Who really runs Hanoi University of Business and Technology?

The fact that the Chairman of the Board and President of HUBT is not directly present to manage the school's daily operations threatens to give rise to serious legal situations, according to investors' warnings.

As Thanh Nien reported, despite the legal regulations on the operating model of non-public universities, Professor Tran Phuong has held the position of Chairman of the University Council and Principal of Hanoi University of Business and Technology (HUBT) for nearly 30 years. For the past 4 years, HUBT has been operating without a university council, in violation of the provisions of the Law on Higher Education .

In addition, one of the accusations that Mr. Lai Viet Hung sent to the press was that Mr. Nguyen Cong Nghiep, HUBT's permanent Vice Principal, had used the "dry" signature of Professor Tran Phuong for many years to manage most of the school's activities.

The last time Professor Tran Phuong appeared in public was in early 2021, when he received the 75-year Party membership badge.

NGUYEN QUYNH

Professor Tran Phuong's signature is present on university, master's and doctoral diplomas; in documents sent to the Ministry of Education and Training, the Government Office , competent authorities... It is even present in documents related to the financial revenue and expenditure activities of a unit whose annual revenue is estimated at 350 - 400 billion VND from tuition fees.

According to Mr. Lai Viet Hung, the representative of investors whose capital in HUBT accounts for more than 40%, all of those signatures are dry signatures, meaning that someone used a seal to engrave Professor Tran Phuong's signature, then stamped the documents and gave them to Mr. Nguyen Cong Nghiep so that Mr. Nghiep could "run" Hanoi University of Business and Technology.

According to some HUBT management staff, they have not seen Professor Tran Phuong at the school for many years, although they have received written instructions signed by the principal. The last time Professor Tran Phuong came to the school was more than 4 years ago (in February 2019), when the board of directors met with staff at the beginning of spring.

The presidium and secretary of the preparatory conference of investors (October 2020) HUBT came to report on work with Professor Tran Phuong at his private home.

NKS

According to Dr. Nguyen Kim Son, in October 2020, when he and the delegation organized a preparatory conference for investors to come to Professor Tran Phuong's house, he still communicated normally. But for about 3 years now, Professor Tran Phuong has not appeared in any school activities; A lawyer has represented him in attending board meetings or working with leaders of units in the school, to grasp the situation or convey his own instructions.

Thanh Nien Newspaper contacted Mr. Nguyen Cong Nghiep, Permanent Vice Principal of HUBT to ask about some contents related to the accusations of the investor group. When asked about whether Professor Tran Phuong was sick and did not have enough health and awareness to directly manage the school's activities, Mr. Nghiep replied: "This matter must be asked to the Central Health Protection Board, Professor Tran Phuong is under the management of the Central Health Protection Board" (?).

Unforeseen consequences of the principal's dry signature

According to Mr. Hung, Mr. Nghiep's use of Professor Tran Phuong's dry signature to manage the school not only "deceived" investors but also violated the law, causing unpredictable consequences for students. Mr. Hung said: "Using the wood-carved signature of a person without civil capacity and without the ability to take legal responsibility to issue a diploma is illegal."

At the end of 2020, Dr. Nguyen Kim Son (left) visited Professor Tran Phuong (right) when he was still lucid.

NVCC

As for Dr. Nguyen Kim Son, former assistant principal and former Chief of Office of HUBT, the crisis in HUBT's governance began in 2017, when Professor Tran Phuong began to fall ill. This caused the head of HUBT's legal entity to gradually no longer directly lead the school.

Since 2018, all documents with the signature of Professor Tran Phuong have been dry signatures. Notably, the seal with the dry signature of Professor Tran Phuong is not managed by the functional unit (the school office) according to regulations, but is kept by Professor Tran Phuong's daughter (Ms. Vu Ngoc Uyen) at her private residence. Every time Professor Tran Phuong's signature is needed, the school must send someone to bring the documents and files to Professor Tran Phuong's private residence to meet Ms. Uyen to have the signature stamped.

"The current board of directors and some authorities have taken advantage of Professor Tran Phuong's health condition and absence, working without following school regulations and legal provisions, not for the common benefit of the school and students," Dr. Nguyen Kim Son shared.

Some investors also believe that having the dry signature of the principal/chairman of the HUBT school board has helped some people manipulate all activities of HUBT. Many documents on behalf of HUBT were sent to the authorities, or HUBT leaders signed important documents, which were not drafted by the school's functional unit and were not approved by the school's previous board of directors.

Professor Tran Phuong's signature on this decision is said to be a dry signature and the content was not approved by the board of directors.

DOCUMENT PHOTOGRAPHY

"Professor Tran Phuong's dry signature also threatens to lose the position and jobs of the school's staff and lecturers, forcing them to comply with the wishes of the interest group that owns the dry signature," Dr. Nguyen Kim Son said indignantly.

According to Thanh Nien Newspaper's investigation, in November 2021, Professor Tran Phuong signed a decision to suspend Mr. Dinh Van Tien from the position of permanent vice principal.

Most recently, on March 19, 2024, HUBT issued within the school a decision signed by Professor Tran Phuong assigning tasks to the vice principals, in which Mr. Nguyen Cong Nghiep (permanent vice principal) was assigned to represent the principal in managing all school activities, representing the account owner and performing all tasks related to the school's account...

Previously, on March 18, 2024, HUBT appeared an official dispatch titled "Direction of the principal on submitting documents, papers, and work records for signing", which required all documents submitted for the principal/chairman of the school board's opinion to have Mr. Nghiep's initials.

The above documents are all signed with the "dry" signature of Professor Tran Phuong.

Ministry of Education and Training requests report

On March 25, 2024, the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Education and Training sent a document to HUBT requesting the school to report to the Ministry on a number of issues such as: Is Professor Tran Phuong currently managing the daily operations of HUBT as principal in accordance with the provisions of law? Report all content on the use of Professor Tran Phuong's signature stamp; the school self-assesses its compliance with legal regulations in the use of Professor Tran Phuong's signature stamp and other issues. The deadline for reporting is March 30, 2024. However, as of April 10, 2024, the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Education and Training has not yet received the requested report.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/ai-dang-thuc-su-dieu-hanh-truong-dai-hoc-kinh-doanh-va-cong-nghe-ha-noi-185240410133340413.htm