Accreditation in higher education in Vietnam: A case study of Vietnam National University, Hanoi

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI VIETNAM JAPAN UNIVERSITY HOANG THI THANH THUY ACCREDITATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN VIETNAM: A CASE STUDY OF VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI MASTER'S THESIS …………………………… Hanoi, 2019 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI VIETNAM JAPAN UNIVERSITY HOANG THI THANH THUY ACCREDITATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN VIETNAM: A CASE STUDY OF VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI MAJOR: PUBLIC POLICY CODE: PILOT RESEARCH SUPERVISOR: Dr NGUYEN THUY ANH Dr JUN KAWAGUCHI Hanoi, 2019 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor from Vietnam side - Dr Thuy Anh for her scholarly advice and critical feedback and comments for my thesis proposal and revision I specially owe many thanks to my supervisor from Japan side - Professor Jun Kawaguchi for his invaluable guidance and continuous encouragement It was my honor to work with my supervisors I am highly appreciated their wisdom, patience and continuous support duirng my thesis preparation Their generous assistance and meaningful suggestions helped me in all the time of study, research and preparation for my master thesis Without the thought-provoking conversations, useful discussion and enormous supports of my supervisors, hardly could I put my thesis into perspective and introduce my final thesis My great gratitute is also delivered to the prestigious professors and administrative staff at both Vietnam Japan University and University of Tsukuba for their academic and administrative supports during my thesis I also express my deep appreciation to the informants who accepted to be interviewd Without their support as well as their abundant and valuable imformation, hardly could I have been able to complete my research Last but not least, I express warm and sincere thanks to my beloved family that encouraged me to finish my thesis i TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT i TABLE OF CONTENTS ii LIST OF TABLES v LIST OF FIGURES vi LIST OF ABBREVIATION vii INTRODUCTION 1.1 Research background 1.2 Problem statement 1.3 Purpose of study 1.4 Research questions 1.5 Research method 1.6 Significance of study 1.7 Limitations of study 1.8 Structure of the thesis LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Definition and concepts 2.2 Theoretical framework 2.3 Research gaps 12 ii RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 15 3.1 Population of the research 15 3.2 Design of the research 16 3.3 Data collection 19 3.4 Data analysis 19 ACCREDITATION OF VIETNAM’S HIGHER EDUCATION AND VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI 21 4.1 Vietnam’s higher education and its accreditation 21 4.1.1 Overview of Vietnam’s higher education 21 4.1.2 Overview of Vietnam’s higher education accreditation 22 4.2 Vietnam National University, Hanoi and its accreditation 33 4.2.1 Overview of VNU 33 4.2.2 Overview of VNU’s accreditation 37 RESEARCH FINDINGS 49 5.1 Orientation for accreditation 49 5.2 Motivations of accreditation at VNU 51 5.3 Difficulties influencing the implementation of accreditation at VNU 57 5.4 Support from VNU for the implementation of accreditation 61 CONCLUSION AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS 62 6.1 Conclusion 62 iii 6.2 International experiences on accrediation 63 6.3 Policy implications 64 6.3.1 For MOET 64 6.3.2 For VNU 66 6.3.3 For VNU members 67 REFERENCES 69 APPENDIX INTERVIEW PROTOCOLS 73 APPENDIX INTERVIEW CODING 79 iv LIST OF TABLES Page Table 2.1 Contributions and limitations of researches 12 Table Characteristics of informants 16 Table 4.1 The number of HEIs and number of students in academic year 2017-2018 21 Table 4.2 Legal documents on HE accreditation by MOET 24 Table 4.3 Number of HEIs conducting self-evaluation reports 27 Table 4.4 Numbers of HEIs externally evaluated by domestic accreditation agencies 29 Table 4.5 List of universities in Vietnam granted by international accreditation agencies 29 Table 4.6 Number of programs awarded by external accreditation agencies 30 Table 4.7 Organizational Structure of VNU 35 Table 4.8 VNU statistics on staff and students in 2017 36 Table 4.9 List of policy regulations and documents 38 Table 4.10 List of universities granted by external agencies 43 Table 4.11 List of ASEAN universities granted by ANU-QA institutional standards in 2017 and 2018 44 Table 4.12 List of programs granted by external agencies 45 Table 5.1 Motivations to implement accreditation at VNU v 56 LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 2.1 AUN benchmarking Figure 2.2 Processes of motivational process 10 Figure 2.3 Conditions and characteristics of change 11 Figure 4.1 Organizational Structure of VNU 35 Figure 4.2 The accreditation system in Vietnam’s HE 40 Figure 4.3 AUN institutional standard 45 Figure 5.1 Motivations to implement accreditation at VNU 51 Figure 5.2 Difficulties during the implementation of accreditation 58 vi LIST OF ABBREVIATION No Abbreviations Full word ACBSP Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs AMBA Association of MBAs ACEJMC Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications ACS WASC Accrediting Commission for Schools, Western Association of Schools and Colleges ABET Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations AUN ASEAN University Network AUN-QA Quality Assurance CEA-AVU&C Centre for Education Accreditation 10 CEA-UD Center of Education Accreditation University of Da Nang 11 CHEA Council for Higher Education 12 CTI Commission des Titres d'Ingénieur vii 13 ENAEE European Network for Accreditation of Engineering Education 14 FIBAA International Business Administration Accreditation 15 GDETA General Department of Education Testing and Accreditation 16 HCERES High-level Council of French higher education research and evaluation 17 HE Higher education 18 HEI Higher education institutions 19 HES Higher education system 20 IACBE International accreditation Council for Business Education 21 IFEQA Institute for Education Quality Assurance 22 INQAAHE International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education 23 NIAD-QE National Institution for Academic Degrees and Quality Enhancement of Higher Education 24 QA Quality Assurance 25 QAC Quality Assurance Centers 26 TEQSA Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency 27 THE Times Higher Education viii The regulations on the financial expense of accreditation to ensure the transparency and accreditation standards for colleges are recommended to be promulgated Although the legal framework has been promulgated from national to institutional level, there has been lack of policy document on regulations on the expense of accreditation Currently, the expense to accredit HEIs is normally negotiated by the accreditation agencies and the HEIs There is also lack of the policies on criteria for college accreditation [14 N1] MOET are advised to set targets of accreditation based on the current context of HEIs For example, the inexperienced HEI with insufficient resources need to be prepared for the accreditation The experienced HEI are suggested to approach regional and international standard Set targets of accreditation based on the current context of HEIs For example, inexperienced HEIs with insufficient resources are supposed to be prepared for the national accreditation Regarding experienced HEI, they possibly approach regional and international standards We no longer face with the difficulties as lack of evidence, lack of cooperation among the service units and the limitation of human resources [02MH3, 06 MS 2] We expect to approach the international accreditation standards, for example, the THE [07 MT 1] 6.3.2.For VNU VNU is expected to encourage VNU members to utilize the autonomy in order to mobilize resources especially from researches for quality improvement based on the recommendations from accreditation outcomes 66 In addition, VNU is responsible for directing VNU members to enhance the awareness of stakeholders directly getting benefits of the accreditation, for example, lecturers and students whose awareness are still low in order to stimulate them to be actively involved in the accreditation process VNU are expected to provide more financial support for accreditation, especially for better utilizing the accreditation results to improve education quality 6.3.3.For VNU members VNU members are consulted to focus on utilizing the accreditation results with the aim to improve the current weaknesses for the sake of ensuring the quality culture and quality assurance Based on autonomy incentives, VNU members are suggested to mobilize resources especially from researches for internal quality assurance The role of VNU members is to educate students and other stakeholder to deepen understanding be stimulated to proactively involved in the accreditation process Lecturers and students whose awareness are still low in order to stimulate them to be actively involved in the accreditation process [02 MH 3] In summary, public HEIs in Vietnam in general and VNU in particular are expected to focus on internal quality assurance as it could guarantee accreditation In other words, accreditation is regarded as the recognition of internal quality [12 V1] Education quality is the process rather than the destination [12 V1] Public HEIs are recommended to utilize the accreditation results with the aim to improve the current weaknesses for the sake of ensuring the quality culture and quality assurance Public universities and colleges are suggested to enhance autonomy to mobilize resources especially from researches for internal quality assurance 67 It obviously takes time and resources to approach the international standards so HEIs are supposed to take step by step from national standards and self-improvement towards international standards It is prioritized to educate students and other stakeholders to deepen understanding be stimulated to proactively involved in the accreditation process 68 REFERENCES ADB, 2010, Viet Nam: Preparing the Higher Education Sector Development Project (HESDP) Australian Department of Education, 2017, Quality assurance of online education Australian Department of Education, 2018, Department of education and training Vietnam Higher Education Policy and system update ASEAN Quality Assurance Network (AQAN) (2017) Membership Retrieved from http://www.aqan.org.
