond mere compliance with state regulations or numerical targets. It represents the cultivation of a deeply rooted culture of transparency, confirming that throughout its decades of operation, KKU remains a valuable educational institution dedicated to leading society with integrity under the Beyond Good Governance strategy.
Watch the full episode on the KKUTransformation Programme: ITA 2569 ก้าวใหม่ของการประเมินความโปร่งใสองค์กร
