What are procedures for establishing the Council of a Public University in Vietnam?

What are procedures for establishing the Council of a Public University in Vietnam?

Based on Clause 1, Article 7 of Decree 99/2019/ND-CP, the procedures for establishing the Council of a Public University are as follows:

- For newly established universities: The direct management agency delegates the authority to the acting rector to join the provisional Council and perform the duties and powers of the rector until there is an official decision to recognize the rector based on the proposal of the Council.

The direct management agency decides on the provisional Council as follows:

+ Number, structure of members, organization of elections of elected members, and direction of implementation of the election for elected members and the chairman of the provisional Council according to the regulations for the Council stipulated in the Amended Higher Education Law 2018;

+ Issuing a decision recognizing the provisional Council and the chairman of the provisional Council prior to the university's request for permission to commence educational activities;

+ The content of the decision must clearly state the operational period of the provisional Council, not exceeding 12 months from the date the decision is issued by the direct management agency.

The establishment of the official Council is carried out in accordance with Point d, Clause 1, Article 7 of Decree 99/2019/ND-CP.

- For universities currently operating but not yet complying with legal provisions concerning the establishment of a Council, within 6 months from the effective date of Decree 99/2019/ND-CP, the leadership must direct the establishment of a Council as stipulated in Point d, Clause 1, Article 7 of Decree 99/2019/ND-CP;

- For universities with existing Councils: If as of the effective date of Decree 99/2019/ND-CP the term of the Council is less than 6 months, the Council will function until the end of the term; meanwhile, the leadership must direct the procedural establishment of the next term's Council according to Point d, Clause 1, Article 7 of Decree 99/2019/ND-CP. If the term of the Council is 6 months or longer from the effective date of Decree 99/2019/ND-CP, the following applies:

If the Council was established in conformity with the Amended Higher Education Law 2018 and the Communist Party's regulations at the time of establishment, it will function until the end of its term, deciding on the personnel of the rector and performing other rights and responsibilities per legal regulations and the university's organizational and operational regulations.

If the Council was established not in conformity with the Amended Higher Education Law 2018 and the Party's regulations at the time, within 6 months from the effective date of Decree 99/2019/ND-CP, the leadership must direct the establishment of a new term’s Council as stipulated in Point d, Clause 1, Article 7 of Decree 99/2019/ND-CP.

The new term Council decides on the personnel of the rector and performs other rights and responsibilities per legal regulations and the university's organizational and operational regulations;

- At the end of each term or as required by Points b and c, Clause 1, Article 7 of Decree 99/2019/ND-CP, the leadership directs the procedural establishment of the new term's Council per the Party's regulations, legal regulations, university's organizational and operational regulations, and the following:

The leadership proposes the direct management agency designate a representative to participate in the Council; reaches consensus on the number and structure of the Council members with the direct management agency's representative and other ex officio members of the Council (if not stipulated in the university’s organizational and operational regulations); directs the election of Council members for each structure; organizes the election of the chairman of the Council by the Council members.

The organization of candidate introductions, use of full assemblies or delegate assemblies, participation rates of delegate assemblies (if any), must be stipulated in the university’s organizational and operational regulations; if using delegate assemblies, the number of delegates must exceed 50% of the total.

If the organizational and operational regulations do not stipulate, the leadership must agree with the direct management agency’s representative and other ex officio members of the Council to direct implementation; after recognition, the Council must direct amending, supplementing, or issuing new organizational and operational regulations according to the Amended Higher Education Law 2018, including the above content.

At least 30 working days before the end of the term, the leadership must complete and submit 1 dossier as stipulated in Point a, Clause 4, Article 7 of Decree 99/2019/ND-CP to request the direct management agency issue a decision recognizing the Council and the chairman for the new term.

- The leadership stipulated in Clause 1, Article 7 of Decree 99/2019/ND-CP includes the leadership of the university comprising: the executive committee of the Communist Party or the standing committee (where there is no executive committee), the chairman of the Council, the vice-chairman of the Council (if any), the rector, and the vice rectors.

The leadership is chaired by the chairman of the Council or the rector (in the absence of a chairman); works on the principle of collective decision-making by majority; if the leadership constitutes an even number and results in a 50/50 vote, the decision follows the opinion of the chairman.

What are procedures for establishing the Council of a Public University in Vietnam? (Image from the Internet)

What are procedures for recognition of the Council of a Public University in Vietnam?

Based on Clause 4, Article 7 of Decree 99/2019/ND-CP, the procedures for recognizing the Council of public universities are as follows:

- The dossier requesting recognition of the Council and the chairman includes Proposal requesting recognition of the Council, detailing the process of determining Council members; list, résumés, and consent documents from the chairman and Council members; meeting minutes, vote counting minutes, documents appointing members to the Council from the direct management agency and related documents;

- Within 30 working days from receipt of the complete dossier from the university, the direct management agency issues a decision recognizing the Council, chairman, and Council members; if not agreed, must provide a written response with clear reasons;

- After recognition, the Council may use the university's seal and organizational apparatus to conduct its affairs; the chairman enjoys the highest allowance for the position in the allowance list; allowances for the vice-chairman (if any), secretary, and other members are stipulated in the university's organizational and operational regulations.

What are duties and powers of the Council in Public Universities in Vietnam?

Based on Clause 2, Article 16 of the Higher Education Law 2012 (amended by Clause 10, Article 1 of the Amended Higher Education Law 2018), the Council in public universities has the following duties and powers:

- Decide on the strategy, development plans, annual plans of the university; policies for developing the university into a superior institution or merging with another university;

- Issue organizational and operational regulations, financial regulations, democratic regulations at the university per the laws;

- Decide on recruitment orientations, new training programs, joint training programs, scientific and technological activities, international cooperation; policies to ensure the quality of higher education, cooperation between the university and enterprises or employers;

- Decide on the organizational structure, labor structure, establishment, merger, division, separation, dissolution of units within the university; issue the job position list, standards, and working conditions for each position; regulations on recruitment, employment, management of staff, lecturers, public employees, and workers per the law;

- Decide and propose to the competent authority the decision to recognize, dismiss, relieve the rector, appoint, dismiss, relieve the vice-rector based on the rector’s proposal; decisions on other management positions as stipulated by the university's organizational and operational regulations; evaluate the annual performance of the chairman, the rector; take confidence votes for the chairman, the rector mid-term or ad-hoc according to the university's organizational and operational regulations;

- Decide on policy for attracting investment capital for university development; tuition fee policies, student support policies; approve financial plans; review annual financial reports, settle financial accounts for legal revenue sources;

- Decide on investment policy and large asset use under the university’s purview according to its organizational and operational regulations; decide on salary policies, bonuses, other benefits for leadership positions according to job results and disciplines per the regenerative and operational regulations;

- Oversee the implementation of the Council’s decisions, compliance with the law, democratic processes within the university’s operations, and the rector’s accountability; oversee financial and asset management at the university; report annually to the university assembly on oversight results and the Council's activities;

- Comply with the law; take responsibility before the law, the competent management agency and related parties for the Council’s decisions; ensure transparency and report information and policies; be subject to inspections and assessments by authorized agencies; be accountable within the board's scope of responsibilities, rights; be subject to social, individual, and organizational oversight within the university;

- Perform other duties and rights as stipulated in the university’s organizational and operational regulations.