Associate Professor Ho Thanh Phong
International University, Vietnam National University HCMC
ABSTRACT
This article reads to answer the question of the impact of globalisation and internationalisation in higher education development. In case of Vietnam, the understanding of globalisation in the process of building strategic vision and mission is of importance. The analysis of all benefits to higher education that may be offered by globalisation and internationalisation are discussed. The points of views in these matters are discussed via a practical case study of a Vietnamese higher education institution – International University.
Facts and reasons behind its unique model and rapid development are considered thoroughly, especially in financial autonomy, staff development, curriculum development, research and total quality management.
KEY WORDS
Internationalisation, globalisation, governance structure, internal quality assurance (IQA), total quality management model (TQM), quality assessment.
INTRODUCTION
Globalisation is one of the external forces that not only offer higher education sectors new opportunities but also increase pressure. Globalisation is one of the external forces that not only offer higher education sectors new opportunities but also increase pressure. The advantageous benefits of globalisation are obvious on the international level including economics internalisation, better distribution of the employment market. Countries are associated globally and regionally via many agreements such as the North America Free Trade Area (NAFTA), ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and the like. These agreements emphasise the necessity of globalisation and internationalisation. They encompass a range of social and economic changes. For many developing countries, new opportunities are opened to collaborate and inherit all goodness from their developed counterparts. Their education, economics and scientific foundation can progress for the better.
Along with economic globalisation, higher education is facing increasing competitiveness for international education. While for some institutions, increasing demand for international education is accompanied with growth of revenue, international reputation enhancement thus global rankings,1 higher education in Vietnam is facing with the demand by prospective employees or students for a more global educational experience to increase their marketability in the era of globalisation. To become more global, Vietnamese higher education must also establish its international research to demonstrate its ability to attract funding and research capability.
In order to well-prepare for internationalisation and globalisation, higher education sector in Vietnam must understand these demands and build a strategic plan for development of a strong framework. In this framework, the major principles should be incorporated in such as
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strategy, governance structure, curriculum development, research strategy, human resource management, and financial infrastructure plan.
This article focuses on framework development of International University where the mentioned principles have been applied. As a young member of Vietnam National University in Ho Chi Minh City, International University is the first institution in Vietnam which offers multi-disciplinary higher education using English as a primary language for its pedagogy and research. In this article, according to the major principles mentioned above, some practical insights are shared with the belief to develop a role model for the development of higher education in Vietnam.
INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY AS A CASE STUDY
In the vision statement of its strategic development plan, International University – Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City (IU-VNU) states that by the year 2015, IU will have proudly laid the basic foundation of a research university with an experienced, proficient and devoted faculty, professional and committed managerial staff. Elite graduates with successful careers with international standards will be the target. Additionally, modern facilities will be available for teaching and research purposes. Key research and economic technology transfer projects that are closely aligned with regional and national development will be in place.
Organizationally in the structure of IU is a breakthrough division with progressive development at regional and international standards in all aspects of operation. This innovative division is a catalyst that inspires and assists other divisions in the advancement toward the development of Vietnam National University – HCMC as a whole.
Since its establishment until 2015, IU has been developing a strong framework to suit economics and education globalisation and internationalisation. This framework includes a clear governance and financial structure, curriculum development, research strategy, human resource management and infrastructure plan. In the scope of this article, only some importance insights are shared in limited details to emphasise the strong strategic plan for the University globalisation and internationalisation.
Governance and financial structure Government and governance structure
The University is managed at governmental and institutional levels under clear structures. At governmental level, with a strong structure in which the University belong directly to VNU- HCM, the University has a strong foundation for its development which helps ensure its successful internationalisation.
Having determined optimal governance is the key factor contributing to the University’s success, IU has built up and has been operating by a strong governance structure which taking into account all contributions from its faculty, administrative offices and professional centres.
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Figure 1. Government structure. International University is operating under direct management of VNU-HCMC.
Financial structure
With the vision of the University to become a research-oriented University that offers education excellences, staff and infrastructure development is vital to ensure international education and research. Having determined the importance of an appropriate financial model for the University’s development, the managerial board applied for financial autonomy. The financial autonomy privilege was approved by HCMC National University on Decision No.
