Quality Assurance at VinUni

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

REGULATIONS FOR HIGHER EDUCATION QUALITY ASSURANCE

(Issued together with Decision No. 239/2023/QD-VUNI dated June 27^th 2023 made by VinUniversity Provost)

Chapter I: General Provisions 

Article 1: Introduction

1. General Statement: “The Regulations for Higher Education Quality Assurance ” aim to establish the overarching principles of the institution’s internal quality assurance system of VinUniversity (VinUni). The objective of these regulations is to ensure that all academic activities at VinUni comply with both national regulations and internationally recognized standards. The implementation of these regulations serves to support quality assurance activities, foster continuous improvement in academic operations and student experiences, and contribute to the overall goals of institutional and program accreditation”.
2. Scope: This Regulation prescribes the the organization and implementation of quality assurance system of VinUni, including: structure of internal quality assurance system, self-assessment and external assessment, IQA information system; continuous quality improvement at VinUni.
3. Applicable Bodies: This regulation applies to Colleges, functional departments within Operation and Academic Support Divisions; Research Centers and Laboratories of the University (hereinafter collectively referred to as units).

Article 2: Objectives and principles of quality assurance activities

1. Objectives
   1. To engage all members and units to be involved in the implementation of QA activities and develop a quality culture at the University;
   2. To serve as a basis for continuously monitoring, evaluating and improving the quality of education, research and community service provided by the University; thereby aiming towards recognition by national and international accreditation organizations at both institutional and programmatic level.
   3. To serve as a basis for accounting to competent state management agencies and society about the actual status of the educational quality provided by the University.
2. Principles
   1. To ensure the quality of higher education is the responsibility of the entire institution. All staff members, faculty,, learners and units shall be responsible for maintaining and ensuring the quality of the educational institution;
   2. To ensure the independence, objectivity and law compliance; integrity, publicity, transparency; fairness, mandatoriness, regularity;
   3. To always stick to the Mission, Vision, Core Values, and Development Strategy of the Institution in each stage;

Article 3: Definitions

In this Policy, the terms below are construed as follows:

1. Education quality means the fulfillment of the objectives set by the institution; compliance with the requirements of the Law on Education, the Law amending and supplementing some articles of the Law on Education and the Law on Higher Education; satisfying the use of national and international human resources
2. Quality assurance means the commitment to comply with the standards, criteria and process for quality management to achieve the institution’s objectives;
3. Set of quality assessment standards means the level of requirements and conditions that an institution must satisfy in order to be recognized as qualified for education quality at the institution level or programmatic level according to the sets of quality standards set by an accreditation agency. .
4. Criteria for quality assessment means the minimum requirements and conditions to be met in a specific aspect of each standard.
5. Quality assessment means the collection, processing of information, making evaluation based on quality standards for all activities related to an institution or academic programs;
6. Accreditation means the evaluation and recognition of the degree to which an educational institution and program meets a certain quality standard set by an external accrediting organization.
7. Internal assessment means the process under which the institution shall conduct a self-evaluation based on a set of quality assessment standards to review and improve its educational quality, effectiveness of training activities, scientific researches, human resources, facilities and other related issues.
8. External assessment means the process by which a third party evaluates the quality of an education institution or programme in order to formally recognise it as having met certain pre-determined minimal criteria or standards.
9. Benchmarking is the process of comparing and measuring an education institution or a program with a set of education quality assessment standards or with other selected education institution/.
10. Education quality improvement means activities which are continuously conducted to improve the quality of an educational institution through the benchmarking and survey activities, thereby to adjust policies, regulations and resources to optimize training, scientific research activities and community service.
11. Quality culture means a system of quality and effective values, standards, beliefs and working practices that are shaped in each institution member.
12. Relevant Stakeholders means people including faculty, staff members, leaders and managers, employers, university partners, learners’ families, investors, direct management agencies, state education management agencies, other relevant organizations and individuals;
13. VinUni or the University in this document is construed as VinUniversity.

Chapter II: VinUni’s Quality Assurance System

Quality Assurance and Enhancement is a shared responsibility among all members of VinUni, including faculty and students, who actively contribute to establishing, maintaining, and continuously improving the academic quality of the university. To achieve this, VinUni has established an internal Quality Assurance (QA) system in a hybrid format, which clearly defines the roles of the university-level QA while also empowering the autonomy of the Institutes in ensuring the quality of the academic programs they manage. Chapter II below outlines the provisions of the university’s internal quality assurance system

Article 4. The internal quality assurance system of VinUni

Source: The above model is modified from AUN-QA Model for Internal Quality System

Article 5: Structure of the VinUni’s quality assurance system

The quality assurance system at VinUni consists of two levels: institutional level and unit level.

