Higher Education Quality Assurance in Correspondence with Advanced Standards

Advanced Training Programs Advanced and gifted programs conducted by the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) and National Universities : Examination of 3 commonalities by the MOET, requirements vary among institutions, enjoying the supportive policies including scholarship and infrastructure investment for the advanced/gifted programs. Joint training programs (2+2) with foreign institutions: Recruitment is conducted, grades are selected in accordance with Vietnam’s regulations, after being transferred, the students must meet the requirements of, the degrees are conferred upon by foreign institutions. Program offered by International University: Recruitment is conducted in the same examination time with the MOET, the institutions will decide the scores, confer degrees, and stipulate tuition as stipulated by the MOET.

Comparison 2+2 Talented/gifted, 2+2 programs - Curriculum are designed in accordance with advanced standards - Medium of instruction is English - Courses taught by foreign instructors account for 5- 10% - Vietnamese is used outside the classrooms Programs offered by the International University - Curriculum are designed in accordance with advanced standards - Medium of instruction is English - Courses taught by foreign instructors account for 40-50% - English is used outside the classrooms

Developing training both extensively and intensively The International University has: 12 disciplines 2746 undergraduate and 240 graduate students PhD programs in joint training programs (undergraduate and graduate levels) i: Rutgers University – The State University of New Jersey (ranked 43 in the word ranking) University of Nottingham (leading university in the UK) University of West of England (1 of the top 5 schools) University of New South Wales (ranked 40 out of the world’s 200 leading universities)

Faculty members 122 tenure track faculty (95% graduating from English speaking countries, and leading institutions in the region), including: Professor and Associate Professor: 10 PhD: 64 MA: 53 Foreign instructors: Permanent instructors: 11 Visiting scholars: instructors/semester

Quality management procedures Quality control: review and evaluation of the results, discover errors at the end of the process to propose the solution for later stages. Quality Assurance: monitor, periodically assess the quality and improve the quality. (Total Quality Management, TQM): activities of assessing, evaluating, improving quality are conducted on regular basis.

Basic principles of TQM Customers are the center Commitment of leaders about the quality and autonomy delegation for each unit. Commitment of the entire organization with the customers in terms of service quality. “Quality Culture”. Systematic thinking, quality improvement based upon the quality assessment from stakeholders.

Culture-Commitment-Communication (3C) Culture Commitment Communication

TQM at the International University (1) Strategies to manage the active university: public and financially autonomous (2) Student centered management approach: well rounded service system (3) Quality assurance systems: AUN, ABET, AACSB

Quality assurance system at the International University 1.Total Quality Management(Hồ Thanh Phong, 2007) 2.Quality Assurance Model of Curriculum (Nguyễn Thanh Thủy, 2010)

Table: Total Quality Management (Hồ Thanh Phong, 2007)

Quality Assurance Model of Curriculum ( Nguyễn Thanh Thủy, 2010)

Training Activities Annually improved curriculum. Critical thinking). Improvement of Teaching Method and Assessment Constant improvement of infrastructures, more effectively serving training and research (infrastructure investment of VND/student)

Quality Assurance Activities Management and effectiveness: instructors work 5 days/week at the Department; research (1 instructor/1proposal/year; publication 0,78 proposal/instructor/year (ISI system and other English journals) 100% môn học Student feedback (100% courses). The feedback will be used to improve teaching and training quality, evaluation, and rewarding. Từ năm 2008 nhà trường tiến hành khảo sát ý kiến sinh viên tốt nghiệp và cựu sinh viên, sử dụng kết quả phản hồi vào việc cải tiến chương trình đào tạo, công tác hỗ trợ sinh viên, hoạt động tự đánh giá chất lượng.

Quality Accreditation In 2009: IT program met the AUN standards, ranked second of the 4 AUN accredited programs in Vietnam. In 2010, the institution met 89% of MOET standards, achieving the total quality leading the National University Ho Chi Minh City system.

Continue its direction August 2011, the last 3 programs will be assessed including Biotechnology, Business Administration, Telecommunication in accordance with AUN standards. June 2011, Department of Business Administration has become the member of AACSB.

Conclusion The International University has expanded its linkages with high ranked universities in the US, Europe, and Australia, enhancing its training development in both the number of disciplines and levels (PhD program in 2012). The development of the institution is the result of the total quality management; The training programs are evaluated and improved constantly in a well developed process (employing advance educational theories, and meeting the requirements of regional and international accrediation).