FSPPM: From a Harvard template to a unique Vietnamese institution

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Over the 25 years of development since establishing the Fulbright Economic Teaching Program, and its successor Fulbright School of Public Policy and Management (FSPPM), we have always given precedence to the growth of the Vietnamese faculty members and teaching program.

For the first 15 years, Harvard Kennedy School actively assisted FSPPM with technology transfers to ensure it met the strictest academic standards. Built on this foundation, FSPPM continuously developed and reformed its teaching program, a relentless effort that was recognized in July last year, as the school was accredited by the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administrations (NASPAA).

The road to accreditation began in May 2017, as FSPPM Director Dr. Vu Thanh Tu Anh met over Skype with NASPAA chairman David Birdsell and other experts to learn more about the international accreditation process of NASPAA. 9 months later, in early April 2018, Dr. Tu Anh and Prof. Terry Buss of the U.S. National Academy of Public Administration and chief strategy advisor at FSPPM arrived in Beijing, China, to attend a conference held by NASPAA.

 

 

The aim of the conference was to exchange ideas and establish relations with the network of more than 300 member schools within NASPAA. FSPPM leadership and faculty prepared a special document called a Self-Study Report to be reviewed by NASPAA leadership. This is when Dr. Tu Anh and Prof. Buss met with Prof. Jeffery L. Osgood, chairman of NASPAA’s Commission on Peer Review and Accreditation (COPRA) in Beijing, and directly presented the document.

Prof. Osgood and other COPRA experts seemed surprised as they perused it on the spot. As they mentioned, the report was impressive, comparable to a final report as it would be submitted before qualifying for the accreditation. 

Once returned to Ho Chi Minh City, FSPPM leadership received an email from COPRA asking the school to submit an Eligibility Report to COPRA before their mid-April deadline. COPRA also recommended that FSPPM send a proposal asking for permission to send their Self-Study Report in August the same year.

FSPPM members involved in the process only learned recently that our school was the only one in the world to receive exceptional permission. Indeed, under NASPAA regulations, Eligibility Reports and Self-Study Reports must be submitted one year apart; accordingly, FSPPM was supposed to submit our Self-Study Report in summer 2019, with an expected accreditation date in summer 2020 at the soonest.

Four months after the Beijing event, FSPPM’s file was put in NASPAA’s waiting list, joining around 400 public policy graduate programs in America alone.

In late July 2019, FSPPM was officially accredited by NASPAA for a period of 7 years, the highest possible accreditation outcome. FSPPM is the only public policy school in Southeast Asia and one of 11 public policy institutions outside America to be accredited. Among 300 NASPAA members, only 187 met the strict standards demanded by the accrediting board. 

Looking back at FSPPM’s history, we realize NASPAA’s accreditation is not an overnight victory for the school. It is the result of relentless efforts to improve teaching quality, forging onwards for over two decades. 

Harvard legacy

Cuộc họp của FSPPM với NASPAA tại Bắc Kinh

When the Fulbright Economics Teaching Program (FETP) started in 1995, American founders wished to equip Vietnamese policymakers with modern economic management knowledge to support Vietnam in their transition to a market economy. The project was assigned to Harvard Kennedy School with the aim of creating a mini version of HKS’s teaching program in Vietnam. 

FETP’s first professors came from leading American universities. They were very excited to lecture on neoclassical economics at FETP the way they lectured at Harvard, with the curriculum compiled from those of American universities. 

Looking back at those days, Dr. Tu Anh claimed this Harvard legacy was a precious foundation for FSPPM. Vietnamese managerial officers did not only absorb economic management knowledge from a modern curriculum but also received direct academic assistance by dedicated professors from Harvard and other American universities. Some professors stayed in Vietnam for a whole semester, some traveled back and forth many times in a year. 

After a while, American professors realized Harvard’s curriculum should be localized, rooting deeper into a Vietnamese context. Based on their research, observations, and experiences, they started to incorporate Vietnam’s current issues into their teaching framework. 

At that time, FETP was the only school in Vietnam to have courses such as Investment Project Appraisal and Development Finance. In developed countries, these majors may sound familiar, but for a transitioning economy like Vietnam where the need for reforms was most urgent, those concepts were crucial to bringing fresh perspectives to Vietnamese policymakers. 

NASPAA Delegation visited FSPPM

For classical courses such as Microeconomics, Macroeconomics or Econometrics, FETP professors always tried to include practical cases from Vietnam in their lectures so that students could apply what they learnt to solving economic management issues in the country or analyzing Vietnamese policies. 

Gradually, this localized teaching program became the hallmark of FSPPM’s identity and a legacy that the school is proud of. 

Reaching for the highest international standards

In 2008, FETP’s one-year training program on applied economics was upgraded to become Vietnam’s first Master in Public Policy program. With an interdisciplinary approach and evidence-based teaching and research, it aimed to solve the problems facing Vietnam’s policy community. 

Above all, FSPPM devised a more ambitious plan: to reach for the highest international standards as applied by leading universities in the world.

With the stable development of academic training and the rich experiences of honored Vietnamese faculty members such as professors Nguyen Xuan Thanh, Pham Duy Nghia and Huynh The Du, the Fulbright school set out to challenge and assess the quality and effectiveness of training. Before being accredited by NASPAA, our school invited outstanding lecturers from the University of California (US), the University of Washington (US), the University of British Columbia (Canada) and Duke University (US) to conduct two independent appraisals of the school’s training program, first in 2009 and then in 2016-17. 