1101/QD-DHQG-KHTC dated 17/10/2007. Granted the right in late 2007, in 2008, the University began operating the financial autonomy under the Decree No. 43/2006/ND-CP dated 25/4/2006 by the government and Circular No. 71/2006/TT-BTC of the Ministry of Finance dated 09/08/2006 guiding the implementation of Decree No.43.
Since then, this act has been a success-determining step which has boosted the University development with the achievements listed below:
- Increase income for the faculty members; attract young, talented workforce with training abroad in order to meet the high demands of the society and to attract more students.
Table 1
From 2004 to 2007 (before operating the Financial autonomy)
Staff – Lecturers counted by 2004 2005 2006 2007
number of lecturers person 17 23 31 39
average income million VND/ month 2.1 2.4 5.3 9.3
number of admin staff person 27 34 55 55
average income million VND/ month 2.4 3.1 3.7 7.5
70 Table 2
Since 2008 (operating the Financial autonomy)
Staff – Lecturers counted by 2008 2009 2010 1011 1012 2013 2014
number of lecturers person 61 79 97 126 142 141 141
average income Million VND/ month 11.4 13.5 17.5 19.8 27.5 24.5 29.0
number of admin staff person 82 94 108 135 124 130 138
average income Million VND/ month 7.7 7.8 8.4 10.6 16.6 14.8 16.0 - Use funds in building laboratories, purchasing equipment to improve the quality of
teaching and learning. Construct the A2 Block with the total investment of 112.988 million VND. Spend 17.000 million VND on the Biochemichal engineering lab, 27.263 million VND on the Super High Frequency and Embedded systems application laboratories.
- Make rational use and efficient allocation of financial resources to maintain the general operation of the University, make improvement in the workforce, curriculum and facilities.
- Apply the internal spending regulations to take the active role in managing the finance of the University.
Staff Development
In the IU overall development, the staffs and lecturers are increasing and increasing in number as well as quality. The plan for IU staff development bases on realizing the proposal of " VNU-HCMC staff development 2000-2007," in which the total of full-time lecturers would be 30 in 2008 and 80 in 2020.
In reality, especially since 2008, a giant step could be seen in the staff development (61 full- time) compared to the previous years. The policy of financial autonomy, realized in competitive benefits and salary took great effect in 2007-2008; this helps drawing a large number of highly-qualified staffs and lecturers to IU.
Currently, the IU has attracted altogether 321 personals, of which 141 are lecturers (100% of master and PhD holders; the rate of PhD holders, associate professor, and professor is 60%).
The supporting staff (researchers and teaching assistants) is 43 (60% is of post graduate level). The personals of offices and centers selected on the criteria of best quality, proficiency and skills are ready and willing to the tasks assigned and consultation for the Board of Rector.
Table 3
The statistics of lecturers and staff according to educational level
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Number of lecturers and staff 44 57 86 94 153 188 225 283 302 312 322
in which
Lecturers 17 23 31 39 61 78 95 126 141 141 141
Bachelor 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Master 7 12 19 26 33 36 39 52 58 58 58
Ph.D 5 4 5 7 20 32 46 64 72 68 68
Associate professor 4 5 5 4 6 7 7 6 6 10 10
Propfessor 1 2 2 2 2 3 3 4 5 5 5
Proportion of PhD 59% 48% 39% 33% 46% 54% 59% 59% 59% 59% 59%
71 Curriculum development
Curriculum design
Curriculum design and development are essential parts of the framework. IU has soon recognized the inevitable needs of globalization in higher education, and developed its framework satisfied the modern style, the needs of Vietnam economic development, global integration, and well –correlated with the students. This framework resulted from a thorough research from prestigious Universities all over the world incorporated with the up-to-date social needs. The Board of Rectors and faculties have intensively compared and contrasted diversified programs from high schools to higher education institutions to build up IU’s own framework. Finally, the proposed curriculum are evaluated by experts and well - demonstrated in prior to its real application. Curriculum must be approved by VNU-HCM before delivery.
