Developing a culture of quality towards building a world-class university

Article by Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Chi Hoa and Master Vu Minh Hien (Center for Quality Assurance) at the scientific conference "Quality culture in universities" held on October 20, 2011.

1. Problem

The University of Social Sciences and Humanities - Vietnam National University, Hanoi is one of 20 universities whose self-assessment results have been assessed by the National Council for Educational Quality Assessment. The Council voted with 92.86% of the votes to recognize the school as meeting educational quality standards. However, the practical impact of this result seems to have not spread to all cadres, lecturers and employees of the school. From that, it can be seen that, in addition to quality assessment, the school needs other solutions so that quality assurance and improvement work becomes a permanent awareness and regular activity of all members of the school. Based on the results achieved in quality assessment, this article will present the theoretical and practical basis to affirm the development of quality culture as a solution to build the school towards an international-class university.

2. From quality control...

2.1. Current status of quality at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities in 2006On February 5, 2009, the National Council for Education Quality Assessment met to assess the results of self-assessment and external assessment of 20 universities. The Council discussed and concluded on the University of Social Sciences and Humanities - Vietnam National University, Hanoi [1]. The Council agreed with the external assessment team with the following specific results: (diagram 1a)Table 1:Evaluation results as of June 2006The Council unanimously assessed the strengths, weaknesses and recommendations for the School by the External Evaluation Team [2].2.2. Quality status at the time of mid-term assessment in 2009After receiving recommendations from the external assessment team, the School has actively improved and improved 38/53 criteria. The assessment results of the reviewers have recognized the School's development steps.

Criteria type	School Self-Assessment		Review of the review
Criteria not met	Do not have	0%	Do not have	0%
Criteria not assessed	Do not have	0%	Do not have	0%
Criteria for achieving level 1	Do not have	0%	Do not have	0%
Criteria for achieving level 2	24 criteria	45.3%	32 criteria	60.4%
Criteria for achieving level 3	29 criteria	54.7%	21 criteria	39.6%

Table 2:Evaluation results as of September 2009Thus, it can be seen that through two inspection periods, the School has made progress on its development path.

3. ...to build and develop a culture of quality towards an international-class university

