Decree No. 20/2001/NĐ-CP stipulates criteria and procedures for appointing and relieving professors and associate professors.

DECREE

Regulations on standards and procedures for appointment and removalof professor and associate professor positions

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THE GOVERNMENT

Pursuant to the Government Organization Law dated September 30, 1992;

Pursuant to the Education Law dated December 2, 1998;

At the proposal of the Minister, the Head of the Government Organizational Structure - Civil Service Department, the Minister of Education and Training, and the Chairman of the State Academic Council,

DECREE:

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. This Decree stipulates the standards and procedures for the appointment and removal of professor and associate professor positions.

Article 2. The appointment procedures for professor and associate professor positions include recognizing these titles and appointing individuals to the professor and associate professor ranks. The removal procedures for professor and associate professor positions include revoking these titles and removing individuals from the professor and associate professor ranks accordingly.

Article 3. Subjects eligible for recognition of professor and associate professor titles include:

1. Teachers within the faculty staff of various types of universities (hereinafter referred to as universities);

2. Teachers not within the faculty staff of universities but participating in university and postgraduate education according to decisions assigning teaching duties or visiting lecturer contracts signed by the head of the competent authority;

3. Foreign teachers teaching at higher education institutions and postgraduate institutions in Vietnam.

Article 4. Subjects subject to revocation of professor and associate professor titles:

1. Individuals who have been recognized as professors or associate professors and later found to be lacking the required conditions and standards at the time of recognition;

2. Individuals who have been recognized as professors or associate professors and subsequently convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment without probation from the date the judgment becomes legally binding.

Article 5. Subjects eligible for appointment to the professor and associate professor ranks include teachers who have been recognized with professor and associate professor titles or hold academic titles of professor and associate professor within the faculty staff of higher education and postgraduate institutions.

Article 6. Subjects subject to removal from the professor and associate professor ranks:

1. Individuals appointed to the professor or associate professor ranks but failing to fulfill their duties;

2. Individuals whose professor or associate professor titles have been revoked.

Article 7. Individuals appointed to the professor or associate professor ranks but transferred to positions where such ranks do not exist shall be reassigned to corresponding ranks.

Article 8. Recognition of titles and appointment to the professor and associate professor ranks:

1. The examination and recognition of professor and associate professor titles are based on established criteria and conducted annually;

2. Appointment to the professor and associate professor ranks is based on job requirements, work positions, organizational structures of civil servant positions, and staffing quotas.

Chapter II

STANDARDS FOR PROFESSOR AND ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR TITLES

Article 9. Individuals recognized with professor and associate professor titles must meet the following general criteria and conditions:

1. Fulfill all teacher standards prescribed in Clause 2, Article 61 of the Education Law, fully perform the duties of a teacher as prescribed in Article 63 of the Education Law, be honest, cooperate with colleagues, and be objective in educational and research activities;

2. Hold a doctoral degree for at least three years from the date of issuance;

3. Have sufficient scientific works as prescribed by the State Academic Council, including at least 25% completed in the last three years up to the application submission date for professor or associate professor title examination;

4. Submit a comprehensive scientific report summarizing personal training and research results relevant to the applied field for professor or associate professor title examination;

5. Achieve the required number of votes of confidence from the State Academic Council at all levels as prescribed in Clause 8, Article 17 of this Decree.

Article 10. In addition to the general criteria and conditions prescribed in Article 9, associate professor positions have the following specific criteria:

1. At least six years of experience in university or postgraduate training, including three years in the last period up to the application submission date for associate professor title examination;

2. Successfully guide at least one master's thesis;

3. Have sufficient published scientific articles as prescribed by the State Academic Council;

4. Lead a research project at the university level or participate in a research project at the ministry level or above. The acceptance result must be at least satisfactory;

5. Proficiently use one foreign language relevant to the specialty.

Article 11. In addition to the general criteria and conditions prescribed in Article 9, professor positions have the following specific criteria:

1. Hold an associate professor position for at least three years and have three years of university or postgraduate training up to the application submission date for professor title examination;

2. Successfully guide at least two doctoral students, including leading one doctoral student who successfully defended their dissertation;

3. Compile textbooks or books serving university or postgraduate education relevant to the applied field, which have been published and submitted for record;

4. Have sufficient published scientific articles as prescribed by the State Academic Council;

5. Lead a research project at the ministry level or above. The acceptance result must be at least satisfactory;

6. Proficiently use one of five foreign languages: English, Russian, French, Chinese, or German.

Article 12. Exceptional consideration

1. Individuals lacking one of the criteria and conditions prescribed in Articles 9, 10, and 11 of this Decree due to special objective reasons may be considered for exceptions;

2. Specific exceptional cases and additional application procedures are defined by the Chairman of the State Academic Council;

3. The recognition of exceptional cases is conducted after the State Academic Council agrees in writing to each case and follows the procedures prescribed in Article 17 of this Decree.

