An investigation and development of policies to improve institutional autonomy in Vietnamese universities

Abstract

University autonomy (UA) or institutional autonomy (IA) is a new issue in Vietnam. Legislation relating to university autonomy has been recently passed under Law No. 34 and Decree No. 99 and became valid in July 2019 and February 2020, respectively. Currently, Vietnam has many problems in the content of the laws on university autonomy, which are almost subjectively formulated without much research on university autonomy in its literature, its practice, and regulations of this issue from developed countries. The present research applies knowledge of UA literature, Berdahl’s viewpoint on UA, and the Memorial University Act (MUN Act) to review and improve current Vietnamese laws. The research question was: What can we learn from the MUN Act to amend and supplement UA regulations in Vietnam? Based on research results, suggestions are made to improve the provisions of Law No. 34, Decree No. 99, and their relevant provisions. Then, recommendations are given on factors influencing the UA policy, the autonomy in the academic field, the organization and human resources, finance and property, and public universities' accountability. Limitations and implications for further research on UA are also confirmed.