3.1. The necessity of developing a quality culturePeople have different understandings of quality. One of those understandings is:Quality is excellence. In this concept, high standards of qualification are valued. Quality must be the best, the most excellent. The pursuit of excellence is clearly a meaningful characteristic of any world-class university. To move in this direction, the quality assurance system inevitably plays an important role. Hanoi National University has developed an internal quality system for more than a decade. The University of Social Sciences and Humanities is also part of that general development. Nowadays, the autonomy of universities is increasing. This is an advantage but also increases the pressure on the accountability of universities and colleges. Recently, the assessment of training programs of two national universities according to AUN standards has also contributed significantly to creating pressure on units that have not been accredited according to this system. The development of the higher education market has increased the expectations of "customers" (students, employers and other stakeholders). Obviously, regionalization and globalization are important factors that put pressure on Vietnamese universities, forcing them to strive to be on par with regional and international universities. Building a world-class university in Vietnam is not only the goal of the government and universities but also an objective requirement of development. To build a world-class university, it is necessary to have an international vision and the ability to attract foreign students and lecturers. Although university rankings are based on many different indicators and criteria, especially scientific research, teaching quality is still a core factor in a university. Attracting foreign students, graduate students, and researchers to study at Vietnamese universities is an objective requirement of a world-class university, but first of all, training programs from undergraduate to doctoral levels must be of international quality. So, what is the evaluation of an international quality program? Is it the evaluation standards (measures) that must be based on criteria that have a profound impact on the evaluation of quality? In fact, quality affects all aspects of a university, these aspects are in harmony with each other to form a world-class university. However, a world-class university in different regions has different development requirements. In other words, world-class universities must have the same requirements as other universities but also have their own characteristics - theown characteristics. Achieving excellence means coming up with a basic mechanism for quality assurance. Excellence has been likened to an “iceberg”, where the indicators used for ranking are only the visible part and the quality system has hidden, invisible aspects. Indicators that are not based on a quality assurance system“sustainable”is easy to break. On the other hand, as Dr. Vu Phuong Anh commented, "Another important drawback that has been pointed out by researchers is that even if the rankings are truly reliable and valuable, they still do not indicate why a university has achieved a certain position. Rankings tell us the destination, but do not draw the path to the destination. And perhaps this should not be required from the rankings. To reach the destination, there are many paths, depending on the current position, capacity, conditions and circumstances of each university and each country. This path must be determined by the leaders of the universities themselves in the general development orientation of the country."[3a] Therefore, to maintain or move towards a world-class university, quality must be taken into account, otherwise the university will face real challenges. The goal for a university is not only to create and operate a quality assurance system that is in line with international standards, but also to develop a system that is closely linked to maintaining and improving quality; at the same time, it must create its own unique characteristics - its own systematic ownership. To do so, all members of the university need to understand the quality assurance process and implement it. That is to build a quality culture in a university. Thanks to national and international standards, universities have a common framework, according to which, one can build a methodologically correct quality system. However, analysis of documents and practices shows that this first condition is not sufficient for quality improvement. Various studies have shown that some quality assurance processes have not had an impact on the quality of teaching, research and other activities, at least not in line with the expectations set. The granting of quality standards has not always resulted in good results for quality improvement. To overcome this shortcoming and to enhance quality in universities, the concept ofquality culturehas been developed and spread. In higher education, the conceptquality culturehas been adopted by the European University Association (EUA) to convey a concept of quality as a shared value and collective accountability of all members of the university, including students and administrative staff. A quality culture requires securing a consensus among members to develop a consensus within a university community through effective community building, as well as changing the values, attitudes and behaviours within a university [3b]. The conceptquality cultureis also used to refer to the culture of an organization whose purpose is to enhance quality in a sustainable manner; it is characterized by two distinct components; one, the cultural/psychological component of values, beliefs, shared expectations and commitment to quality; two, the quality culture is an institutional/administrative component with defined processes, to enhance quality and to coordinate the efforts of each individual [4]. According to Lanarès [5], the conceptquality cultureThere are two meanings. In the first sense, “quality” is the top priority of the organization and is one of the values ​​of the organizational culture. Quality is a defined value. In the second sense, quality culture is considered as a cultural feature within the organization’s culture and is bound by other values. Thus, regardless of any approach, quality culture is always bound by other values ​​and is considered as a cultural feature within the organizational culture of a university. Generally speaking, there is no fully accepted definition of quality culture. However, there is a definition of culture by Brennan and Shah (2000) that emphasizes three most common aspects that have been agreed upon by researchers“Culture includes values, attitudes and behaviors.”[6]. Since attitudes and behaviors are based on values, values ​​can be seen as the fundamental, central foundation of culture.3.2. How to develop a quality culture?The development of a quality culture is a cultural change towards a broader convergence in thinking and acting about quality. It means a new way of doing things but also a new way of understanding these actions. Accordingly, the first step in cultural development isIdentify core valuesandcreate consensusfor core values. For example, one of the core values ​​of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities has been identified by the National Quality Accreditation Council:is a school with a long history, a school of national stature in the field of social sciences. The school has trained many famous authors, has many monumental scientific works and some have received the Ho Chi Minh Prize. This is a great advantage of the school that other schools can hardly have.Based on identifying core values, the next step is toCommunicate core valuesboth theoretical and practical concepts of the system to all members of the school..However, there is always a compromise between the declared values ​​and the underlying values ​​that actually influence the behavior and decisions of individuals or organizations. Accordingly, a question arises: how do we demonstrate to others and to ourselves our own values? On what basis do people both inside and outside the organization acknowledge these values ​​as their own values? The role of leaders in developing a quality culture to create voluntary cohesion and creative consensus among members of the school is very important. To demonstrate this, we can take the University of Social Sciences and Humanities - VNU as an example. The quality assessment/accreditation process in the past 5 years has been carried out regularly and continuously. School-level assessment (once every 5 years, with mid-term assessment); faculties are self-assessed and externally assessed in turn. In addition to efforts to measure the quality of the training unit, the School also evaluates lecturers through feedback from students, etc. Through inspection and evaluation, quality is improved and shortcomings are overcome. At the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, measurement is planned and closely linked to quality improvement. These achievements are achieved first of all thanks to the leadership of the Board of Directors and the high consensus of the members of the school. The quality culture development system includes measurements at different levels as shown in diagram 2. The starting point is a set of accumulated and recognized values ​​(1), followed by principles and methods of quality assessment (2). These principles and methods are then converted into tools for assessment, based on the assessment results, shortcomings are improved by individuals and groups (3). Quality through assessment and improvement is enhanced and developed to create new values.