“Using thorough appraisals by partner schools with their own standards is how our school affirms our training quality. We do our best to give our diverse student community access to the globally recognized education they deserve. Through academic excellence, we can ensure they are equipped with the skills they will need, preparing them for various career opportunities in diverse areas after graduation,” Dr. Tu Anh emphasized. 

Chau Ngo Anh Nhan, former student of the MPP2 class, said the outstanding feature of Fulbright’s training program was the provision of a basic theoretical framework for students that offered new possibilities to analyze real-world issues for consulting and policymaking. Additionally, Fulbright school focused on providing analytical methods and skills so that students could make effective decisions and have a positive impact on society.

Ho Quang De, deputy director of Phu Yen Province’s Finance Department and a former student of MPP2 class, highly appreciated how the training program intertwined theoretical work with case studies, keeping at the forefront the policies affecting the lives of Vietnamese people every day, and comparing them with what is happening in the world. 

“This helps students to deeply understand and flexibly apply these theories to solve real problems or put forward the most proper solutions to a problem,” he clarified. Ở góc cạnh khác, học viên Nguyễn Chí Dân, lớp MPP21-PA chia sẻ, điều thú vị đó là chương trình được thiết kế để khai thác tối đa khả năng học tập, mà có thể xem là một thử thách về giới hạn bản thân của học viên.

Với cường độ làm việc dồn dập, các học viên dường như luôn có cảm giác cần thêm thời gian cho việc học. Điều mà tôi thấy tâm đắc nhất đối với chương trình học đó là hầu như tất cả các kiến thức của các môn học đều có bài tập giúp học viên ôn lại và hiểu cặn kẽ hơn từng vấn đề được học”.

Ngo Nu Huyen Trang

Do Minh Tam, a student of MPP21 class, agreed that in comparison with other teaching programs imported from foreign universities, FSPPM takes special care to tailor its program to the Vietnamese context. Along with readings from foreign sources and articles published in prestigious scientific magazines, FSPPM’s faculty always carefully prepare Vietnamese case studies for their lectures. 

“These case studies are really useful and wonderful illustrations for students to better understand the theories. They also act as references for learners to understand about Vietnam and other angles of public policy issues,” she said. 

Nguyen Chi Dan, a student of the MPP21 class with a policy analysis concentration, reflected that the training program was clearly designed to optimize learning within a relatively short time frame, challenging the students to test their limits. 

“With the academic stress here, students always feel that they need more time to study,” he said. 

Ngo Nu Huyen Trang, a student of MPP21 class with a Leadership & Management concentration, remarked that Fulbright’s professors gave their lectures new life in a creative way. 

“The way they lecture always makes us curious and eager to know more about the course. The environment here with dedicated professors and classmates deepens our love for knowledge and motivates us to learn new things beyond the curriculum,” she explained. 

Dr. Tran Thi Mien Chi, a former FETP student, is now a researcher and lecturer in Economics and Finance at Queen Mary University, London. She believes NASPAA’s accreditation is the first step for Fulbright school to join the international academic network and thus make bigger contributions to Vietnamese society. 

Xuan Linh

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Cùng lắng nghe những cảm nhận, chia sẻ từ các lãnh đạo cấp cao của TP. Hồ Chí Minh, TP. Đà Nẵng, Tỉnh Thừa Thiên Huế và Tỉnh Đồng Tháp, tham dự Tọa đàm Chính sách Cấp cao - Lãnh đạo Quản trị Tài sản công trong kỷ nguyên số trong 2 ngày 16 & 17/3 vừa qua tại Đà Nẵng. Tọa đàm được đồng tổ chức bởi Trường Chính sách công và Quản lý Fulbright (FSPPM), Ngân hàng Thế giới (World Bank) và Tổng cục Kinh tế Liên bang Thụy Sĩ (SECO). --- Trường Chính sách công và Quản lý Fulbright đang tuyển sinh Chương trình Thạc sĩ Chính sách công năm 2024 niên khóa 2024-2026 với 2 chuyên ngành Phân tích Chính sách; và Lãnh đạo và Quản lý. Ứng viên trúng tuyển sẽ nhận được mức học bổng từ 40% - 100% từ Chương trình. 📌Thời hạn ứng tuyển: 12/3 – 09/6/2024 👉Link ứng tuyển: https://fsppm.fulbright.edu.vn/don-du-tuyen #FulbrightVietnam #ThacsiChinhSachCong #TuyenSinh2024 #Scholarships

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(English below) ✨ LỜI CHÚC NĂM GIÁP THÌN 2024 ✨ Bước sang thềm năm mới Giáp Thìn, Đại học Fulbright Việt Nam xin được gửi đến mọi nhà lời chúc tốt đẹp nhất 🐉 Với trái tim tràn đầy hy vọng hoà cùng niềm vui đầu năm, chúng tôi vô cùng trân trọng sự tin tưởng và hỗ trợ vô giá Fulbright nhận được trong hành trình vừa qua, là động lực hướng đến những điều tuyệt vời sẽ tiếp nối trong năm nay 🌟 Nhân dịp năm Rồng, Fulbright xin kính chúc vạn sự hanh thông, mọi niềm mong thành hiện thực 🌟 --- ✨ HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR 2024 ✨ As we step into New Year, the Year of the Dragon, Fulbright University Vietnam would like to extend our best wishes to everyone 🐉 With hearts filled with hope and joy as we embark on the new year, we deeply appreciate the invaluable trust and support Fulbright has received on our journey thus far, serving as motivation towards the wonderful things that will continue in the year ahead 🌟 As the Dragon's year unfolds its tale, Fulbright extends wishes, setting sail. Prosperity's breeze, in every gale, May dreams come true, without fail 🌟

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