University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi: Assessing the quality of training programs according to international standards.

On April 25, 2023, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU Hanoi, held its Quality Assurance Conference for the 2022-2023 academic year.
The conference was attended by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dang Thi Thu Huong - Vice Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU Hanoi; Dr. Pham Huy Cuong - Director of the Center for Educational Quality Assurance, and leaders of departments/faculties/institutes/centers/divisions under the university.
Representing the Institute for Quality Assurance, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, was Dr. Bui Vu Anh - Deputy Director.
The conference aimed to evaluate the results of the school's quality assurance work in 2022, and propose plans and solutions to improve the quality of educational facilities and training programs in 2023 and beyond.

Summarizing the quality assurance work for the 2022-2023 academic year and the plan for the 2023-2024 academic year of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Dr. Pham Huy Cuong - Director of the Center for Educational Quality Assurance, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, stated that in 2022, the university's quality assurance work was completed and exceeded the set targets. In addition, based on the practical situation, the university made adjustments to the plan to strengthen self-assessment and accreditation of training programs. The university completed self-assessment of 12 training programs (11 programs according to the standards of the Ministry of Education and Training, 1 program according to AUN standards), and organized external evaluation of 7 training programs according to the standards of the Ministry of Education and Training in 2022 (Journalism, Public Relations, Management Science, Religious Studies, Hotel Management, Office Management).
The school continues to implement the evaluation of the quality of educational facilities and training programs through surveys of stakeholders: (1) Gathering student opinions on courses (Semester I: 786 courses/45,950 students), (2) Lecturer self-assessment: 865 lecturers, (3) Gathering student opinions on the quality of student support activities: 2,034 students, (4) Gathering opinions from employers on the quality of training at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities: 272 units; coordinating with units to complete the survey of information on graduating students (852 graduating students) and report "3 public disclosures".

The Institute for Educational Quality Assurance of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities has organized activities such as: the Conference on Quality Assurance for the 2022-2023 academic year; training for staff participating in self-assessment activities and writing self-assessment reports for training programs according to AUN-QA standards (International Studies, Psychology, Sociology) and standards of the Ministry of Education and Training (Tourism and Hospitality Management, Information Management, Information - Library); coordinating the organization of a training course for educational quality accreditation inspectors (scheduled for June 2023 for 30 key staff members of the university). It has also issued two documents contributing to the further improvement of the university's internal quality assurance system: the Statement of Quality Assurance Policy and the Regulations on Quality Assurance at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities.
Speaking at the conference, Associate Professor Dr. Dang Thi Thu Huong - Vice Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities - highly appreciated the quality assurance activities in education, especially the quality accreditation of training programs throughout the university in the past academic year. Departments/faculties/institutes/centers and lecturers have made many efforts to complete the quality accreditation of training programs, aiming to provide students with the best value during their studies at the university.
The conference received many valuable insights and shared experiences from leaders of departments, faculties/institutes to improve the quality accreditation of training programs. Accordingly, criteria suitable for accreditation are still implemented daily in the training and scientific research activities of the units; however, due to the lack of standardized document archiving, the process of preparing documents for accreditation activities is still time-consuming. Therefore, Dr. Vu Huong Lan - Deputy Head of the Faculty of Tourism, proposed the initiative to digitize training data to facilitate the subsequent accreditation process.

At the conference, Dr. Bui Vu Anh, Deputy Director of the Institute for Quality Assurance, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, presented training on developing learning outcomes and course syllabi that meet quality assurance and accreditation requirements and current regulations to the leaders of various units and lecturers of the university.

The conference identified the key tasks of the school's educational quality assurance activities for the 2023-2024 academic year as: continuing to develop and improve the internal quality assurance system; maintaining and promoting activities to improve the quality of educational institutions and training programs; successfully completing the self-assessment and accreditation plan for training programs; implementing training and professional development activities for the staff in charge of, leading, and implementing quality assurance work; continuing to implement and coordinate activities to gather feedback from stakeholders; and planning to further improve the school's quality assurance information system.
Specifically, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities will complete self-assessment and external evaluation of 9 training programs (3 according to AUN standards, 6 according to the standards of the Ministry of Education and Training). 100% of the courses will have student feedback collected, and 100% of lecturers will participate in the self-assessment activities. In addition, the evaluation process will include input on student support activities and information provided by employers. Furthermore, training and capacity-building activities will be organized for the quality assurance network, gradually developing a team of experts in quality assurance and accreditation.

Here are some photos from the Quality Assurance Conference for the 2022-2023 school year:

Related articles:
Opening of the 322nd AUN-QA Accreditation Conference: USSH's Bachelor of Anthropology program receives international accreditation.
Closing ceremony of the 322nd AUN-QA external evaluation at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities.
Evaluation of the Bachelor of Anthropology Program according to the ASEAN University Network Quality Assurance (AUN-QA) standards, version 4.0.