International educational collaboration has always been focused and developed within the University. It has a huge impact on curriculum design and development. At present, IU is offering two main types of programs: IU’s own degree programs and joint programs. The University educational collaboration in forms of joint programs helps the University to determine appropriate curriculum with international standards. In successful joint program collaboration, the curriculum must be approved by both sides. In this process, the curriculum design is tailor-made to adapt with the requirements of the learning expectation of both institution. Thus, this design employs academic expertise from not only IU but also IU’s partners.
Since 2005, IU has been working with many prestigious universities around the world. Their contribution on the program specification can be considered for both IU’s and joint programs.
The shortlist of IU’s international partners for joint programs that are operating can be found in Appendix A2
In addition to curriculum design experiences in programme assessments, students’
performance assessments, teaching assessments, exchange programmes etc. are also gained from these international collaborations.
International University is on the path of integration with countries with advanced education.
To achieve this goal, the curricula of International University must be recognized in the region and in the world. This requires that International University should implement the learning and the practice simultaneously in the process of construction and adjustment of the training program.
In terms of training, the schools in International University have continuously referred to the training programs of the partner universities, then developing their own programs to meet the international standards of training and to be consistent with the work environment, the needs of enterprises and Vietnamese society. During the operation, the schools in International University organize regular surveys to consult learners and industries, referring to the updated programs to adjust the curricula and develop new training programs to meet the changing needs of reality.
International University has so far been training with the disciplines recognized by the partner universities as shown in Table 4:
72 Table 4
The list of training programs with International University degree
No. Major Number
of credits
Accredited by
Bachelor’s degree
1 Information Technology 143 Binghamton University, Rutgers University, University of Nottingham, University of the West of England, University of Auckland
2 Business Adminstration 138 University of Houston, University of Nottingham, University of the West of England, Auckland University of Technology, University of New South Wales
3 Biotechnology 140 Binghamton University, University of Nottingham, University of the West of England
4 Electronic Engineering &
Telecommunications
144 Binghamton University, Rutgers University, University of Nottingham, University of the West of England, University of Auckland, University of New South Wales, Asian Institute of Technology
5 Industrial System &
Engineering
143 Binghamton University, Rutgers University 6 Biomedical Engineering 144
7 Aquatic Resources Management
138
8 Food Technology 139
9 Banking & Finance 138 University of Houston, University of Nottingham, University of the West of England, Auckland University of Technology, University of New South Wales
10 Civil Engineering 142 11 Financial Engineering &
Risk Management
141
12 Biochemistry 138
13 Control Engineering &
Automation
144 14 Logistics & Supply
Chain Management
139 Reutlingen University Master’s degree
15 Business Adminstration 50 University of Hawaii at Manoa, NorthEastern University
16 Biotechnology 45
17 Information Technology Management
50 18 Electronic Engineering 45 19 Industrial System &
Engineering
45 Munich University 20 Biomedical Engineering 45
21 Applied mathematics 45 42 Doctoral degree
22 Biotechnology 135
Quality Assurance (QA)
In order to achieve its goals and fulfil the requirements of international standards successfully, IU has applied a total quality management (TQM) model that has been interpreted into the three models for QA at Institutional level, Internal QA system and Program level.
Total Quality Management (TQM) model of IU:TQM has been constructed and discussed among university staffs in 2005 and applied for the whole university in 2007. The TQM
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system of IU is operated at two levels: the institutional level and the school level. These two levels provide the procedure to ensure quality within all aspects of IU. It is a system under which managers and staffs satisfy themselves that control mechanisms are working to reach the international standards of quality in higher education.
Figure 2. Model for TQM at IU (Ho Thanh Phong, 2009)
In 2010, when making a routine to approach the ASEAN University Network (AUN) and AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, USA) accreditation, the TQM were expressed into the Internal Quality Assurance (IQA) models as following:
Model for QA at Institutional levelstarts with the requirements of the stakeholders which are translated into the university’s vision, mission, goals and aims or objectives for the 5-year period (1). This means that quality assurance and quality assessment will always start with the question as to the mission and goals and end with the achievements to fulfil stakeholder satisfaction (8) and national and international recognitions (7 and 9).
Model for Internal Quality Assurance System (IQA)covers the following areas:
• Internal quality assurance framework based on AUN-QA, ABET and AACSB criteria.