Chapter III

NATIONAL ACADEMIC COUNCIL

Article 13. The National Academic Council, established by the Prime Minister, assists the Prime Minister in directing and implementing the examination, recognition, and revocation of professor and associate professor titles.

Article 14. Organization of the National Academic Council:

1. Members of the National Academic Council appointed by the Prime Minister include: the Chairman of the Council, a Vice-Chairman of the Council, the Secretary-General, and Council members;

2. The Secretary General and members of the Council must hold the title of Professor. The Secretary General of the State Council of Professor Titles is a specialized civil servant. Other members of the Council operate under a part-time system.

3. The Standing Committee of the State Council of Professor Titles consists of the Chairman, Vice-Chairman, and Secretary General. The Standing Committee is responsible for handling Council affairs between plenary sessions of the Council.

4. The Secretariat and Office of the Council are administrative units assisting the Council. The total number of staff positions for the Office and Secretariat of the Council shall not exceed ten people. These civil servants are directly managed by the Secretary General of the Council.

5. The Council of Professor Titles at the sectoral, inter-sectoral, and institutional levels assist the State Council of Professor Titles in performing tasks as prescribed in Article 13 of this Decree. The State Council of Professor Titles issues decisions to establish and define the organizational structure and operations of these councils.

Article 15. The State Council of Professor Titles operates on the principle of collective democracy, with open voting or secret ballot used to decide important matters.

Article 16. The State Council of Professor Titles has a seal in the shape of the national emblem and a separate account. The operational budget of the Council is provided from the state budget through the Ministry of Education and Training. The Council's office is located at the headquarters of the Ministry of Education and Training.

Chapter IV

PROCEDURE FOR APPOINTING AND REMOVING PROFESSOR AND ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR TITLES

PART 1: PROCEDURE FOR REVIEWING THE AWARDING AND REVOKING OF PROFESSOR AND ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR TITLES

Article 17. Procedure for reviewing the awarding of professor and associate professor titles:

1. Registration procedures.

Individuals applying for the review of professor and associate professor titles must prepare an application dossier according to the model prescribed by the State Council of Professor Titles and submit it to the institutional-level Council of Professor Titles at their school or institute (collectively referred to as educational institutions).

In cases where the educational institution does not have the conditions to establish an institutional-level Council of Professor Titles, the individual applying for the review of professor and associate professor titles must submit a request letter along with the dossier to the head of the directly managing unit. After reviewing, the head of the unit will compile a list of recommendations and send the dossier to the head of the higher authority with delegated management power (hereinafter collectively referred to as the Ministry-level agency). The head of the Ministry-level agency will review, compile a list of recommendations, and send the individual dossiers to the State Council of Professor Titles. This Council will introduce and transfer the dossiers to an appropriate institutional-level Council of Professor Titles to carry out the review process as stipulated in Clause 2 of this Article.

2. The institutional-level Council of Professor Titles reviews and examines the dossiers, conducts secret ballots for each applicant.

3. The heads of educational institutions with institutional-level Councils of Professor Titles confirm the results of the review for the awarding of professor and associate professor titles by the institutional-level Council of Professor Titles; send the review results of individuals within their educational institutions to the Ministry-level agency; send the review results of individuals introduced by the State Council of Professor Titles to the State Council of Professor Titles.

4. The head of the Ministry-level agency confirms the list, provides written comments on the review results for professor and associate professor titles of affiliated schools and institutes, and forwards all dossiers to the State Council of Professor Titles.

5. The Secretariat of the State Council of Professor Titles categorizes the dossiers by registered sectors and assigns them to sectoral and inter-sectoral Councils of Professor Titles.

6. Sectoral and inter-sectoral Councils of Professor Titles examine according to standards, conduct secret ballots for each case, and report the review results to the State Council of Professor Titles.

7. The Chairman of the State Council of Professor Titles organizes a thorough review of the results of the examination of professor and associate professor titles by sectoral and inter-sectoral Councils of Professor Titles, issues decisions to award professor and associate professor titles after the State Council of Professor Titles approves by secret ballot as prescribed in Clause 8 of this Article.

