Solutions from practice

Currently, higher education institutions have proactively reviewed and improved their organizational structure and personnel in a streamlined and efficient manner. The role of the University Council has been specified and enhanced in the organization and management of most higher education institutions. From practical implementation, difficulties related to the activities of the University Council have been resolved by schools, management agencies, etc.

High school students learn about Hanoi Law University. Photo: HLU.

The “key” to coordination is clear “role assignment”

Dr. Le Viet Khuyen - Vice President of the Association of Vietnamese Universities and Colleges said that the mechanism for establishing a University Council is closely linked to autonomy. Only autonomous universities need a University Council, while non-autonomous universities are "still stuck" because they have a governing body.

“Up to this point, only 23 public universities have been allowed to pilot university autonomy. The remaining universities are still operating under a management mechanism, meaning they have a direct management agency. In reality, problems have arisen at some universities due to the unclear division of roles between the responsibilities and powers of the principal - the university council - the management agency” – Dr. Le Viet Khuyen stated his opinion.

Statistics from the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) show that, up to now, there are still a few public and private universities that have not established a University Council. Meanwhile, there are 174 public universities with many different governing bodies, some schools are under the ministry, some schools are under the provincial People's Committee... There are also differences in the organization of the upper-level Party, some schools are under the Party Executive Committee, some schools are under the Party Committee of the bloc... Therefore, in leadership and direction, especially in personnel work, there will be a lack of synchronization between units.

In Hanoi, most universities and colleges in the city have established School Councils with different models such as the Party Secretary is the Chairman of the School Council; the Secretary is the Principal; the Secretary is both the Chairman of the School Council and the Principal... Many of these schools have developed and issued regulations on coordination between the Party Committee and the School Council, the Board of Directors, but the coordination method is still loose and inconsistent in the implementation of tasks. To overcome this situation, the Hanoi Party Committee has issued a model framework of regulations "Coordination between the Party Committee and the School Council, the Board of Directors of universities and colleges in Hanoi" to help school activities be implemented in a harmonious manner, without overlap and with clear functions and tasks. From here, each school builds its own operating regulations with specific and detailed division of tasks in school leadership with high consensus on roles, responsibilities, and powers to help coordinate work effectively and smoothly.

Sharing the practical coordination between the Party Committee, the University Council and the Principal at Vinh University, Professor Nguyen Huy Bang - Principal of Vinh University said that for the development strategy of the university, the Party Committee advocates the development orientation, on that basis, the Principal builds, collects opinions from relevant parties, submits to the University Council for approval and promulgation. From there, it is used as a basis for implementing annual activities. Professor Bang affirmed that the Party Committee, the University Council, the Board of Directors, along with other institutions, are indispensable parts to promote the harmonious and sustainable development of a university. The problem is to have the right role, know the lesson, and be at the right time, in the right place, and in the right place. If the issues regarding the model and operating regulations of these three institutions are not harmonized, it will lead to difficulties in the operation process.

Dr. Chu Manh Hung - Chairman of the University Council of Hanoi Law University said that previously, many decisions on the development orientation of the school belonged to the governing body. However, after the University Council was established, it decided on major issues of the school according to the provisions of the Law on Higher Education such as: Decisions on strategies, development plans, annual plans of the university; Promulgation of regulations on organization and operation, financial regulations, grassroots democracy regulations; Decisions on enrollment orientation, opening majors, training, joint training, scientific and technological activities, international cooperation; policies to ensure the quality of university education, cooperation between the university and enterprises, labor users, etc.

Professor Nguyen Dinh Duc - Chairman of the University Council of the University of Technology (Vietnam National University, Hanoi) also proposed a solution related to clearly defining the role and position of the University Council with the Board of Directors. For autonomous public schools, the University Council is similar to the Board of Directors in an enterprise, while the Principal and the Board of Directors are like the director and the board of directors. For non-public schools, the Board of Directors must have a decisive role like the University Council. According to Professor Duc, the Chairman of the University Council is more important than the Principal, directly planning policies and strategies, but this is not clearly stated in the law, leading to many places still struggling with "who is bigger", then choosing people carelessly.

Synchronous solutions from the law

Currently, Decree 99/2019 issued on December 30, 2019 by the Prime Minister after 5 years of implementation has arisen many shortcomings in the implementation process. In particular, a content that many people are interested in is that in current legal documents, it is not clear whether the agency or unit with the authority to appoint the Principal of a public university is the School Council or the direct management agency. In fact, in recent years, there have been cases where the School Council issued a Resolution to assign the authority of the Principal, assigning responsibility for the unit without the "recognition" of the governing body while in other places there is "recognition" from the governing body, causing conflicting opinions.

The draft amendments to Decree 99/2019 implementing the Law on Higher Education, which is being implemented by the Ministry of Education and Training, clearly define the authority with the authority to appoint and recognize the Principals of public higher education institutions as the direct management agency. Previously, the guiding Decree did not clearly stipulate whether this authority belonged to the University Council or the direct management agency.

The direct management agency also decides to assign the authority of the Principal or assign responsibility for the school in the case of a newly established university or a school without a Principal for more than 6 months without submitting a request for recognition of the Principal to the direct management agency. This will be maintained until there is an official decision to recognize the Principal as proposed by the University Council.

Regarding the members of the University Council, the Ministry of Education and Training also included in the draft a regulation that members outside the university account for at least 30% of the total number of members of the University Council, including representatives of the direct management agency. The number of representatives of the direct management agency must not exceed 50% of the total number of members outside the university to promote autonomy. Meanwhile, the draft also adjusts the percentage of the total number of officials and employees of the university attending the conference of delegates to elect members of the University Council from over 50% to a minimum of 20%. The draft also adjusts the regulations on dismissal and removal of the Chairman of the University Council and members of the University Council, and adds regulations on procedures for replacing members of the University Council, etc.

A series of shortcomings arising in the process of implementing legal regulations on the establishment and operation of the School Council have been pointed out. The Ministry of Education and Training is absorbing and adjusting the provisions shown in the draft to aim for the institutions to operate effectively and harmoniously.

In addition, Prof. Dr. Bui Van Ga - former Deputy Minister of Education and Training also proposed that currently, university activities are regulated by many legal documents, not only based on the Law on University Education. To successfully implement autonomy, it is required to amend many laws and related legal documents such as the Law on Finance, the Law on Public Investment, the Law on Civil Servants and Public Employees, etc. In these documents, it is necessary to replace the governing body with the University Council.

Dr. Le Dong Phuong - former Director of the Center for Higher Education Research, Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences (Ministry of Education and Training): Be careful when choosing school board members

In order for the School Council to make correct and accurate decisions, many factors are required, of which the requirement for management capacity is important. The School Council should not be a representative council for a group of components, not to show "full plates, full bowls" but must be truly elite people in society, knowledgeable about the socio-economic development situation, capable of forecasting changes to give advice and orientation for the school's development. For members of the School Council who are also people in the school, I think it is necessary to be careful in choosing because they themselves have a "dual role", it is difficult to be truly independent in making decisions, supervising effective and sustainable implementation because the time limit for participating in the School Council can be only one term... All members of the School Council, if their activities are not effective, need to have a mechanism to dismiss them through periodic review and evaluation of coordination activities.

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Source: https://daidoanket.vn/tu-chu-dai-hoc-va-trach-nhiem-quyen-han-hoi-dong-truong-bai-2-giai-phap-tu-thuc-tien-10302197.html