The Center for Journalism and Communication reviews 10 outstanding achievements of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities in 2012. These achievements reflect the continuous efforts of the staff, students and trainees of the University in the past year, and continue to affirm the right steps of the University towards the goal of high-quality training and international integration in higher education.
1. Improve the organization of centers and establish some new centers
The University of Social Sciences and Humanities has integrated a number of centers in an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary direction, thereby improving the quality and efficiency of the centers' operations. Specifically, integrating 04 existing centers (Center for Population, Environment and Social Issues Research; Center for Gender and Development Research; Center for Asia-Pacific Studies; Center for World Trade Organization (WTO) and International Issues Research) into 02 new centers: Center for Gender, Population, Environment and Social Issues Research; Center for Asia-Pacific Studies and International Issues Research. In addition, 2 other new centers have also been established: Center for Research and Application of Culture and Arts; Center for Vietnamese Language and Culture. By the end of 2012, the University had 14 centers operating stably and effectively, contributing to increasing the scientific capacity and reputation of the University.
2. Supplement and improve the quality of teaching staff
“Building and developing a qualified staff team, quickly integrating into the region and the world” is one of the four major action programs of the School in the period 2012-2015. Implementing the set roadmap, last year, the work of selecting, training and fostering the staff team was promoted and initially had encouraging results. The School organized civil servant recruitment exams in accordance with regulations, recruiting 33 new staff, bringing the total number of staff in the School to 485. The Board of Directors was also supplemented with 02 comrades (Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Quang Minh and Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Thi Minh Hoa) to strengthen the leadership and management capacity of the government.
In 2012, the school had 01 more teacher recognized as Professor, 07 teachers recognized as Associate Professor; 03 teachers were awarded the title of Excellent Teacher. By the end of 2012, the school had 05 Professors, 76 Associate Professors, 152 staff with PhD, Doctor of Science degrees, 199 staff with Master's degrees. 2012 was also the year with the highest number of staff studying for postgraduate and doctoral degrees ever with 147 staff, of which 33 staff studied abroad. In addition to ensuring the standardization roadmap for academic titles and degrees for staff, for the first time the school cooperated with the Singapore International Foundation to organize a course on "Course design and teaching methods" for young lecturers; sent 402 staff to study to improve their qualifications in different fields; Send some lecturers from NVCL to improve their professional qualifications and English proficiency in the US and Australia; open advanced English classes for staff of some faculties...
3. Successful conversion to credit-based training method
2012 is the 5th year since the University of Social Sciences and Humanities has carried out a "revolution" in training activities, which is the conversion from the year-based training method to the credit training method. With a strong determination, overcoming many initial difficulties, up to now, credit training has really had in-depth development steps. Promoting the advantages of the credit training method, training quality has been gradually improved; there is a clear change in the thinking of teachers and learners towards being more proactive, positive and creative; teaching, testing and evaluation activities have many innovations; training management work is increasingly flexible and synchronous. The QH-2008-X course (graduated in August 2012) is the 2nd course trained entirely by the credit method with a graduation rate of over 84%, of which 5 students graduated 1 year early, more than 100 students graduated one semester early. This demonstrates the high adaptability of students to today's learning environment.
The past school year also witnessed many innovations in training activities towards further promoting the advantages of credit-based training: piloting the organization of subject registration with selected lecturers for 4 subjects and 52 subject classes; piloting the use of subject websites for 25 subjects and 1,101 students; enhancing computerization in training management... CASA - Training Advisory and Support Group - was established last year, as an independent unit with the function of supporting and advising students and lecturers on learning and teaching skills in a credit-based training environment. With the establishment of CASA, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities is taking a step forward in the standardization process to meet the criteria for training quality assessment according to national, regional and international standards.
4. Complete the conversion of 24 undergraduate training programs, 52 master's and doctoral training programs according to output standards
The University of Social Sciences and Humanities has completed the conversion of training programs according to output standards for 24 training programs at the university level, including 18 standard training programs, 04 high-quality training programs, 01 training program under strategic tasks; 52 training programs at the university level. This is a solution to improve training quality to meet social requirements on the basis of determining output standards to design program content and training plans. Training according to the output standards approach has outstanding advantages: linked to the needs of employers, thereby helping to narrow the gap between school training and the requirements of human resource users; helping learners develop comprehensively with "hard skills" and "soft skills" to quickly adapt to the ever-changing working environment... Building training programs according to output standards also creates stronger connections between industries and training levels.