 ASEAN University Network (ANU) (2017) AUN member universities Retrieved from http://www.aunsec.org/aunmemberuniversities.php Cuong N & Duong N., 2016 Accreditation of schools in Vietnam: Achievements, challenges, and lessons learnt, Journal of science of HNUE, Educational Sci., 2016, Vol 61, No 11, pp 91-98 Cuong, N at el, 2017, Achievements and Lessons Learned from Vietnam’s Higher Education Quality Assurance System after a Decade of Establishment, International Journal of Higher Education, Vol 6, No 2; 2017 Concepcion, 2010 Quality Assurance and Accreditation: The Philippine Experience Dao, K V (2015) Key challenges in the reform of governance, quality assurance, and finance in Vietnamese higher education – a case study Studies in Higher Education, 40(5), 745-760 https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2013.842223 International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE) (2017) Members Retrieved from 69 http://www.inqaahe.org/members/list.php Dzung, L H& Son, N.T., 2016 A review of Assessment Models in Higher Education and Implication for Vietnam’s Regional Integration Efforts Hegji A., 2017, An Overview of Accreditation of Higher Education in the United States International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE) (2017) Members Retrieved from http://www.inqaahe.org/members/list.php Government of Vietnam, 2018 Decree 86/2018/ND-CP on foreign cooperation and investment in education Johnson O.C, 2016, AUN-QA Assessment – From Program to Institutional Level Kristoffersen, D (2010) Mapping and review on approval, supervision, quality assurance, national legislation and regulations in Vietnam Hanoi: UNESCO Hanoi Madden, M (2014) Walking the line: quality assurance policy development and implementation in Viet Nam Higher Education, 67(1), 91–104 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-013-9642-8
 Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), 2014 Circular No 25/2014/TT-BGDĐT promulgating regulations on the set of standards, procedure, and cycle for accreditation of preschool institutions MOET, 2019a, List of accredited higher education institutions MOET, 2019b, List of accredited higher education programs Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) (2017) Plan No 118/KH-BGDDT dated 70 on 23 February 2017 on accreditation implementation for higher education institutions in the period from 2017 to 2020 Hanoi: MOET Nguyen, H C (2014) An evaluation of the impacts of accreditation on Vietnamese universities Proceedings of the Third and Fourth Annual Higher Degree Student-led Conference, The University of New South Wales, 31-48 Sydney: UNSW Nguyen, H C (2017) Policy and practice of undertaking accreditation for higher education programmes in Vietnam Journal of Education, 401(Vol – 3/2017), 11-15,32 Nguyen, K D., Oliver, D E & Priddy, L E (2009) Criteria for accreditation in Vietnam’s higher education: focus on input or outcomes Quality in Higher Education, 15(2), 123-134 https://doi.org/10.1080/13538320902995766 Niedermeier, F & Pohlenz, P (2016) State of play and development needs: higher education quality assurance in the ASEAN Region DAAD: Jakarta Tham, N T 2012 Internal quality assurance in Vietnam's higher education: the influence by international projects Than, P., 2013, Higher Education Quality Assurance in Vietnam and Improvement for Better Collaboration UNESCO, 2016, Vietnam Policies and Practices on Higher Education Accreditation MOET, 2019a, List of HE institutions that have been accredited MOET, 2019b, List of HE programs that have been accredited Strauss, A C., & Corbin, J (1990) Basics of Qualitative Research: Grounded Theory Procedures and Techniques Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
 71 Vietnam National University Hanoi, 2007, Vietnam National University, Hanoi Academic year 2007-2008 Hanoi: VNU 72 APPENDIX INTERVIEW PROTOCOLS 2.1 Interview with Directors/ Vice Directors/Staff of Quality Assurance Centers belonging Member Universities and Schools at VNU Date: Place: Interviewer: Thuy Hoang, Student of Master Program of Public Policy, Vietnam Japan University/ School Interviewee: Questions: Can you introduce your involvement under the implementation of the accreditation? Has the university/ school been accredited? At institutional level or program level? How many programs have been accredited? Which of accreditation standards have been used? By MOET standards, ANU standards or others? Why or Why not? What are the motivations to implement accreditation at university/ school? What is the most important motivations? 73 How does the accreditation influence the university/ school, faculties, programs, lecturers and students? What are difficulties have been faced during the implementation of accreditation? What is the strongest difficulties? What are supports from VNU to universities/schools during the implementation of accreditation? How is the implementation of accreditation evaluated? 