8. Decisions of Councils of Professor Titles at various levels only take effect when at least 3/4 of the members of the Council participate in public voting or secret ballot with the following ratios:

a) For institutional-level Councils of Professor Titles, more than 2/3 of the members present at the session must agree.

b) For sectoral and inter-sectoral Councils of Professor Titles, more than 3/4 of the members present at the session must agree.

c) For the State Council of Professor Titles, more than half of the members present must agree.

Article 18. Procedure for reviewing the revocation of professor and associate professor titles:

1. The Secretariat of the State Council of Professor Titles is responsible for verifying cases that need to be reviewed for revocation.

2. If necessary, the Standing Committee of the State Council of Professor Titles may request sectoral and inter-sectoral Councils of Professor Titles to re-examine cases that need to be reviewed for revocation before presenting them to the State Council of Professor Titles.

3. The State Council of Professor Titles examines and conducts secret ballots for each case that needs to be reviewed for revocation.

4. The Chairman of the State Council of Professor Titles bases the decision to revoke professor or associate professor titles on the resolution of the Council.

Article 19. The State Council of Professor Titles is responsible for guiding the implementation of the review procedures for awarding and revoking professor and associate professor titles as prescribed in this Decree.

PART 2: PROCEDURE FOR APPOINTMENT AND REMOVAL FROM THE POSITIONS OF PROFESSOR AND ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR

Article 20. Those who have been recognized with the title of professor or associate professor and those who already hold the academic rank of professor or associate professor shall be deemed to have passed the examination for promotion and shall be appointed to the position of professor or associate professor in accordance with the provisions of Article 8 and Article 21 of this Decree.

Article 21. Appointment procedure:

1. For public higher education institutions:

a) The educational institution shall prepare a list of individuals eligible for appointment to the positions of professor or associate professor and submit it to the competent authority at the Ministry level;

b) The competent authority at the Ministry level shall propose in writing the individuals recommended for appointment to the positions of professor or associate professor to the Minister, Head of the Civil Service Personnel Department of the Government;

c) The Minister, Head of the Civil Service Personnel Department of the Government shall issue a decision appointing individuals meeting the criteria to the positions of professor or associate professor after obtaining the consensus opinion of the Minister of Education and Training.

2. For non-public higher education institutions (including private and semi-private institutions):

Article 22. The rector shall prepare a list of individuals recognized with the titles of professor and associate professor who need to be appointed to these positions and submit it to the Board of Directors of the institution. The Chairman of the Board of Directors shall issue a decision appointing professors or associate professors based on the resolution of the Board after obtaining the consensus opinion of the Minister of Education and Training.

Removal procedure:

1. For public higher education institutions:

a) The educational institution shall propose in writing to the competent authority at the Ministry level a list of individuals subject to removal as stipulated in Article 6 and Article 7 of this Decree;

b) The competent authority at the Ministry level shall forward the list of individuals proposed for removal to the Minister, Head of the Civil Service Personnel Department of the Government;

c) The Minister, Head of the Civil Service Personnel Department of the Government shall issue a decision removing such individuals from their positions after obtaining the consensus opinion of the Minister of Education and Training.

Article 23. The Minister, Head of the Civil Service Personnel Department of the Government shall take the lead and coordinate with the Minister of Education and Training and other relevant ministries and sectors to guide the implementation of the procedures for appointment and removal of civil servants in the positions of professor and associate professor as prescribed in this Decree.

Chapter V

APPEAL AND COMPLAINT

Article 24. Citizens, agencies, and organizations have the right to lodge complaints regarding the recognition, revocation, appointment, and removal of the titles of professor and associate professor.

Article 25. Citizens have the right to report the recognition, revocation, appointment, and removal of the titles of professor and associate professor.

Article 26. The procedures for handling complaints and reports shall be carried out in accordance with the laws on complaints and reports.

Chapter VI

IMPLEMENTING PROVISIONS

Article 27. The Minister, Head of the Civil Service Personnel Department of the Government shall take the lead and coordinate with the Ministers of Finance, Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, Education and Training, and the Chairman of the State Council of Professor Titles to propose systems and policies for individuals recognized with the titles of professor and associate professor, individuals appointed to the positions of professor and associate professor, to be submitted to the Prime Minister for decision.

Article 28. This Decree shall take effect fifteen days from the date of signature. The Government Decree No. 21/CP dated March 4, 1995 on the establishment of the Academic Rank Council, Decision No. 200/TTg dated April 4, 1995 of the Prime Minister on the issuance of regulations for the review and recognition of academic ranks of professor and associate professor, and previous provisions contrary to this Decree are hereby repealed.

Article 29. The Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of government-affiliated agencies, Chairmen of provincial and municipal People's Committees directly under the Central Government, and the Chairman of the State Council of Professor Titles are responsible for implementing this Decree./.