1. Institutional level:
   1. The Institutional Education Quality Assurance Council is a council that advises the Rectorate on QA activities, established and dissolved at the decision of the Provost. The Council consists of a Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary, and Members. The Council has a minimum of 09 members, including the ex-officio members (representatives of the Senate, Head of Planning and Registrar, and Accreditation and Quality Assurance Unit). The Chairman of the Council is the representative of the Rectorate or a prestigious national or international educator; The Vice-Chairman of the Council are Deans of Colleges. The Council’s term shall be subject to that of the VinUniversity’s Provost.
   2. The Accreditation and Quality Assurance Unit (AQA Unit) under the Department of Planning and Registrar shall be the focal point for implementing and coordinating the QA activities in the University.
2. Unit level:
   1. Colleges and Academic Programs;
   2. Units within the University;

Article 6: Roles and Working Principles of the Institutional Quality Assurance Council

1. Roles of Institutional Quality Assurance Council:
   1. To advise the University Management Board on quality assurance and enhancement activities of the University.
   2. To advise on the development of the accreditation and quality assurance plans for the University.
   3. To advise the Provost on the development, modification and supplementation of mechanisms and policies to complete the IQA system, in line with strategic objectives, international standards and provisions of the Law on Higher Education and of the Ministry of Education and Training.
   4. To monitor the organization and implementation of QA activities at units; to assess the self-assessment report of the University before submitting it to the accreditation organizations inside and outside the country.
   5. To advise on quality improvement plan following the self-assessment, external assessment at institutional and program levels.
   6. To advise the Provost on the development of programs and projects to improve the quality of education and to promote the culture of quality at the University.
2. Working Principles of the Council:

The Council shall hold regular meetings twice a year. In case of necessity, the Council may hold extraordinary meetings. The Board shall work on the principles of centralization and democracy. Resolutions of the Board shall be passed by open or secret ballot, and the Resolutions shall be passed when more than 50% of the Council members agree.

Article 7. Functions and duties of the Accreditation and Quality Accreditation Unit

1. The Accreditation and Quality Assurance Unit under the Department of Planning and Registrar has following functions: to advise and assist the Provost and the IQAC Committee in organizing and implementing the accreditation and quality assurance activities; manage the accreditation and ranking activities at the University level; develop the IQA system including QA policies, information system with supporting evidence; provide the consultation on academic compliance with Vietnamese regulations for university units.
2. The Accreditation and Quality Assurance Unit under the Department of Planning and Registrar shall have the following tasks:
   1. To provide consultancy on QA and accreditation in accordance with the Law on Higher Education and relevant regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training, and related State departments;
   2. To provide consultancy on development of a accreditation – ranking – quality assurance plans throughout the University, including the compulsory accreditation and recognition of the education quality at both institutional and program level as prescribed by the Ministry of Education and Training, as well as voluntary accreditation with reputable accreditation organization mentioned such as ABET, AACSB, LFME, ACEN, etc. Based on the University’s own strategic plan.
   3. To maintain the archives and periodical updates of the evidence system to serve for institutional accreditation while applying information technology to build a database of quality assurance;
   4. To take the lead and coordinate with relevant units to implement periodic self-assessment and accreditation activities at the University level, including: developing instructional documents, organizing evidence collection, and preparing for self-assessment reports based on accreditation standards; coordinating working agendas with assessment teams from accreditation agencies; proposing and monitoring quality improvement activities after assessment periods;
   5. To provide guidance and consultation for Colleges on organizing self-assessment activities, registering accreditation for academic programs managed by the Colleges with national and international accreditation organizations; consulting and monitoring the quality improvement after assessment
   6. To build a network of QA coordinators in units, promote communication, and organize training and professional development activities for those QA coordinators.
   7. To organize workshops and seminars on accreditation – ranking – quality assurance activities throughout the University.

Article 8: Duties of units for accreditation and quality assurance activities

1. Colleges
   1. To establish an internal quality assurance system that complies with regulations and adheres to the requirements of accreditation standards; to conduct review and improvement on periodical basis to ensure and enhance the education quality;
   2. To develop and implement an accreditation plan for academic programs in accordance with regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training and approved international standards under the general strategic plan of the University;
   3. To organize and assign staff and faculty members to be responsible for QA work of the College and its academic programs; send staff and faculty members to participate in training activities to improve their capacity for QA work according to the University’s plan and the plan of the College;
   4. To manage, store, provide information and evidence related to QA activities within the scope of management of the College to serve the institutional accreditation as well as the program accreditation led by the College;
   5. To develop plans, organize the collection of evidence, write self-assessment reports and work with external assessment teams from national and international accreditation agencies during accreditation cycles for academic programs managed by the College;
2. Functional Departments
   1. To take the primary responsibility for monitoring, implementing and ensuring quality according to the issued Service Standards and quality standards related to the management scope of the unit;
   2. To organize, store, provide information and evidences, and prepare self-assessment reports for accreditation standards related to their scope of works.

