Abstract:
The research aimed to study the personnel administration of the Pakxe Buddhist University in Champasak, Lao PDR, to compare the personnel administration of the university in question as classified by the positions and the working experience, and to study the problems and guidelines for the personnel administration of the university under study.
The samples used in the research were 50 executives and lecturers of the Pakxe Buddhist University in Champasak in the academic year 2018. The research instruments were an in-depth interview and a five rating scale questionnaire with a confidence value equivalent to .89. Statistics used in data analysis were percentage, means, standard deviation, and z-test.
The research findings were as follows.
1. The personnel administration was overall at a high level.
2. Considering a comparison of the personnel administration in the Buddhist University in the study as classified by positions and working experience, there was no difference found.
3. Concerning the problems and guidelines, it was found that:
3.1 Personnel recruits: applicants for the teaching position especially in the Buddhist studies at the university held a lower-than- university degree. However, it was considered necessary to accept the candidates in question as the personnel in this field were rare. The guidelines were the personnel were to pursue further education, and experience.
3.2 Personnel acceptance: The personnel who were accepted into positions did not hold a qualification relevant to the job description. The solution to the problem was to find the alternative, for example, recruiting a teacher of mathematics in place of a teacher of physics.
3.3 Promotion and development: the budget was insufficient for the personnel development. Funding was particularly required for study in other countries. New textbooks and documents relevant and necessary for study were inadequate. The possible solution was an allocation of the scholarship provided by the government and the university to qualified personnel to pursue further study.
3.4 Performance evaluation: an amount of work and a proportion were not equal. Some of the personnel were responsible for administration and teaching, which proved excessive. Some were tasked with only teaching. Despite different tasks, the evaluation results were not much different. The solution was there should be a clear framework for evaluation.
3.5 Benefits and supports for the personnel: there was shortages in the budget to secure teaching materials; the budget allocation took a lot of time to process. The solution was financial assistance should be made available, for example medical expenses, travel expenses, teaching materials. There should be a fringe benefit for the personnel on different occasions, for instance, a wedding, a birth giving time, and a housewarming.