5. Develop and implement a number of new training majors/specializations
2012 continued to be a successful year in the mission of building new training majors to meet social needs. These are Public Relations (Faculty of Journalism and Communication), Anthropology major at graduate level; Art - Cinema Theory, History and Criticism major at graduate level, Science and Technology Management major at doctoral level. The school also completed the training project for Southeast Asian Studies and the Psychology training program at CLC level and submitted them to VNU for approval.
6. Complete training and award diplomas from international quality postgraduate training programs
International training cooperation programs with prestigious universities in the region and around the world continue to expand and develop. In addition to short-term programs and joint training programs at the undergraduate level, the University is implementing 4 joint training programs at the postgraduate level in Child and Adolescent Development Psychology, Organizational and Business Management, Hotel Management, and Science and Technology Management. In 2012, the first course of the Master's program in Science and Technology Management - a joint training program between the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (VNU) and Lund University (Sweden) within the framework of Project 165 of the Central Organizing Committee ended with 36 students receiving graduation certificates. This success further affirms the position of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities as a high-quality training institution, the cradle of training many excellent managers and leaders for ministries, localities and the country.
7. Research activities achieved many high achievements
2012 was a particularly successful year in the University's scientific research activities. The University's scientific staff actively participated in many key scientific programs of the State such as: KX.02/11-15: Scientific research on social development and social development management in Vietnam until 2020; KX.03/11-15: Scientific research on cultural and human development and improving the quality of human resources; KX.06/11-15: Research and development of international integration in science and technology; KHCN-TN3/11-15: Science and Technology serving the socio-economic development of the Central Highlands. The number of State-level topics is the highest ever with 9 topics; in addition, there are 07 topics belonging to the National Science and Technology Fund, 02 topics belonging to Hanoi City, 20 topics of groups A, B of VNU. The school has organized 27 domestic and international scientific conferences, including many conferences of great significance and influence in the country and the region such as: the conference "Cultural exchange of ethnic groups and tourism development in the Red River basin" jointly organized by the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Lao Cai province and Honghe Academy - China, to continue to clarify the cultural exchange of ethnic groups in the Red River basin, contributing to consulting on planning for management and economic development, tourism development, cultural exchange of the two provinces of Lao Cai - Yunnan in particular and the two countries of Vietnam - China in general; the conference: "East Sea cooperation: History and prospects" officially announced documents on the sovereignty of Vietnamese people in the sea and islands, contributing to consulting on research, management of the sea and islands and exploiting the system of documents on Vietnam's sovereignty over the sea and islands...
The whole school published 628 scientific articles, including 32 international articles; published 14 monographs and reference materials, including 02 works winning the typical science and technology award at VNU. Notably, the school has 05 teachers honored to receive the State Prize and the Ho Chi Minh Prize for Science and Technology.
8. Expanding lecture hall and office space and increasing investment in facilities throughout the school
In 2012, the School invested in upgrading Building C and is continuing to upgrade Building B and Building I, adding 1,200 square meters of lecture hall space. The School also continues to renovate its information technology infrastructure, network transmission system, etc. to better serve the School's training, research and management activities.
9. Improve and increase income for officials and civil servants
In the context of the country's general economic difficulties, the School has made every effort with the motto of saving, spending reasonably, proactively seeking and exploiting resources to ensure and improve the income of staff. Revenue and expenditure are carried out in accordance with financial principles, openly and transparently. Internal spending regulations are supplemented and adjusted in a direction that is both consistent with state regulations and the School's conditions, while creating fairness in labor, encouraging staff to contribute... In 2012, the additional income of staff and civil servants of the whole school was adjusted to increase compared to last year.
10. The School's position and reputation are enhanced domestically and internationally.
With its position as the leading training center for social sciences and humanities in Vietnam, the School is a prestigious destination for over 50 delegations with more than 200 scientists, managers from universities and international organizations around the world to visit and establish cooperative exchange relationships; nearly 700 foreign students come to study and research. Carrying out the task of developing Vietnamese studies to the world, the School has coordinated to open 3 Vietnamese studies research centers abroad.
At the opening ceremony of the 2012-2013 school year, on behalf of the Party and State leaders, President Truong Tan Sang congratulated the University and highly appreciated its great contributions to the country's science, education and training. The President affirmed that the University of Social Sciences and Humanities has gone through a long journey of continuous efforts to become a leading training and research center in the country, with prestige in the region and the world in the fields of Social Sciences and Humanities. The academic level and training quality of the University have won the trust of society and have been highly appreciated by international friends and colleagues. These are extremely valuable and meaningful recognitions for the staff, helping the University to be more confident and determined in the upcoming journey.