• Monitoring instruments: Edusoft, E-Portal, Blackboard
• Evaluation instruments: “3 P” Staffs Evaluation form (Performance – Position - Personal), Student Evaluation forms (course, service…)
• Special QA processes: stakeholders’ feedback system, internal and external assessments.
• Follow-up activities for making improvements International recognition
In 2009, six years after IU was established, its first programme “Computer Science and Engineering Program” was assessed by AUN. The assessment covers 15 criteria with 68 items and each criterion was assessed based on a 7-point scale in which 4 is defined as “satisfied” and 5 as “best practice”. The overall verdict of the Computer Science and Engineering programme is 4.63.
Vision, Mission, Objectives Goals
(1)
Management Board (2)
(10) - Process, procedure
- Academic Quality Assurance system - Feedback system
- Customer Services
- Factual Decision Making system - Evidences collection
Faculty Staff (3)
Facility (4)
Student (5)
Curriculum (6)
ABET/AACSB Standards
(7)
Industry Community
(8)
MOET/AUN Standards
(9)
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Every year after that, IU continued to apply for AUN assessments. The results are:
• Biotechnology Program, assessed in Dec 2011. The overall verdict is 4.7
• Business Administration Program, assessed in Dec 2012. The overall verdict is 4.8.
• Especially, the Engineering in Electronics and Telecommunication programme is assessed in April 2013 by AUN-DAAD project (Deutscher Akademischer Austaush Dienst: German Academic Exchange Service). The overall verdict is4.7.
Research strategy
Along with the belief for excellence in education, the University’s strategic plan recognised and highlighted the importance of research activities. Having a big advantage of being granted the financial autonomy by the government, the University has developed its own policy to boost research development. The University encourage and assist any grant application for either research projects or infrastructure developments. The requirements of research Excellency is required at the first stage of recruitment process. Awarding merit policy is also in-place for research encouragement to any academic staff within the University.
In addition to personal international collaboration of individual, international research collaboration between institutions is also recognised and developed by the University’s strategic plan. To date, a large number of Memorandum of Understanding have been agreed which highlighted the collaboration in terms of faculty, staff and research exchange. Co- projects are also being developed where funding applications can be applied both domestically and globally.
0.1 0.1
0.5 0.7
1.3
2.8 2.7
2.3
0.2 0.6
3.2 7.3
5.6
3.1
0.54 0.62
3.165
2.532
6
13 18
9
20 28
52
62
45
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Number of Projects
Funding (Billion VND)
VNU-HCM Funding (billion VND) Nafosted Funding HCM Dept of Science and Technology Naval Research Global Project Number
Figure 3. Summary of number of projects and funding
As the result of a right research development in place, since its establishment, the University has been attracted a large number of funded projects, which consequently led to an encouraging publication rate of 0.88 international paper per researcher/lectures in the University (see Figure 3).
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Although the finance autonomy allows the University to encourage the international research, funds for research infrastructures from governmental bodies in general are limited for the University. Having the confidence that International University is employing and operating the appropriate model, as a unique model amongst Vietnamese higher education, more funding are essential to enable Vietnamese higher education in a global scale.
CONCLUSION
For the development of higher education in Vietnam, choosing the right organizational structure is essential for the development in the era of globalisation and internationalisation.
A quality higher education must offer both excellences in education and research.
International education and research can be developed by employing appropriate principles for the framework including strategy, governance structure, curriculum development, research strategy, human resource management, and financial infrastructure plan. Out of these principles, autonomy is the most important factor in higher education and development.
REFERENCES
[1] Stiles, T.; Donnelly, T. Globalization of Higher Education, KPMG LLP, 2013.
[2] Cornesky, Robert and others. Implementing Total Quality Management in Higher Education. Madison, WI, Magna Publications, 1991.
[3] Lewis, Ralph G. and Smith, Douglas H. Total Quality in Higher Education. Delray Beach, FL, St Lucie Press, 1994.
[4] R.M. Epper. Applying Benchmarking To Higher Education. Change, 1999, Nov, p. 24-31.
