Conclusion of the 8th meeting of the VNU Council of Quality Assurance

Conclusion of the 8th meeting of the VNU Quality Assessment Council (No. 525/DBCL, dated February 4, 2010, signed by the Director - Chairman of the VNU Quality Assessment Council, Prof. Dr. Mai Trong Nhuan), including the conclusion on the high-quality undergraduate training program in Linguistics.On January 9 - January 10, 2010, the Quality Assessment Council - Vietnam National University, Hanoi (VNUQA) held its 8th extended meeting with the following contents: * Appraisal of the self-assessment report (SAR) and external assessment report (SAR) of the high-quality bachelor training program (HBTP) of the University of Economics (UEB), the University of Foreign Languages ​​(ULIS) and the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (USSH). * Appraisal of the SAR and SAR reports of the talented bachelor of science (SBA) training program in Physics of the University of Natural Sciences (USSH). Chairing the meeting: Prof. Dr. Mai Trong Nhuan, President of VNU, Chairman of the VNUQA. Number of attendees: 15, absent: 06 with reasons. The extended members include Heads/Deputy Heads of functional departments (not members of the Council), representatives of training units and the Information and Communications Center. After listening to the summary reports of the Heads of the Evaluation Expert Teams, of the Principals of schools with accredited programs, the Council's comments and discussions, and the voting results of the Council members, the Council Chairman concluded:

I. Evaluation results of 04 training programs

1. CNCLC training program in Foreign Economics

1. The CNCLC training program in Foreign Economics of the University of Economics achieved 14/21 votes with 100% of the criteria reaching Level 2 or higher to propose to be granted a Certificate of Level 1 Accreditation of the training program quality of VNU;
2. The University of Economics needs to overcome existing problems such as: inviting employers to participate in designing training programs, updating training programs to meet social needs; supplementing evidence on the application of CDIO in developing training programs; at the same time, overcoming existing problems and promoting strengths as stated in the external evaluation report, the comments and the Council;
3. The University of Economics needs to officially register for quality accreditation in 2010 according to AUN's program quality accreditation standards.

2. CNCLC training program in English Pedagogy

1. The CNCLC training program in English Pedagogy of VNU achieved 14/21 votes with 100% of the criteria reaching Level 2 or higher to propose to be granted a Certificate of Level 1 Accreditation of training program quality of VNU;
2. The University of Languages ​​and International Studies needs to make adjustments in: (1) assessing the output standards of CNCLC in English Pedagogy using both tools: according to IELTS on English proficiency and according to TKT on foreign language teaching proficiency; (2) organizing teaching and managing the CNCLC training program according to AUN standards; at the same time, overcoming shortcomings and promoting strengths as stated in the external evaluation report, comments and the Council;
3. The University of Languages ​​and International Studies needs to prepare to register for accreditation of the English Pedagogy program according to the AUN accreditation standards for training programs in 2011.

3. High-quality undergraduate training program in Linguistics

1. The CNCLC training program in Linguistics of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities achieved 14/21 votes with 95% of the criteria reaching level 2 or higher (for details see Appendix 4 attached) to propose to be granted a Certificate of Level 1 Accreditation of the training program quality of VNU;
2. The University of Social Sciences and Humanities needs to overcome shortcomings such as: equipping students majoring in Linguistics with scientific research methods, soft skills, foreign language proficiency and improving training facilities; at the same time, overcome shortcomings and promote strengths as stated in the external evaluation report, opinions of reviewers and the Council;
3. The school plans to register for accreditation of the CNCLC training program in Linguistics according to AUN accreditation standards.

4. CNKHTN training program in PhysicsAfter listening to the report of the School Evaluation Team, the opinion of the Rector of the University of Natural Sciences, and the opposing opinions, the Council discussed and unanimously concluded: The University of Natural Sciences needs to collect additional evidence and complete the evaluation report of the Physics training program, ensuring that the evaluation report most honestly reflects the strengths and shortcomings of the training program so that the Council can decide to re-implement the external evaluation. Deadline for submitting the evaluation report to the Standing Council: April 10, 2010.

II. Lessons learned from implementing self-assessment

At the VIII session, Chairman of the National Council for Education Accreditation, Prof. Dr. Bang Tien Long emphasized the significance and importance of VNU taking the lead in accreditation of training programs in Vietnam through the accreditation of 03 CNCLC programs and 01 CNKHTN program. To better implement accreditation work in VNU, the Council has drawn some lessons learned on the implementation of accreditation work as follows:1. For training units

1. When writing a program evaluation report, training units need to provide sufficient evidence to be recognized according to the quality assurance process for the level of achievement according to the quality assurance standards;
2. Units need to use the common resources of the National University of Hanoi when writing the evaluation report, and need to clearly describe these resources to provide to relevant units to serve training and quality inspection work;
3. The TDG report should describe with evidence the reach of the training program, as well as the extent to which the training program meets social requirements;
4. Units with KĐCL programs need to arrange interview subjects to ensure that they are representative of the unit's components;
5. The head of the training unit with the KCL program needs to arrange time to work with the Evaluation Team and answer the interview questions of the Evaluation Team;
6. Heads of units direct their units to carry out self-assessment of talent training programs, high quality, advanced programs, and programs that meet international standards to improve quality assurance conditions, find strengths, and overcome shortcomings of training programs; ensure the effectiveness of self-assessment without wasting money;
7. Units develop training programs according to output standards. Output standards must include professional skills, technical skills, specific factors of the unit, and soft skills and life skills for graduates;
8. Research the model of Director and Coordinator of training program approaching international standards of University of Economics to apply to training programs at your unit.

2. External evaluation team and reviewers

1. In the composition of the evaluation team, in addition to the positions of Head of the team and secretary as prescribed, there must be narrowly specialized experts in relevant fields of the program being evaluated;
2. Reviewers of external evaluations should have in-depth expertise in relevant areas of the accredited training program;
3. When conducting an on-campus assessment of a unit with an accredited program, the assessment team needs to interview the Head of the unit (Principal or Head of the affiliated department) and the Head of the department whose training program is being assessed;
4. The selection of interview samples must ensure high representativeness to objectively and honestly reflect the subjects being interviewed;
5. The EIA report should clearly state evidence/specific data to draw conclusions on the level of achievement of the KĐCL criteria.

3. Responsibilities of the VNU Quality Assessment Council

1. Assign the Center for Quality Assurance and Quality Control to clarify and correct the concepts and terms in the KĐCL criteria;
2. The Center for Quality Assurance and Research studies ways to overcome problems regarding the 3 Levels of Quality Assurance in the current Quality Assurance Regulations and sends them to the Council members for comments;
3. The members of the KĐCL Council promote autonomy and self-responsibility in KĐCL work through in-depth research of records, documents, EIA reports and EGN reports on the KĐCL subjects before attending the Council meeting.