Project Management - Social Science Research Training Program, Vietnam

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Social Science Research Training Program, Vietnam

Published on: Jul 13, 2004

_{PMB members present opening remarks during the opening}

_{ceremony for academic year 2003: (left to right)

Dr. Le Huy Hoang, Prof. Nguyen Huu Minh (Academic}

_{Coordinator), Dr. Ho Ngoc Hai (Project Director), Ms.}

_{Van Bich Thi Tran (SSRC Program Coordinator); Prof.}

_{John Kleinen (Faculty Resource Professor and SSRC}

_{Liaison (January-June 2003).}

Project Management Board
A joint VASS-SSRC Project Management Board is the governing mechanism for the course. It is responsible for developing the curriculum, managing the course, evaluating the program and the academic progress of course participants. Members include the Academic Coordinator, the Faculty Resource Professor and SSRC Liaison, and leading international social science scholars on the Academic Advisory Committee, and administrative personnel from each institution.

PMB Members from VASS

Professor Do Hoai Nam, President of VASS Chairman of the Board
Dr. Ho Ngoc Hai, Vice-President of VASS, Director of the Board/Project
Dr. Le Huy Hoang, Vice-Director of the Human Resources and Training Department, Vice-Director of the Project
Ms. Tran Thi Lan Anh, Vice-Director of the International Cooperation Department, Vice-Director of the Project
Mr. Nguyen Tien Phon, Chief Clerk
Ms. Le Thi Thu Hang, Project Assistant
Ms. Dang Anh Phuong, Project Assistant
* Names of Vietnamese nationals are given with surnames first, following local convention.

The VASS is in charge of securing government approval; recruiting the local faculty and participants; hosting the course; providing the facilities and equipment; and arranging for English language training, interpretation and translation of course materials. The VASS also provides support to the participants and foreign faculty during the course and secures visas for foreign staff and SSRC personnel.

PMB Members from SSRC

Dr. Mary Byrne McDonnell, Executive Director of SSRC and Program Director of the SSRC Vietnam Program
Ms. Van Bich Thi Tran, Assistant Director for the SSRC Vietnam Program

SSRC brings networking knowledge of the social sciences and long experience working in Vietnam and other developing country settings to and provides a model for both developing and managing the course. The Council is primarily responsible for recruiting the foreign faculty, designing the curriculum framework, and providing the academic material (textbooks, library books, computer software programs, and the like). The Council is also engaged in developing an environment and skill set within the VASS to assist the local partner to grow as an institution and enable their management of the enterprise without SSRC in the future.

Academic Coordinator

In order to facilitate the smooth functioning of the program and communications with management, the faculty includes a full time Vietnamese Academic Coordinator (Professor Nguyen Huu Minh) who is advised and supported by a foreign professor who assumes the role of the Faculty Resource Professor and SSRC Liaison. The Academic Coordinator is responsible to the VASS-SSRC Project Managing Board and its academic sub-committee. The Academic Coordinator role is a blend of a dean, team leader of a team taught course, and an administrator.
Professor Minh sees to the execution of the syllabus on the ground; makes appropriate micro-adjustments in consultation with his colleagues; organizes and manages faculty meetings and retreats; and keeps both SSRC and VASS informed of academic problems or developments. The Academic Coordinator also works with the PMB and the on-site support staff to help them provide adequate support for faculty and students.

Faculty Resource Professor and SSRC Liaison
The SSRC appointed Faculty Resource Professor (FRP) is a full-time senior international professor who also acts as the SSRC liaison and representative in Vietnam, thereby providing a channel for the SSRC to have day-to-day input in course implementation, management, and evaluation. In addition to teaching duties, the functions of this position include:

Developing research practice activities and preparing the groundwork for fieldwork activities to be carried out in Program 2 and the final workshop
Integrating foreign scholars as visiting or guest lecturers
Identifying new scholarly materials to be translated into Vietnamese or otherwise used in the course
Building up the social science resources for the program
Supporting, providing consultation, and advising the Vietnamese Academic Coordinator and the Vietnamese faculty
Developing and coordinating a forum for enhancing Vietnamese policy makers' capacity to use social science research in policy making, to speak in such a forum and/or arrange for appropriate speakers
Assisting and facilitating the Council's communication to and from the VASS, Vietnamese Academic Coordinator, and faculty, and through regular communication, keeping the Council informed on course developments, potential problems, and program progress
Assisting the Council and VASS in evaluating the program
Assisting in exploring funding opportunities to support program activities

Through daily interaction with the faculty and administrative staff and participation in Project Management Board and Academic Advisory Committee meetings, the FRP ensures that the Council's voice is strongly heard in Hanoi for the benefit of the joint program.

Academic Advisory Committee
The Academic Advisory Committee, a sub-committee of the Project Management Board, has the following responsibilities:

Advising the development of and approving the course curriculum
Setting the criteria for participant selection
Selecting the trainees on the basis of their applications, test results, and interview scores
Advising the appointment of faculty members and ensuring adequate and appropriate administrative support for the faculty
Providing academic guidance and support for the faculty
Reviewing the program mid-way and at the end of each academic year

Members include academic members of the project management board, the Academic Coordinator, the Faculty Resource Professor and SSRC Liaison, and leading international social scientists. The core academic advisory committee members are:

Dr. Ho Ngoc Hai, Psychologist, Vice-President of VASS (Vietnam)
Dr. Mary Byrne McDonnell, Historian, SSRC Executive Director and Director of SSRC Vietnam Program (U.S.A.)
Professor Nguyen Huu Minh, Sociologist, Vice-Director of the Institute of Sociology (Vietnam)
Professor Hy Van Luong, Anthropologist, Professor of Anthropology and Chair of Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto (Canada)
Associate Professor John Kleinen, Anthropologist, Senior Lecturer, Anthropology-Sociology Center, University of Amsterdam (Netherlands)
Professor Charles Keyes, Anthropologist, Professor of Anthropology and International Studies, University of Washington (USA)

On-Site Support Staff
The on-site support staff includes the Office Manager, two office assistants, and a computer technician. The Office Manager is in charge of the premises and daily administration, including bookkeeping, managing the office, answering faculty and student inquires, keeping attendance, maintaining equipment, and cleaning the facilities. The computer technician troubleshoots computer related problems.

Social Science Research Council