Seminar on University Governance in the Context of Innovation and Autonomy under the UPM System

NTTU – On March 24, 2022, Nguyen Tat Thanh University organized a seminar entitled “University Governance in the Context of Innovation and Autonomy under the UPM System.”

The seminar was attended by Prof. Dr. Nguyen Huu Duc, former Vice President of Vietnam National University, Hanoi and Founding Chairman of UPM; Dr. Stephen Holmes, an expert from 5Rs Partnership, Singapore, and a member of UPM’s Advisory Board. Representing Nguyen Tat Thanh University were Ms. Nguyen Mai Lan, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairwoman of the University Council; Dr. Tran Ai Cam, President of the University; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tran Thi Hong, Vice President; together with members of the Board of Management, faculty deans, and heads and deputy heads of the University’s administrative units and departments.

The purpose of the seminar was to identify the challenges facing Vietnam’s higher education system in general, and Nguyen Tat Thanh University in particular, in the context of innovation and institutional autonomy. At the same time, the seminar introduced the application of the UPM Star Rating Benchmarking System in quality governance and the development of an innovation-oriented university brand.

Since 2020, after a period of studying the standards, conducting benchmarking, and implementing self-improvement activities, Nguyen Tat Thanh University achieved a 4-star rating in August 2020 under the UPM Quality Benchmarking System for application-oriented universities. Following this achievement, the University implemented the system’s standards for its academic programs. Notably, participation by the academic programs was entirely voluntary, coming from two disciplinary groups: engineering and technology, and social sciences and humanities. The benchmarking results were quite diverse, demonstrating both the University’s confidence and the commitment of the four participating academic programs, especially considering that the benchmarking process took place during the period when Ho Chi Minh City was experiencing a severe COVID-19 outbreak.

Speaking at the seminar, Dr. Tran Ai Cam remarked that the University chose the UPM Star Rating Quality Benchmarking System because its standards closely align with the University’s vision and mission, namely innovation, the innovation ecosystem, information technology and digital resources, and digital transformation. This serves as evidence of the consistency of the University’s development orientation as well as its alignment with the development trends of higher education in particular and society in general.

TS. Trần Ái Cầm, Hiệu trưởng Nhà trường

In his presentation, “University Governance in the Context of Innovation and Autonomy under the UPM System,” Prof. Dr. Nguyen Huu Duc discussed the challenges facing Vietnam’s higher education sector, global trends in university development, the innovation-oriented university model, the UPM Star Rating Benchmarking System, and several evaluation results for Nguyen Tat Thanh University. He also proposed several recommendations for the University, including developing the University’s KPIs in accordance with the UPM framework; formulating faculty strategies using the UPM approach; conducting internal evaluations based on UPM consultation; and decentralizing management and prioritizing investment according to star-rating results.

Prof. Dr. Nguyen Huu Duc presenting his paper at the seminar 

At the seminar, Dr. Tran Ai Cam also presented on the role of leadership in the context of governance innovation at Nguyen Tat Thanh University. Following the presentations, the seminar continued with a discussion session. At the conclusion of the training workshop, certificates were presented to all participants.

By organizing this training workshop on university governance and the role of administrators in governance innovation at the University, the University hoped to receive more initiatives from faculty members serving in management positions during the implementation of UPM benchmarking and in proposing improvement measures, thereby working together to enhance the University’s overall quality.

Nguyen Tat Thanh University