The conference implementing the Prime Minister's directive and the Ministry of Education and Training's action program on reforming higher education management for the 2010-2012 period at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities took place on May 8, 2010. The conference received many valuable and heartfelt opinions from numerous educators and administrators regarding management reform at the University, as well as suggestions for the Ministry of Education and Training's action program. The University of Social Sciences and Humanities website excerpts some of the opinions from the conference.
1. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dang Xuan Khang - Chairman of the University's Trade Union: Reforming educational management is one of the key focuses of the trade union's work in 2010.
The Trade Union of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities has identified the reform of educational management as one of the key tasks of its work in 2010. Based on the directives from the higher-level trade union and the University Party Committee, the Standing Committee of the University Trade Union is currently drafting an Action Program for the Executive Committee of the University Trade Union on implementing the Prime Minister's Directive and the Resolution of the Party Committee of the Ministry of Education and Training on this issue, including the following main contents:
Firstly, the trade union, in coordination with the corresponding administrative bodies, will organize extensive research and discussions among union members on "How to ensure and improve the quality of training?". The Standing Committee of the Trade Union will disseminate this information to union members, primarily union officials at all levels, to raise awareness of the reform of higher education management and find solutions to enhance the role of the trade union in improving the quality of training and scientific research. Secondly, the trade union will coordinate with functional departments to review, revise, or issue new documents and regulations of the University in various fields to align with the reform of management practices. This May, the Trade Union Executive Committee will organize a seminar on the topic "The Trade Union and the Building of Workplace Culture in the University of Social Sciences and Humanities." Based on this, a Regulation on building workplace culture in the University of Social Sciences and Humanities will be drafted and submitted to the Standing Committee of the Party Committee and the Board of Directors after gathering feedback from union members. Thirdly, the trade union will further strengthen its role and participation in the innovation of management and the implementation of scientific research among the university's staff and faculty. The trade union will conduct a seminar on this issue, thereby contributing to the university's efforts to build the most effective mechanism to enhance scientific research capacity and contribute to improving the overall quality of the university.
2. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Hai Ke - Head of the Department of History: From the educational traditions of Hanoi, we can think about improving the quality of university education today.
The thousand-year history of education in Thang Long - Hanoi clearly shows that the ultimate glory and identity of education and training in Thang Long - Hanoi is primarily manifested and crystallized in higher education – advanced training to cultivate intellectual excellence. The essence of Thang Long - Hanoi University lies in its responsibility to the past and future of the nation, not merely in achieving practical results within the next fifteen years. The competitiveness, responsibility, and role of education and training in the capital city must, first and foremost, be demonstrated by the quality of its graduates, which is essentially the workforce, and not by any other title. As the primary driving force for socio-economic development during the period of industrialization and modernization, along with the national university system, Hanoi's higher education system needs to: Firstly, maximize the potential and dynamism of its university education system. To achieve that, the key is to expand autonomy in training and broaden the academic space in university education. Secondly, we must focus on improving the quality of the teaching staff. The key, decisive role in the quality of teaching and learning in modern higher education remains the teacher. The mission of the university and of the teacher is to awaken the potential in each student and trainee through education, to cultivate and develop those inner strengths. If society has the courage to entrust this important mission to the teacher, it must fulfill its responsibility to create the conditions for the teacher to fulfill that mission. What I want to particularly emphasize here is that currently, policies regarding salaries and benefits for teachers in our country are still very inadequate.
Socializing education is a crucial solution for our education system to catch up with other countries in the region and the world.– Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Hai Ke
Thirdly, universities must be responsible for the quality of their graduates. This is demonstrated by objectively assessing the quality of graduates from universities and training programs, and regularly providing indicators on: the capacity of universities, training programs, and graduates to meet the demands of the job market; discrepancies or conflicts between enrollment and training numbers and socio-economic realities; obstacles faced by graduates in finding employment; and feedback from employers who receive the workforce. Fourthly, instead of approving proposals to open more universities and colleges in Hanoi, we should direct the development and improvement of one or two key multi-disciplinary universities. The specific capacity and explosive potential of higher education training are not directly proportional to the number of schools and classes, like firecrackers and string fireworks, but rather to the concentrated, crystallized power of a nucleus—a power that is the essence and quintessence of Thang Long-Hanoi culture, and a requirement of the era of integration and globalization. Fifth, education must be socialized, truly considering education as the undertaking of the entire Party and the entire people. The correct application and implementation of educational socialization is the solution to the problem of awakening and mobilizing responsibility and potential within the social system for the cause of education. Instead of merely maintaining the system of public schools, the State must create a social, legal, and political space for the formation of an educational sector where everyone has the right to contribute to the cause of education, with the State being the most important component. Educational socialization is a crucial solution for our education system to catch up with other countries in the region and the world.
3. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Chi Hoa - Director of the Center for Training Quality Assurance: Regular and rigorous evaluation of lecturers' lectures is necessary.
The quality of education must become the very lifeblood, prestige, and honor of the university. University management must shift to a core principle of quality management. In this context, evaluating lecturers' presentations is an objective requirement in university teaching. Lecturer evaluation offers two fundamental benefits: firstly, it creates a public forum that promotes transparency in teaching, serving as an informal form of reward for talented individuals and criticism for those who perform poorly; secondly, it fosters a proper attitude towards knowledge. This is a common and essential practice in foreign universities, but implementing it within the Vietnamese cultural context is not an easy task.
