Proposal to assign universities to consider recognizing professors and associate professors

TP - The current process of recognizing the titles of professor and associate professor (GS, PGS) is quite cumbersome. The university proposed to pilot a number of qualified universities to be able to recognize and appoint these titles.

Should be piloted in some schools

At the national scientific conference "Modernizing and improving Vietnam's higher education, creating breakthroughs in developing highly qualified human resources and talents, leading research and innovation", jointly organized by the Central Propaganda and Mass Mobilization Commission, the Ministry of Education and Training , and Ho Chi Minh City National University, the issue of assigning universities to consider and recognize the appointment of professors and associate professors was once again mentioned.

Associate Professor Dr. Do Phu Tran Tinh, Director of the Institute for Policy Development of Ho Chi Minh City National University, proposed to allow a pilot program in reviewing and recognizing the titles of Professor and Associate Professor at a number of key, multidisciplinary universities with strong scientific reputation and potential, gathering a large number of leading scientists. The institutions that are allowed to self-recognize and appoint the titles of Professor and Associate Professor must comply with the general standards issued by the Prime Minister. Mr. Tinh said that the recognition results at these institutions have legal value nationwide. There should be more flexibility with scientists with special talents, with a pilot period of 3 years.

This is not the first time that Ho Chi Minh City National University has proposed to assign universities to consider, recognize, and appoint professors and associate professors. In 2024, at the seminar "Laws on considering and recognizing the standards for the title of professor and associate professor and proposing a pilot mechanism for Ho Chi Minh City National University", Associate Professor Dr. Vu Hai Quan (then Director of Ho Chi Minh City National University) said that the unit had a document recommending to the Prime Minister a number of outstanding policies to achieve the goal of becoming a university in the top group of Asia, including a proposal to allow Ho Chi Minh City National University to pilot the appointment of professors, associate professors, and assistant professors.

The current approach makes educational institutions passive in their strategies for developing new training and research programs. Some traditional fields are at risk of losing leading professors. The dependence on the number of publications in international scientific journals in the selection of standards for the title of professor and associate professor as stipulated in current regulations leads to the trend of commercializing publishing. “Predatory” journals (fake journals, which require payment to publish articles) appear, distorting and reducing society’s trust in education.

Ten years ago, Ton Duc Thang University (HCMC) had a policy of self-appointing professors and associate professors. At that time, the school faced fierce opposition from public opinion. But up to now, the proposal for universities to be considered, recognized, and appointed professors and associate professors has received consensus from the majority of the academic community.

Many conflicts need to be resolved

Recently, the State Council of Professors voted to approve the list of 900 candidates for Professor and Associate Professor in 2025. After 15 days, if there are no complaints, these candidates will be recognized by the Chairman of the State Council of Professors as meeting the standards for the title of Professor and Associate Professor.

Meeting of the State Council of Professors to consider recognition of standards for the titles of Professor and Associate Professor in 2025. Photo: State Council of Professors

Among the 900 approved candidates, many are working as managers at hospitals or managing a large corporation. Public opinion is concerned, with people working as managers of such corporations, how is teaching time and research time actually implemented? In these cases, the university can self-examine, recognize, and appoint. These are professors or associate professors of the university, but currently recognized by the State (under the name of the State Council of Professors), so it is not really convincing.

The Chairman of a Council of Professors of the industry affirmed that universities considering, recognizing and appointing professors and associate professors is a common trend in the world. However, he noted the role of state management agencies in building standards and monitoring implementation processes, which need to be done strictly, scientifically and with preparation.

With the reality that Vietnam is lacking a team of professors and associate professors, if quality is not well controlled, there is a high possibility that some institutions will consider, recognize, and appoint to meet internal needs. "I emphasize how to ensure that the team of scientists considered and recognized by universities are truly worthy people. Those recognized must ensure ethical conditions, professional standards, and scientific research standards," said the chairman of the industry's Professor Council. He said that when schools consider and recognize, they understand the candidates very well. But the big obstacle is that the review is "in-house", so it is easy to loosen the regulations.

In the initial phase of implementation, the leading professor said that the pilot should be assigned to truly prestigious universities, then expanded to other schools. He said that through the process of reviewing the candidates' applications in the past, there were universities with the reputation of being key and large but the quality of candidates was weak or there were few qualified candidates. Therefore, if the pilot was assigned without careful selection, it would easily lead to the situation where training institutions "processed" standards to suit the capacity of the staff and the requirements of the school.

This year, 900 candidates were voted on by the State Council of Professors for the titles of Professor and Associate Professor; including 71 Professor candidates and 829 Associate Professor candidates.

The State Council of Professors needs to anticipate problems that arise when recognition is made between schools, or when professors and associate professors transfer to other schools. Another concern of this leading professor is that among the candidates for recognition of the title of professor and associate professor in recent times, many have had many articles published internationally but do not directly serve the practical needs in Vietnam. The gap between reality and the research issues in the candidates' international articles is quite large. He hopes that universities will recognize the problem and require lecturers to conduct research on practical issues, solve life problems, and focus on writing international articles.

Source: https://tienphong.vn/de-xuat-giao-cac-truong-dai-hoc-xet-cong-nhan-gspgs-post1794062.tpo