Chapter III: Self-Assessment and External Assessment

With a commitment to academic excellence, VinUni will carry out self-assessment and external evaluation activities to assess and improve the effectiveness of its internal Quality Assurance (QA) system, as well as strive for recognition from reputable international accrediting organizations, in line with the university’s strategic plan. Chapter III below outlines the provisions for the self-assessment and external evaluation activities of VinUni.

Article 9: Subjects of self-assessment and external assessment

1. Self-assessment activities are implemented at the following two levels:
   1. Institutional (university-wide) level: coordinated by the Accreditation and Quality Assurance Unit within the Department of Planning and Registrar.
   2. Program level: led by Colleges and relevant academic programs.
2. External assessment activities are implemented at the following two levels:
   1. Peer Review: to be carried out under the cooperation agreement by and between the University or Colleges and external partners to review and assess the quality of the whole training programs or selected components.
   2. Assessment conducted by an independent accreditation organization: It is a process of evaluating the whole University or particular academic programs in accordance with predetermined standards and criteria set out by the accreditation organization in order to assess and recognize the level of compliance with its quality standards.

Article 10: Self-assessment activities

1. The Accreditation and Quality Assurance Unit shall be the focal point to implement the self-assessment activities at the University-level; Colleges shall be responsible for implementing the self-assessment activities for their respective academic programs based on the selected quality standards in the University’s Strategic Plan.
2. Annually, the Accreditation and Quality Assurance Unit shall prepare a self-assessment plan for the entire University. The self-assessment plan must include the following contents: the purpose and scope of the self-assessment session, tasks assignment for relevant units and individuals; determination of information and evidence needed to collect; assessment process and method; estimated resources of facilities, finance and timeline for resources mobilization in the process of self-assessment; timeline for each stage.
3. Self-assessment results and quality improvement plan after the assessment shall be appraised by the IQAC Committee and submitted to the Provost for approval.

Article 11: External assessment activities

1. Accreditation and Quality Assurance Unit shall collaborate with the Colleges to closely follow the accreditation process of the selected accrediting organizations so that accreditation shall be carried out aligned with the timeline set forth in the accreditation plan of the University.
2. The external assessment activities are carried out based on the guidelines, procedures and requirements of the external assessment agency, as specified in the contract or agreement between the two parties.

Article 12: Documentation for Self-Assessment and External Assessment.

1. The documentation process shall include the following steps:
   1. Annually, the Accreditation and Quality Assurance Unit shall develop a list of core evidence and a plan for collecting and compiling evidence to support the accreditation and quality assurance activities, sending to relevant units.
   2. Units shall be responsible for collecting, compiling, and submitting the required documents and evidence to the Department of Planning and Registrar according to the provided schedule and documentation list.
2. The dossiers submitted to the Accreditation and Quality Assurance Unit must be dossiers of completed work, and should be properly categorized and organized.
3. The units are responsible for cross-referencing the document categories to carry out archival processes in dataroom in compliance with the VinUni’s current regulation for document archieving.

Chapter IV: Continuous Quality Improvement

VinUni is dedicated to continuously enhancing the quality of its activities to uphold academic excellence. In pursuit of this goal, VinUni will deploy distinctive QA tools, such as surveys and benchmarking, to identify areas for ongoing improvement. Chapter 5 outlines detailed provisions concerning these tools and the necessary steps to be taken after the self-assessment and external evaluation processes.

Article 13: Survey and assessment through feedbacks from stakeholders

1. Survey and assessment through feedbacks from stakeholders shall include: self-assessment by faculty; learners’ evaluations on teaching quality of faculty and teaching assistants; evaluations from final year students, alumni, experts and employers on academic programs; student surveys on their overall experience when studying at the University;
2. Survey and assessment through feedbacks from stakeholders shall be conducted periodically on an annual basis and according to stages. Each type of survey and assessment shall have its own implementation process implemented by the respective parties.
3. Survey results and feedbacks from stakeholders must be comprehensively evaluated in terms of qualitative and quantitative aspects; ensure that corrective and improvement measures and plans shall be provided after each period of assessment and the results shall be improved in subsequent assessment

Article 14: Benchmarking Activities for Quality Improvement in Education

1. Selection criteria for benchmarking partners:
   1. To align in mission, core values, and similar goals as VinUni;
   2. To be comparable in scale;
   3. To be research-oriented university;
   4. To offer similar academic programs;
   5. To demonstrate excellence in the chosen benchmarking field;
2. Level of benchmarking

The University encourages individuals and relevant units to engage in benchmarking at different levels, ranging from referencing information on credible websites to formally requesting information from selected benchmarking institutions.

