Recently, the President of Vietnam National University, Hanoi signed Decision No. 3626/QD-ĐHQGHN on promulgating the Regulation on undergraduate training at VNU. On this occasion, the Reporter interviewed Prof. Dr. Nguyen Dinh Duc, Head of the Academic Affairs Department, Head of the Regulations Compilation Team of VNU about new points in the Undergraduate training regulations this time.

Professor Nguyen Dinh Duc, can you briefly introduce the newly issued Undergraduate Training Regulations of VNU?

The new regulation includes 9 chapters and 51 articles regulating undergraduate training at Vietnam National University, Hanoi, including training program; training organization and management; scientific research of students; rights and obligations of lecturers, academic advisors, and students; examination, competition, and assessment of learning results; the graduate certification.

Prof. Dr. Nguyen Dinh Duc, Head of the Academic Affairs Department, VNU

This Regulation applies to units and individuals participating in the undergraduate training process in the bachelor's programs and in the work-study programs at Vietnam National University, Hanoi, including training programs and study time; training organization and management; scientific research of students; rights and obligations of lecturers, academic advisors, and students; examination, competition and assessment of learning results; the graduate certification.

Currently, the system of organization and management of higher education consists of two levels: the VNU level, and the training unit level.

To make the most of all resources and synergy of the units, the new regulation is consistent with the "one-VNU" philosophy and concept. Vietnam National University, Hanoi has the task of directing and uniformly administering the organization and management of training according to the mechanism of openness, connection, association, and cooperation among training units; Coordinating the use of common resources (human resources, facilities, equipment) for training; At the same time, VNU is responsible for comprehensive management of the training organization and management of its units.

The training units have the task of organizing and managing the training of the majors and modules assigned by the VNU; recognizing student learning outcomes among training units; Recognizing accumulated student learning results at partner schools through student exchange; building shared learning materials. In addition, developing new majors and new training programs, focusing on interdisciplinary training programs, reporting to the President of Vietnam National University for consideration, appraisal, and issuance of decisions to open majors, approve the program, and assign the task of organizing the training.

So, what are the important new points in the Regulations that need to be noted, Professor?

Some notable points in the new training regulations of Vietnam National University, Hanoi, such as the time of issuance and assignment of enrollment quotas.

Specifically, every year, based on the quality assurance conditions, social needs, and the situation of students having jobs in the right profession after graduation, the training units build enrollment quotas for each major, each form of training with the corresponding training program of the next academic year before December 31 to report and request the President of VNU for approval. 

HT1 and HT2 lecture halls of VNU at the Hoa Lac campus

On the basis of this proposal, as well as general resources and development orientation, the President decided to assign enrollment quotas to training units before March 1 every year and report Ministry of Education and Training. After the decision on the allocation of enrollment quotas is made by VNU, training units will be notified of enrollment and training organization.

Regarding the enrollment organization, every year, based on the general regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training, the President issues a guidance document on enrollment work applicable at Vietnam National University, Hanoi.

Regarding the structure and volume of training programs: For the standard training program, at least 120 cumulative credits for bachelor's training, 150 cumulative credits for engineering training, 155 credits for pharmacist training, and a minimum of 205 credits for medical doctor training; The high-quality training program is designed by at least 15 credits more than the corresponding standard training program.

In particular, for the output standard of foreign language proficiency, the VNU applies the 6-level foreign language competency framework for Vietnam, with the output standard equivalent to level 3, or level 4 depending on the training program. Different from the previous Regulation, this Regulation stipulates that the foreign language course in the training program is the compulsory subject, and therefore included in the overall GPA in the study results.

In the teaching organization, there are many new points in the time of teaching activities and teaching organization to ensure the quality of training such as the timetable of the normal classes must be arranged evenly in the week. In case it is necessary to schedule a concentrated study time, the number of teaching hours for any one module must not exceed 15 hours/week and 4 hours/day.

Online teaching and learning time: up to 30% of the total volume of the training program is conducted in an online class when meeting current requirements on information technology application in training management and organization.

Could you please give me more information about the change of majors in this new regulation?

Especially, a new point in the undergraduate training regulations in 2022 compared to the previous one is allowing students to change majors. Specifically, students who complete the first year of study are considered to transfer to another major if they fully meet the following conditions: Satisfy the matriculation requirements of the field they want to study; Have a minimum cumulative number of credits equal to the designed volume according to the standard study plan of the training program; The Grade point average (GPA) up to the time of consideration is 2.50 or higher; No academic warning or disciplinary action; The admission quotas of the training units is lower than the demand for the major students want to transfer to; Have the permission of the Dean of Faculty/Department in charge of the training major and the leader of the training unit (for member universities), the President of VNU (for direct training units).

However, it should be noted that the newly issued regulations do not consider changing majors for students who have studied since the second year. The learning results of the accumulated courses of students transferring majors or transferring training programs will be considered for reservation and recognition of equivalence according to the modules in the new major.

The new regulations also continue to facilitate and allow students to study double-degree training programs in bachelor's programs - and this is also an attractive strength for students of a multi-disciplinary university like Vietnam National University, Hanoi. However, the conditions to study the second major are supplemented with stricter regulations: Specifically, students must have studied at least two semesters of the first training program, and if the overall GPA from the beginning of the course to the time of registration for the second training program reaches 2.0 or more, the student must meet the conditions for the admission of the second program in the enrollment year; If the score is 2.5 or higher, students only have to meet the entrance quality assurance threshold of the second program in the enrollment year.

Professor Nguyen Dinh Duc, how do you evaluate this new Regulation?

The newly promulgated Regulation on undergraduate training at Vietnam National University, Hanoi, has updated new points in the Ministry's Regulations, and at the same time has many new points to improve training quality and create favorable conditions for learners.

Regulation is an important legal corridor to use and mobilize common resources of the whole VNU. The new regulation promotes the decentralization of powers to units, and delegates the right to self-determination and self-responsibility to the heads of the training units while maintaining the core mechanisms and values to operate and promote, creating synergy to maintain the brand and training quality of VNU.

This Regulation takes effect from the date of signing, ie October 21, 2022, and applies to enrollment courses from 2022 onwards. All previous provisions contrary to this Regulation are hereby annulled.

Thank you very much, Professor!