10 How you evaluate the implementation of accreditation at VNU and the university/ school? 11 What are the recommendations to encourage the implementation of accreditation at public universities in Vietnam? 2.2 Interview with Vice Dean of Program which has been granted by accreditation standards of MOET and AUN Date: Place: Interviewer: Thuy Hoang, Student of Master Program of Public Policy, Vietnam Japan University Interviewee: Questions: 74 Can you introduce your involvement under the implementation of the accreditation? When the program has been accredited? Which of accreditation standards have been used? By MOET standards, ANU standards or others? Why? What are the motivations to implement accreditation at faculty? What is the most important motivations? How does the accreditation influence the university, faculty, program, lecturers, and students? What are difficulties have been faced during the implementation of accreditation? What is the strongest difficulties? What are supports from VNU/ university during the implementation of accreditation? How is the implementation of accreditation evaluated? How you evaluate the implementation of accreditation at the university and the faculty? 10 What are the recommendations to encourage the implementation of accreditation at public universities in Vietnam? 75 2.3 Interview with Director of VNU Institute for Education Quality Assurance (IFEQA) and Chairman of Quality Assurance Council established and managed by VNU Date: Place: Interviewer: Thuy Hoang, Student of Master Program of Public Policy, Vietnam Japan University Interviewee: Questions: Can you introduce your involvement under the implementation of the accreditation? What is strategy for accreditation at VNU? What are motivations of universities to implement accreditation at institutional level and program level? What is the most important motivations? How the accreditation influences the HE system, universities, faculties, programs, lecturers, and students? What are difficulties of universities and accreditation agencies have been faced during the implementation of accreditation? What is the strongest difficulties? 76 What are supports from MOET to HEIs, VNU to member universities/ schools during the implementation of accreditation? How you evaluate the implementation of accreditation in Vietnam’s HE system and at VNU? What are the recommendations to encourage the implementation of accreditation at public universities in Vietnam? 2.4 Interview with Vice Director of VNU Centers for Education Accreditation (VNU-CEA) established by MOET and managed by VNU Date: Place: Interviewer: Thuy Hoang, Student of Master Program of Public Policy, Vietnam Japan University Interviewee: Questions: Can you introduce your involvement under the implementation of the accreditation? What are motivations of universities to implement accreditation at institutional level and program level? What is the most important motivations? 77 How the accreditation influences the HE system, universities, faculties, programs, lecturers, and students? What are difficulties of universities and accreditation agencies have been faced during the implementation of accreditation? What is the strongest difficulties? How you evaluate the implementation of accreditation in Vietnam’s HE system and at VNU? How does the agency corporate with domestic and international partners? What are the recommendations to encourage the implementation of accreditation at public universities in Vietnam? 78 APPENDIX INTERVIEW CODING No Interviewee University/ Coding School/Agency Vice Director of quality assurance U1 (VNU-USSH) center (QAC) 01 MH1 (VNU member level) Vice Dean of Program U1 (VNU- USSH) 02 MH3 Director of QAC U2 (VNU- ULIS) 03 MF1 Director of QAC U3 (VNU- UET) 04 MT1 Vice Director of QAC U4 (VNU-HUS) 05 MS1 Staff of QAC U4 (VNU- HUS) 06 MS2 Director of QAC U5 (VNU- UEB) 07 ME1 Director of QAC S1 (VNU- LS) 08 ML1 Director of QAC S2 (VNU-IS) 09 MI1 10 Staff of QAC S3 (VNU-SMP) 10 MP2 11 Deputy Chief of Academics, U6 (VNU-VJU) 11 MJ1 INFEQA 12 V1(VNU R&D Promotion Department 12 Deputy Director level) 13 Chief VNU Quality Assurance Council 79 13 V2 14 Vice Director VNU-CEA 14 N1 (Ministry level) 80 .. .VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI VIETNAM JAPAN UNIVERSITY HOANG THI THANH THUY ACCREDITATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN VIETNAM: A CASE STUDY OF VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI MAJOR:... HIGHER EDUCATION AND VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI 4.1 Vietnam? ??s higher education and its accreditation 4.1.1 Overview of Vietnam? ??s higher education Vietnam higher education system (HES) has a. .. into Vietnam? ??s education and training in 1990s, accreditation was formalized in 2003 with the establishment of the national organization in quality assurance and accreditation, the General Department