School board members: How do we choose?

Experts suggest that specific criteria should be established for school board members...

A meeting of the University Council of Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City) in May 2024. (Illustrative image: HCMUT)

Recently, many university council members in the South have been dismissed, most of them from outside the university, due to violations of the law, some even being prosecuted and imprisoned. In reality, many members from outside the university often have a "minor" role in the university council. Therefore, experts believe that specific criteria are needed for university council members.

Don't just put on a show.

According to Mr. Pham Thai Son, Director of the Admissions and Communications Center at Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade (HUIT), the role of the University Council members is very important. At HUIT, the members of the University Council work responsibly.

"The school board plays a particularly important role; any proposal related to policy must go through the school board and be approved before it can be implemented. For example, the proposed enrollment plan for this year must be approved by the school board before it can be put into practice," Mr. Son said, adding that in reality, many people think differently, joining the school board just for "fun," with a very vague role in supervision and guidance.

"Most entrepreneurs nowadays, when elected to the university council, only have the title of working on this or that university council, but they don't actually express any opinions during council meetings," Mr. Son shared.

The Vice Rector of a university in Ho Chi Minh City (who requested anonymity) stated that in many universities today, the majority of external members are well-known businesspeople. Therefore, they are busy with their own work and are frequently absent from regular meetings. Furthermore, few of them have in-depth knowledge of higher education , so they rarely offer suggestions on the university's work.

Although regulations stipulate that external members are elected by the university's delegate conference, even at the nomination stage, the university leadership pre-selects external candidates with close relationships to the board of directors to secure a majority of votes in the personnel selection process. From a subjective perspective, this process is clearly pre-arranged, often rendering the selection of council members—a crucial task—ineffective.

"I believe that the dismissal of numerous members of the university councils in Ho Chi Minh City recently was due to individuals who did not truly represent their respective institutions. However, the fact that council members were found to have engaged in fraudulent behavior, or even violated the law, is the responsibility of both the council and the university. In this case, a serious review within the council is needed regarding the nomination of members from outside the university," this expert shared.

According to the expert, specific regulations are needed for school board members. For example, the school board should only meet a few times a year to discuss core issues and the school's strategy, so members must not be absent for any reason. For members who are absent, the school board should reconsider whether or not to retain their membership.

Students at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology during a study session. (Illustrative photo: QH)

Who should we choose?

According to Master Pham Thai Son, some opinions suggest that regulations should clearly require school council members to attend at least 80% of meetings; reducing the number of external members to 20%. External members should have experience and knowledge in higher education, so renowned education management experts should be included… This opinion is flawed, especially the requirement that school council members must have knowledge of education.

"In my opinion, the main requirement is that members of the school board must be accountable for their work, overseeing and guiding the school's development. It would be best if we could introduce successful alumni. It would be especially beneficial if alumni are also faculty members. These alumni would have valuable input on the school's management and learning methods, and their frank and honest opinions are a suitable quality for the position of school board member," Mr. Son expressed.

Dr. Tran Manh Thanh - Principal of Bach Viet College in Ho Chi Minh City, noted that there are two forms of school councils with two different regulations. At universities, the school council follows the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training, while at colleges, this organization follows the regulations of the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs .

However, in vocational education institutions, due to their smaller scale, the role of the school board in relation to the management board is relatively clearly defined. It is equivalent to the board of directors of a private school, and the functions and responsibilities of the board of directors regarding major issues such as personnel and finance are clearly defined for the management board to implement.

"Simply put, at a college, the board of directors are essentially the investors, of course including other members as stipulated by regulations. As for the school board at public universities, because they are state-owned, their responsibilities extend beyond just capital investment to include setting policies and directions for scientific development, training, and personnel management..."

Therefore, although there are legal regulations, the implementation of functions and tasks is very difficult in many schools today, with frequent changes in leadership. For example, the Principal becomes the Chairman of the School Board, or the Chairman of the School Board becomes the Principal for each term… Even with these changes in positions, it's essentially the same people, so development often lacks breakthroughs and creativity,” Mr. Thanh said.

This education expert also suggested that the roles of members representing different sectors should be clearly defined, specifying which areas they should focus their opinions on. It's unacceptable for business representatives to offer opinions on educational development, as this would be less effective than opinions from experts in education and training.

Conversely, those working in education certainly cannot possess the same business acumen as those in business. "Ideally, there should be a balanced representation of businesses and scientists/educators; furthermore, the functions and responsibilities should be clearly defined, specifying which field each role belongs to, so as to avoid conflicts," said Dr. Tran Manh Thanh.

Specifically, according to this expert, if the requirement for the school board to include members such as entrepreneurs is still necessary, then the proportion and participation in two areas need to be specified. The first area is investment funding, and the second is where the educational products of the school are utilized.

"When entrepreneurs, acting as members of the school board, also utilize the school's training products, they will see what the training program needs and what we require. This will contribute to further guiding the activities of an educational institution," Mr. Thanh shared.

Regarding the issue of having prominent businesspeople as members of the university councils, and whether this is effective, Dr. Tran Manh Thanh stated that investment and training are different, therefore their objectives are different. Businesses aim for profit, while educators must adhere to the principles and processes of education… so they are incompatible. Many university councils have broken down for this very reason.

Source: https://danviet.vn/thanh-vien-hoi-dong-truong-chon-the-nao-2024110106363478.htm