Article 15: Improvement of Educational Quality after Self-Assessment

1. The Accreditation and Quality Assurance (applicable to institutional accreditation) and Colleges (applicable to programmatic accreditation) shall develop and implement action plans to address issues identified in the self-assessment process. The action plans should clearly specify the work groups responsible for improvements, individuals involved, timeframe for work implementation, and expected outcomes.
2. The correction and quality improvement measures must be implemented prior to external assessment conducted by accreditation organizations in order to achieve the goals of quality recognition as mentioned in the University’s Strategic Plan.

Article 16: Improvement of Educational Quality after External Assessment

1. The Accreditation and Quality Assurance Unit (applicable to institutional accreditation) and Colleges (applicable to programmatic accreditation) shall propose and implement action plans to address and improve the quality based on the findings from external evaluations and quality assurance assessments.
2. The documents regarding the quality improvement and enhancement after external assessments must be stored at the Accreditation and Quality Assurance Unit to serve for the mid-cycle reporting and other reports in accordance with the Regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training, as stated in Article 15 of this Regulation.

Article 17: Promotion of Quality Culture

1. Leadership plays a directive role and creates favorable conditions to promote a quality culture throughout the entire University;
2. The Units including Colleges and functional departments are responsible for communicating, disseminating, and enhancing awareness of the quality culture and its role in achieving the strategic goals of ranking and accreditation of the University.
3. Annually, Colleges and Accreditation and Quality Assurance Unit establish a plan to promote the culture of quality and enhance the capacity of QA personnel through training courses, workshops and seminars organized within and outside the

Chapter VI: Implementation of the Regulation

Article 18: Department of Planning and Registrar

1. The Accreditation and Quality Assurance Unit under the Department of Planning and Registrar shall develop and promulgate guiding documents to implement quality assurance, self-assessment, and external assessment activities in accordance with this Regulation.
2. The Department of Planning and Registrar shall take the lead developing the institutional data, including the information system for QA, to support the self-assessment and accreditation of the University, as well as its ranking efforts.
3. The Accreditation and Quality Assurance Unit shall coordinate with relevant units in developing and implementing the University’s annual QA and accreditation plan, collaborate with related units to monitor and evaluate the implementation of the University’s annual QA plan; organize workshops and seminars to assess and review the implementation of this Regulation.

Article 19: Colleges

1. To appoint dedicated staff members responsible for quality assurance at the College and their offered academic programs, recognized their workload and contributions to the QA activities of the College and respective Programs.
2. To take the lead in developing the annual QA and accreditation plans, conducting self-assessment and external assessment activities to accomplish strategic goals on the defined programmatic accreditations;
3. To collaborate with Accreditation and Quality Assurance Unit in institutional accreditation activities, particularly for matters within the scope of the Colleges’ management.

Article 20: Units within Academic Support and Operation Divisions

1. To appoint personnel in charge of QA in the unit and recognize their workload for QA activities of the unit;
2. To organize the implementation of the University’s overall plan for self-assessment and external assessment activities such as collecting evidences, analyzing and preparing self-assessment reports for accreditation standards related to their working functions.

Article 21: Quality Assurance for QA Staff

1. Units shall identify their training and development needs for their QA personnel aligned with the University and their annual QA action plans;
2. The Accreditation and Quality Assurance Unit shall implement a management and evaluation system for QA activities and results, as well as conduct training programs to promote the capacity of QA personnel from units;
3. The Accreditation and Quality Assurance Unit regularly review the quantity and quality of QA personnel throughout the University to propose a suitable human resources development plan aligned with the goals and strategies of Ranking, Quality Assurance and Accreditation of the University.

Article 22: Effectiveness of Enforcement

1. This regulation shall come into effect from the date of signing and issuance, accompanied by Decision No 239/2023/QĐ-VUNI dated June 27^th 2023 by the Provost of the University.
2. During the implementation process, this Regulation may be adjusted and amended as necessary. Amendments and supplements shall be considered and decided by the Provost of University based on the proposal of the Head of Planning and Registrar Office; and the IQAC Commitee.