Students studying in an international affiliated program have their study conditions improved
New internationalized programs being launched
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Huynh Van Chuong, Deputy Director of Hue University informed that, along with the establishment of the International Faculty (February 2019), Hue University is preparing to establish another Faculty of Engineering and Technology, while focusing on developing high quality training programs with English curriculum and international joint programs.
The new programs would be prioritized in IT, artificial intelligence, robotics, electricity, electronics ... These are sectors that would be in demand in the 4.0 industry era. Dr. Nguyen Quang Lich, head of Engineering department, University of Agriculture and Forestry, Hue University (who is expected to be in charge of the Faculty of Engineering and Technology) said that they intended to open courses related to information technology such as automation control engineering, computer science, data science and artificial intelligence or business data analysis.
According to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Hoang Khanh Linh, provisional Head of the International Faculty - Hue University, the department focuses on international joint training programs for students at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, in which there would be various majors such as international business (affiliated with Northern Kentucky University, USA), tourism management and entertainment technology (IMC-KREMS University, Austria), graphic design communication (Western Illinois University, USA) ...
Representatives of Hue University affirmed that they would carry out new programs in which they are cooperating with foreign partners, especially educational institutions from the US, Australia, Korea, Europe ... to import international programs or to co-design the programs according to international standards meanwhile in accordance with Vietnamese educational realities, creating high-quality, breakthrough training disciplines, in which graduates would have an environment to continue studying at prestigious universities worldwide or to work abroad, especially competing for high quality human resources in Southeast Asia.
The difference of these programs was the focus on students’ level of English and teaching in foreign languages, on soft skills, and on energetic students who wanted to pursue further careers. The process of designing the curriculum would focus on foreign language standards and skills in addition to specialized knowledge, which is suitable for overseas training and working environment.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Huynh Van Chuong analyzed that the program with multiple majors was in the form of on-site study-abroad programs, designed for students to firstly study at Hue University then, achieve a master degree abroad; or, the study programs with the first stage in Hue and studying abroad in the following stages; and the two universities would provide the same degree certificate. Foreign universities would issue degree certificate or facilitate doing master degree overseas, and certifying the study results at Hue University.
According to Hue University representatives, lecturers would be recruited from member colleges of Hue University, both domestic and abroad. Lecturers in the country would be assessed and tested for the input standards, especially foreign languages because the program is taught in a foreign language which requires considerable experience.
Overcoming difficulties
In fact, Hue University already has had many joint training programs such as the engineering program (Val de Loire - France), the master's program associated with National Chiao Tung University (Taiwan) at the College of Pedagogy; Rennes (France) or Tallaght - Ireland program at the College of Economics. Other programs at the College of Medicine and Pharmacy, College of Agriculture and Forestry have shown effectiveness.
Dr. Ha Viet Hai, Head of Science, Technology and International Cooperation Department of College of Education, Hue University said that throughout the training process, more than 100 students graduated from the engineering program; in which, 4 students, after graduation, had continued their study with successful doctoral thesis defense, 10 students were finishing their doctoral theses and most of the rest were working in France or Vietnam.
However, according to the universities, the difficulties of affiliated programs are to attract learners due to tuition issues (with programs requiring tuition fees), awareness, ways of thinking about affiliated programs or language barriers.
Hue University has considered the above issues in order to make those new programs feasible. Hue University is negotiating with a lot of partners to choose the right ones which can waive or reduce tuition fees or offer suitable tuition fees to candidates, especially habitants in the Central region who still face many difficulties.
A representative of Hue University said that one of the previous drawbacks was the ineffective promotion of the affiliated programs. Therefore, the solution of Hue University was to focus on promoting the program to candidates and their parents, to high schools for better recruitment.
Hue University has also completed the process of establishing the Faculty of Engineering and Technology in November 2019 and is expected to call for enrollment in 2020 along with the programs of the International Faculty. According to Hue University leaders, establishing faculties to develop affiliated programs is a comprehensive solution to mobilize resources for interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary fields that are the advantages of Hue University to improve the students’ enrollment and training courses.
Story, photo: Huu Phuc