One question isHow to measure the development of quality culture?The consideration of quality culture can be considered from two levels: the surface level and the depth level. At the surface level, people can clearly observe and calculate; for example: the number of people participating in the quality development process, the number of programs, lecturers evaluated, etc. At the depth level, the development of quality culture is related to changes in the behavior of individuals or organizations towards quality issues, corresponding to its surface level. Therefore, the process of developing quality culture has two purposes and requirements that we need to observe: (1) The number of people participating in the development of quality culture and the scope of consensus; (2) From consensus, individuals or organizations turn awareness into action (quality improvement); as demonstrated in diagram 3:

Since the change in quality culture takes place over a long period of time and is often hidden, it is necessary to find a way to “mark” the development of quality culture. So, how to measure the development of quality culture? In short, there are three basic types of measurements used today: (1) what people say about their values ​​and beliefs about the quality of the unit; (2) what people say about what they have done/are doing for the quality of the unit; (3) what results people achieve through their actions. To observe the development of quality culture in the University in general and in the units of the University, as well as individuals in particular, it can be done as follows.At the personal level,To know the views and comments on quality of members of the school, we can base on the answers to questions of external assessors, as well as their answers through questionnaires sent to each lecturer during the school/faculty quality assessment periods. It is also possible to know the views and comments of individuals on quality through discussions in department/faculty/school meetings, faculty/school staff congresses... On the other hand, it is also necessary to determine the percentage of people who agree with the quality approach and values ​​of the unit. At the same time, to determine the quality assurance and enhancement of a certain lecturer, it is necessary to determine how that lecturer or staff participates in the quality improvement process: does that individual conduct a self-assessment of the teaching process or not; does that individual respond to the teaching assessment or not. In particular, for lecturers, do they improve their teaching content and methods? For example, most members of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities have participated in the quality assurance process. From the 2007-2008 school year to the present, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities has conducted evaluations of lecturers' lectures. Students answered questionnaires to evaluate lecturers' teaching activities, pointing out positive aspects and limitations. On that basis, lecturers have actively improved their teaching activities. Most lecturers have continuously improved their teaching content and methods. As a result, the following semester is evaluated better than the previous semester, the following year is evaluated better than the previous year. At the same time, lecturers also actively participate in evaluations at the faculty level and at the school level, etc.At the collective level,need to determine quality concepts and quality standards that the unit applies, statements or commitments to develop and annual quality adjustments and improvements of the unit; annual innovation in quality; in addition, it is also necessary to consider the actual adjustment (quality improvement) and study the direction of action of the unit. The quality perspective of the faculty/school As well as concepts, standards are often expressed in public statements about development strategies and quality assurance processes at all levels within that organization. To find out thedevelop and adjust(improvement), can be based on what regulations, policies or commitments to innovation the faculty/school has made to change itself to meet the requirements of quality and whether the faculty/school has appointed a deputy in charge of quality work or not. Improvements in the school and faculty's action program after assessment require that quality assurance and improvement processes be included in daily operations. Only then will the development of a quality culture bring about good results. For example, one of the shortcomings of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities pointed out by the external assessment team in 2006 was "The number of state-level scientific research topics is still small and many topics are behind schedule.To overcome this problem, the School has had positive solutions. In the period of 2006 - 2009, the School has carried out 01 research project and 05 research topics at the State level; 177 topics at the National University level; 120 topics at the School level, of which 95% of topics were accepted on time; the acceptance results were 80% good, 15% fair, 5% achieved. The average project funding ratio per lecturer was 2,800,000 VND. The number and quality of topics have grown strongly [7]. Quality culture is also associated with communication and communication activities, the School has organized conferences to improve quality work. At these conferences, the Center for Quality Improvement described the current situation, improvement goals, tasks to be done, and specific completion time.4. Conclusion To build a world-class university, any university must build an internal quality system and develop a quality culture so that all members of the university understand the issues of the quality assurance process and actively participate in that process in their practical activities. Quality culture is a cultural feature in the culture of the organization. A central issue in creating and developing a quality culture is to create values ​​and unique characteristics and advantages and to spread the concept of quality and its effects to influence the practice of groups and individuals. Developing a quality culture is a long-term process that requires means to "correct" the development of its "unique features". The assessment of "unique features" is based on what people say and do. Both of these aspects are very important for the deep-rootedness of a quality culture in a university.

