Academic Appointment, Reappointment and Promotion
VinUni will implement a clear, equitable, and consistent policy for the initial appointment, re-appointment, promotion, and subsequent long-term appointment of faculty members.
The University’s policies for academic appointment, reappointment, promotion, and long-term appointment are based on international norms while also considering applicable Vietnamese laws and regulations related to University’s governance structure as a private not-for-profit educational institution.
VinUniversity provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type regardless of race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by Laws.
Appointment & Reappointment
All vacancies are open to the public at the University career web site, as well as in multiple international and national online academic job posting and related conferences and professional fora.
All appointments of a minimum of one-year term require a formal search and an ad-hoc Search Committee (SC). The short-listed candidates are invited for interview and job talk, typically as part of a campus visit over one or more days. The job talk designed by the Search Committee- includes a presentation of his/her teaching, research and service background and planning for the position; and a question-and-answer session with the audience.
Reappointment decisions are based upon excellence in performance and potential for future contributions in the respective fields and in the assignments based on the faculty’s competence and institutional priorities.
Reappointment to the current rank typically will require multi-year assessment of past annual performance based on the established criteria.
Detailed annual performance guidelines are described in the faculty handbook which includes the following components:
- During the beginning of the academic year, a faculty member describes their performance goals in teaching, research, service and if-applicable administrative components of their appointment to their supervisor (e.g. Dean/Vice-Dean). The annual achievement goals should lead towards the satisfaction of requirements of their longer-term expectations for re-appointment and promotion. After approval, a faculty member’s performance is evaluated annually for the adjustment of their reward structures.
- All annual performance reviews are part of the permanent employment record of the faculty member and are used as input for re-appointment, promotion, and long-term appointment.
The minimum requirement for the initial appointment to the ranks of Associate Professor and Full Professor at VinUni includes equivalent appointment at accredited national and international academic institutions.
Promotion
Aside from appointment and reappointment, recognition of the faculty contribution and their professional advance in the University is achieved via the promotion system.
VinUni’s overall criteria for promotion to any rank for all faculty tracks are based on multi-year, multifaceted, quantitative and qualitative measures of performance for teaching, research and service to the university including internal and external peer review and overall contribution to VinUni’s mission.
Promotion is available to all ranks, i.e. from Assistant Professor to Associate Professor and from Associate Professor to Professor, as well as from Lecturer to Senior Lecturer. VinUni Appointment and Promotion Committee will be established to facilitate the process of faculty promotion internally.
VinUni uses a faculty promotion system which is equivalent to international standards for promotion for aspirational peer-universities and consistent with Vietnamese labor laws for all faculty ranks and tracks (teaching, research, professorial, clinical, practice).
Long-term Appointment
VinUni does not offer tenure in the common understanding of the term. Instead, it offers a long-term appointment, with other perks and benefits. The offer of a long-term appointment is normally decided in the sixth year of employment, but a faculty member may—with the approval of the Dean and Provost—apply early.
The decision to offer a long-term appointment is based on a comprehensive review process that takes place entirely within VinUni and follows Vietnam’s labor code. The review process aims for a balance between quantitative and qualitative factors and considers annual performance reviews and other sources of feedback and evaluation including internal and external peer review. VinUni’s current expectations are that our faculty members should be performing at a comparable level as are faculty at benchmarked peer institutions in the world.
RECOGNITION OF ACADEMIC TITLES BY MOET
Formal bestowing of the academic titles of “Associate Professor” and “Professor” by MOET follows the policies issued by Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training (MOET). VinUni will support the application process for all eligible faculty members.