At the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, student feedback on faculty teaching has been implemented throughout the university since the 2007-2008 academic year. The process includes the following steps: students answer pre-prepared questionnaires to evaluate lectures and lecturers; data is collected and processed for each individual lecturer; comparative evaluations are conducted to determine the overall average score for the entire university; results are forwarded to the Rector, Deans, and lecturers; and lecturers use the evaluation results to improve their teaching content and methods. This process ensures continuous improvement in the content and methods of teaching. Based on these evaluation results, the university can also draw lessons to make general recommendations for all lecturers and identify areas for improvement. The credit-based system enhances the role of students, making them the central focus of the university. Therefore, collecting student feedback on lecture quality needs to be done regularly and continuously to improve teaching quality. However, some points should also be noted: evaluation should not only be based on quantitative questionnaires but also on qualitative feedback from students; lecture evaluation will become meaningless if the teacher does not use the results to improve the content and teaching methods; there should be appropriate rewards or recognition for lecturers who perform their teaching duties well and receive the trust of a large number of students... 4. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Quang Minh - Head of the Faculty of International Studies: Promoting administrative reform and innovation of training programs Before implementing the action program for reforming higher education management, we should conduct a comprehensive investigation and a thorough assessment of the current state of operation and training quality of the Vietnamese university system. This is something we have not yet done. Without a comprehensive, specific, and accurate investigation, we cannot find the causes and solutions to improve the quality of university education. In reality, universities vary in size and quality of education, each with its own unique characteristics, missions, and responsibilities. Therefore, there cannot be a single operational plan for all universities.
Regarding the University, I would like to offer the following suggestions: Firstly, it is necessary to thoroughly understand the perspective that the University is a unified entity, with all its work and activities closely related to all units and individuals within the university. The activities of these units are interconnected and create a common strength and image for the University. As long as there is any distinction: "older" departments versus "younger" departments, lecturers versus administrative staff, or a lack of shared responsibility, shared benefits, and a strong bond of shared responsibilities, rights, goals, and ideals among the members of the university staff, the University's operational efficiency cannot be achieved. Secondly, the University needs to strengthen administrative reform. We currently have too many meetings, which wastes a lot of time and effort for staff and is not cost-effective. If it's simply about exchanging information, then make full use of technology, information technology, and the Internet for sending and receiving. Thirdly, the training program needs to be reformed. Currently, there are few common courses between departments, and each department is an "island" in terms of its training program without any real-world connection. This is extremely disadvantageous, especially in the context of credit-based training and the current trend towards international integration in education. Furthermore, there should be more diverse training programs and new training methods to suit the needs of learners. For example, abroad, there are master's programs that may be a full-time 2-year program combined with a dissertation, but there are also programs that award a master's degree but only last 1 year and do not involve a dissertation... Another point is that in undergraduate and postgraduate training, the learning materials system is extremely important for the research of both lecturers and students. However, currently, the library lacks sufficient materials and up-to-date information to serve this need. Therefore, the school should invest in building a regularly updated system of resources to serve teaching and learning. The school can research and purchase important specialized materials, especially foreign materials, calculating how to purchase these materials and journals at the lowest cost while ensuring high usage frequency among faculty and students. On the other hand, the school should also provide financial support to faculty members for purchasing specialized materials and journals. In reality, with the current low salaries of faculty members, the cost of books and scientific materials, especially foreign ones, accounts for a significant portion of their salary but is indispensable for their studies and research.
5. Dr. Tran Van Hai - Deputy Head of the Faculty of Management Science: Improving the quality of training starts with people and intellectual property.
In recent times, the issue of university education quality has received particular attention from the public and has been a central focus of the Resolution of the Party Committee of the Ministry of Education and Training. However, among the solutions outlined in the Resolution, only one line specifically relates to the training of human resources – that is, the human factor – namely, “continuing to implement training courses for university and college rectors.” It is possible that university education administrators have interpreted the term "management" differently, but in my opinion, the most crucial factor contributing to the quality of university education is the teaching staff. Clearly, a high-quality higher education system cannot exist when the number and quality of lecturers do not keep pace with the increasing number of students.
Besides the human factor, intellectual property is the second most important element contributing to the quality of university education.– Dr. Tran Van Hai
To address the above issue, I propose the following: Universities need greater autonomy. Autonomy does not mean complete independence from state management, but rather autonomy within the framework of legal regulations and subject to social oversight. University autonomy should be reflected in financial activities, human resources, and training programs. Based on autonomy in training programs, universities can determine the number and quality of faculty needed to fulfill their tasks. University presidents should be given the authority to decide on faculty salaries based on performance evaluations. This avoids egalitarianism in faculty evaluations – a cause of decreased intellectual creativity among faculty and brain drain. If universities are given more autonomy, those with poor quality education that fail to meet societal demands will have to dissolve themselves without needing any ruling from state management agencies. Besides human resources, intellectual property is the second most important factor contributing to the quality of university education. A university's intellectual property is reflected in its curriculum, scientific research results, technological products, etc. Regarding this issue, I propose the following: Firstly, identifying the appropriate group of intellectual property assets based on the specific characteristics of each group of universities, avoiding the tendency to overemphasize research products in the technology group – those that can be easily commercialized – while neglecting basic research products. Secondly, resolving the relationship between personal rights and property rights regarding intellectual property arising from the training and research activities of universities, and the relationship between lecturers – scientific supervisors – and students – authors of research works. Thirdly, we need to curb plagiarism. For research results that don't need to be kept confidential, it's best to publish them publicly on the university's website. This helps provide information to the wider public, enhances the university's reputation, and helps reduce the rampant copying problem in education and scientific research today.