References

[1] Ministry of Education and Training,Notice of the results of the meeting of the National Council for Education Quality Assessment,No. 11/TB-BGDĐT, February 25, 2009. [2] The National Council for Education Quality Assessment assessed the self-assessment results of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities and affirmed:- The University of Social Sciences and Humanities is a school with a long history, a national school in the field of social sciences. The school has trained many famous authors, has many monumental scientific works and some have received the Ho Chi Minh Prize. This is a great advantage of the school that other schools can hardly have. - The school has a forum on the website, where staff and students can express their concerns, helping to ensure grassroots democracy. - The school has full training programs for undergraduate and graduate levels; The programs are printed in books published for students to help them grasp information about the learning process at the school. - Every year, the school organizes a Career and Employment Fair to create opportunities for students to meet employers and learn about their requirements as well as find jobs. Through this, the school has collected information to adjust the training program to suit the practical needs of society. - In training, the School proactively builds a plan to convert to a credit-based learning system such as preparing facilities, changing programs, promoting innovation in teaching methods, etc. to create more convenience for learners. - The school has focused on innovating teaching methods. There are financial policies to support and encourage lecturers to sign contracts to innovate teaching methods. - The school has attached importance to scientific research and technological development among lecturers and students. The number of topics and articles in recent years of the school is large; the number of accepted topics per lecturer is quite high (on average 6 lecturers have 1 topic, 2 lecturers have 1 article). - The school has strengths in international relations, especially relations with China in combining training. International relations activities are in accordance with state regulations. Through international relations, it has received funding to build departments such as Thai Studies, Chinese Studies and Japanese Studies. - It is necessary to further increase resources and finance for international cooperation activities because this is the strength of the School. If we invest boldly, the efficiency will certainly be higher.... [3a]University rankings: What is the relationship to quality?http://www.baomoi.com/Xep-hang-dai-hoc-Moi-quan-he-nao-voi-chat-luong/59/6741156.epi[3b] EUA, (2006)Quality Culture in European Universities: A bottom-up approach,Brussels, EUA. [4] EUA, (2006) Quality Culture In European Universities: A bottom-up approach,Brussel, EUA.(p.10) [5] Lanarè, J. (2008)Developing a Quality culture, in Froment, E; Kohler, J; Purser, L. and Wilson L (eds), EUA Bologna Handbook, article C.2.1-1, Berlin, Raabe Verlag [6] Brennan, j and Shah.T (2000)Quality assessment and institutional change: Experience from 14 countries,Higher Education, 40, 331-349 [7] University of Social Sciences and Humanities,Self-assessment report,H.10-2009