[5] S.C. Rush. Benchmarking-How Good Is Good?. In Joel W. Meyerson & William F. Massy (Eds.), Measuring Institutional Performance In Higher Education, 1993, p. 83-97, Princeton, N.J.:
Petersons.
[6] Hồ Thanh Phong, Báo cáo về Mô hình Quản lý Chất lượng tổng thể (TQM) áp dụng trong giáo dục.Hội thảo trường ĐH Quốc tế, 2009.
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Appendix A1: The statistics of lecturers and staff according to educational level
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Number of lecturers and staff 44 57 86 94 153 188 225 283 302 312 322
in which
Lecturers 17 23 31 39 61 78 95 126 141 141 141
Bachelor 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Master 7 12 19 26 33 36 39 52 58 58 58
Ph.D 5 4 5 7 20 32 46 64 72 68 68
Associate professor 4 5 5 4 6 7 7 6 6 10 10
Propfessor 1 2 2 2 2 3 3 4 5 5 5
Proportion of PhD 59% 48% 39% 33% 46% 54% 59% 59% 59% 59% 59%
Reserachers 0 0 4 4 10 12 11 12 15 16 18
Bachelor 0 0 3 3 7 3 4 2 3 2 3
Master 0 0 1 1 3 9 7 9 11 13 14
Ph.D 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1
Administrator 27 34 51 51 82 98 119 145 146 155 163
High school diploma 2 3 4 4 7 7 7 7 7 7 7
Vocational school diploma 0 0 3 4 2 2 2 2 1 1 1
Junior college diplpoma 1 1 1 1 3 3 5 3 3 3 3
Bachelor 21 25 37 34 54 71 84 99 96 90 96
Master 2 4 4 6 14 14 20 33 38 53 55
Ph.D 1 1 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1
Appendix A2: statistics of in-progress collaborations of joint programs
No. Contin
ent Nation University Ranking and Strengths
Form of joint- trainin
g
Major of joint-training
programs
Decisio ns from VNU
Level
1
The United States
Binghamton University
- One of the leading State Universities in the Northwest (The Fiske Guide to Colleges 2013)
- School of Management:
ranking 25 in the State Universities in the US (Bloomberg Business Week) - One of the top US Green Universities (The Princeton Review's)
- High number of graduates in the research univesities in the US
2+2
Industrial System &
Engineering , Biomedical Engineering,
Computer Science, Computer Engineering,
&
Applyin g for extensi
on
Bachel or
77
Americ a
Rutgers University
- Ranking 25 in the best Universities in the US (U.S.
News & World Report: America's Best Colleges)
- One of the best graduate school in the US (U.S. News &
World Report: Best Graduate Schools)
- According to Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China, Academic Ranking of World Universities 2008):
+World Raking: 20(computer science)
+ World Raking 27 (mathematics)
+ World Raking 43 physics)
2+2
Industrial System &
Engineering , Computer Engineering ,
Electronic Engineering
Applyin g for extensi
on
Bachel or
University of Manoa at
Hawaii
- Ranking 83 among the leading State Universities in the US (U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges 2013) - Shidler College of Business is among 25% of the best bachalor degree program of business administration and international business raking 12. The MBA of Shidler’s is among top 25% of the best US graduate programs (U.S.
News & World Report 2012)
N/A Business Administration
Applyin g for extensi
on
Master
University of
Houston
- Ranking 108 among the leading State Universities in the US (theo U.S. News &
World Report. Retrieved September 11, 2013) - One of the best university in the US ( The Princeton Review), top 50 in the research univesities in the US (The Center for Measuring University Performance 2011); Top 300 in the leading world universities (ShanghaiRanking Consultancy 2013)
2+2 Business
Administration Yes Master
Northeaster
n University
- Ranking 49 among the leading Universities in the US (US News and World Report 2014)
- Ranking 52 among the leading Universities in the US for the best graduate school of business administration in the US ( US News and World Report 2014)
1.5+0 Business
Administration Yes Master
2
The United Kingdom
University of the West of
England
2+2
Biotechnology ,Business Administration
Yes Bachel or
3+1 Business
Administration Yes Bachel or
Europe 4+0 Business
Administration Yes Bachel or