• 14 Sep 2021
• 2021

Portland State University (PSU) & UEH on multidisciplinary university governance

On September 1, 2021, University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (UEH) was joined by Portland State University (PSU), USA to host and facilitate a seminar on “Multidisciplinary University Governance Model: Experience from PSU”

From UEH, in attendance was Professor Nguyen Dong Phong - Chairman of UEH University Council, Professor Su Dinh Thanh - UEH President, Dr. Bui Quang Hung - Vice President of UEH, and other Heads and Deputy Heads of relevant Departments and Institutes.

From PSU, the seminar welcomed Professor Steve Percy - PSU President, Professor Sy Adler - Dean of the School of Urban Management & Public Administration, Professor Birol Yesilada and other representatives from PSU.

Additionally, Mr. Tony Wheeler - Representative from J.E. Austin Associates., Inc. (JAA), Ms Nguyen Khanh Cam Chau and Ms. Nguyen Phuong Thao - Representatives from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and Mr. Peter Vaz - Project Manager of USAID Provincial Capacity Building (USAID SPC).

Prof. Dr. Nguyen Dong Phong - Chairman of UEH Council giving the opening speech of the seminar

In his opening keynote, Professor Nguyen Dong Phong - Chairman of UEH University Council remarked, “University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (UEH) is currently one of the leading universities in Vietnam with outstanding achievements in teaching and research. At the same time, UEH is in the Top 1000 Best Business Schools in the World, and Top 100 Best Master's Schools in the World, according to Eduniversal, Top 601+ Best Universities in Asia, according to QS Asia Ranking 2021, etc.. UEH constantly strives to innovate and improve the quality of educational programs, improve research capacity and academic activities, and develop international cooperation relationships. In restructuring to become a multidisciplinary university to enhance academic reputation and competitiveness in Asia, with strengths in Economics, Business, Law and Public Administration, UEH plans to integrate new industries such as Information Technology, Digitization, Urban Design, and more in its operations. UEH would love to pay PSU a visit in the near future to discuss and learn more about how to become a multidisciplinary university, and how to build a model with a decentralized and autonomous governance structure to ensure sustainable development. However, due to the impacts from the pandemic, that is unfortunately not possible. Nonetheless, this seminar is still a great virtual opportunity for UEH to hear from our predecessors the necessary steps to take during the restructuring process.”

The seminar centered around the practical experience that PSU has been through in building and developing structures to govern a multidisciplinary university, as well as how to orient that model towards decentralization while ensuring increased autonomy for their member colleges/universities, faculties and affiliated institutes. Additionally, conversations around how UEH can take such arrangements to their advantage in order to achieve the university’s sustainable development goals were also conducted. PSU and JAA then shared various mechanisms to attract talents, encourage scientific research opportunities and expand services to diversity revenue resources for the university.

Beyond their candid sharings, PSU continued by stating their commitment to supporting UEH in its restructuring efforts to establish a multidisciplinary UEH University in the near future so as to maximize UEH’s own capacity in academic training and research. UEH and PSU also discussed specific cooperation opportunities through joint training programs and research in areas of strengths from both universities to truly realize and improve the desired collaborative efficiency.

Professor Steve Percy - Portland State University (PSU) President

Professor Sy Adler - Dean of the School of Urban Management and Public Administration discussing practical operating model towards sustainable development goals

Professor Birol Yesilada on the approach to multi-industry revenue model

Mr. Tony Wheeler - JAA Representative discussing real experiences on innovation in training at university level

Professor Su Dinh Thanh - President of UEH shared: “On behalf of UEH, I’d like to express my profound gratitude and appreciation for PSU and JAA’s very honest and candid sharing on various focuses of today’s seminar, namely the structure and governance of a multidisciplinary university. Your stories are and will continue to be valuable lessons for UEH to learn from as we go about transforming our own university. For that, I’m hopeful that further collaboration between UEH and PSU in joint training and research programs can be carried out fruitfully and soon. We’d also like to thank USAID and the SPC team for your immense continued patronage to UEH, and we too are in eager anticipation that UEH and USAID can have more cooperation programs in education in the near future.”

Seminar commemorative photo session

Located in Portland, Oregon, USA, Portland State University is one of the nation's most diverse public research universities. PSU is ranked as one of the nation's most innovative universities (according to US News & World Report), the Top Social Mobility university in Oregon, the Top 50 Green Universities in the nation, Top 10 universities in making a difference in the climate crisis and 5th in the US for community service learning.

UEH and PSU are currently participating in the “Strengthening Provincial Capacity” project organized by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The project helps strengthen the capacity of three organizations in Vietnam, namely the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA), the Faculty of State Management of UEH (SOG/UEH) and the Vietnam Science and Technology Entrepreneurial Fund (SVF). The purpose of the project is to improve and develop the capacity of economic management for provincial officials; at the same time, coordinate and cooperate with the private sectors towards promoting sustainable development of localities.

Within the framework of the project, SOG/UEH is enthusiastic towards building long-term partnerships with Hatfield School of Government under PSU, which means PSU will provide technical support in developing training programs and focus on guiding SOG/UEH to improve their own curriculum design and content for training and consultation while enhancing provincial managerial capacities to ensure the sustainability of the training model.

Throughout 45 years of growth and development, UEH continues to achieve great lengus of successes in Vietnam’s higher education system and worldwide. The year 2021 kicks off an important cornerstone for UEH in its long-term development strategy to become a multidisciplinary and sustainable university, an ambition that can and will surely be achieved through the joint extensive efforts of international cooperation and real-life experience sharing from many of the world’s leading universities.

News, Photo: School of Government, Department of Marketing - Communication, Department of Research Management - International Cooperations