In late July, Niagara College welcomed a delegation of educational leaders from Vietnam from Vinh Long Community College and the Training Centre for Advanced Management. The visit was part of a multi-year project supported by the government of Vietnam focused on transforming Vietnamese colleges into a new model of academic delivery that is demand-driven, student-centered and performance based.
“You have shown us how to become a more professional College and further develop into more professional leaders,” said Nguyen Quang Sang, rector of Vinh Long Community College. “We can learn so much from your institution. Personally, I wish I was younger so I could be your student full-time.”
NC continues to play a key role in Vietnam working with Global Affairs Canada, Agriteam, Government of Vietnam and leaders from the college system on introducing new Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) practices based on global and NC best practices
As part of the Vietnam Skills for Employment Project (VSEP) July 24 to August 2, NC delivered the Transformative Academic Leadership workshop, providing intensive and interactive sessions highlighting institutional reform and best practices from Canada and around the world.
Sang led a delegation of deans and senior academic leaders; Q. Minh, PhD, VSEP director joined the group to develop transferable insights on providing transformative academic leadership training across Vietnam.
Workshops focused on a range of specialized management and operational skills areas, with transformational leadership sessions, tours and discussions. The sessions combined international college expertise, UNESCO TVET global standards, Vietnamese national priorities, and NC’s domestic approach to leadership and management as an innovative Canadian college.
To demonstrate Canadian best practices, the training series engaged NC senior managers and specialized faculty from various areas and programs within the College. Through these interactions, Vietnamese delegation benefited from a broader and more holistic understanding of NC’s model by engaging with our personnel.
To demonstrate Canadian best practices and meet the needs identified by workshop participants, the training series engaged Niagara College senior managers and specialized faculty from various areas and programs within the College which allowed the Vietnamese delegation to gain a more holistic understanding of Niagara College’s model.
This training series was just one of the many NC has delivered over the years in partnership with Global Affairs Canada, Agriteam, VLCC and the Training Centre for Advanced Management (TCAM) with the Vietnam National University as part of the VSEP. Niagara College began providing technical assistance to VLCC developing curriculum for a food technology program in post-harvest production and introduced new approaches to developing and delivering an exemplar Food Technology program. NC’s role in VSEP has since grown to support Student Services and Marketing and Recruitment as part of a cutting-edge leadership program and business sustainability strategy modeled after NC’s best practices. The curriculum was developed in response to a directive from the Government of Vietnam to strengthen the management and leadership capabilities within the country’s college leaders. Their goal? To leverage education to strengthen the country’s economy, providing skills and jobs for youth, and increasing access to college education.
Through the VSEP, NC supported the implementation of the TCAM project and helped develop college rector and vice rector (president and vice president) level training for the Vietnam college system. Engaging many NC experts across various sectors within the College, NC collaborated with TCAM to develop curriculum customized to Vietnam’s higher education sector and to provide advanced management training to participants from more than 150 colleges in Vietnam.
Sang shared that they are applying a number of best practices learnt from NC and scaling up the new approach to academic program development and delivery piloted with Food Technology across all programs at Vinh Long Community College. He is excited to see how their institution will transform in the coming years as a result of this leadership program.
The participants in the Transformational Academic Leadership program all prepared action plans incorporating change management and new approaches that they plan to implement upon their return to Vietnam. They enjoyed the experience of learning in Canada, particularly the immersion in college operations and Canadian culture.
Reviewing the success of the VSEP in Vietnam, Kyla Pennie, Global Education and Partnerships’ manager of international projects, provides a global perspective on the importance of international initiatives. “Addressing common global development challenges as a response to the sustainability and development goals outlined by the United Nation’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Transformational Academic Leadership workshop is one example of how Niagara College is working with colleges, governments and partners in Vietnam and around the world to engage more intimately with goal number four of ‘Quality Education’ and goal number eight of ‘Decent Work and Economic Growth.'”
Dean of Agriculture, Vo Thanh Phong (left), and head of the Organization-Administration Department Nguyen Thị Thuy Loan (right), are pictured during the Transformational Academic Leadership program that took place July 24 to August 2 as part of the Vietnam Skills for Employment Project (VSEP) at NC.
