Xuan, now chair of the Scientific and Training Council at Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine, stated that a report had been submitted to the Party Committee and the Board of Rectors regarding an urgent meeting to elect candidates for the Grassroots Professor Council (GPC) for the rector’s consideration and decision. 

Xuan sent the document on May 5, after Associate Prof Dr Nguyen Thanh Hiep, the rector, sent an urgent letter to the National Professorship Council and the Ministry of Education and Training (first instance). Following Xuan’s report, Hiep sent another urgent letter to the Government Inspectorate (second instance).

Urgent meeting 

In submissions to the school’s Party Committee and the Board of Rectors, as well as in discussions with VietNamNet, Xuan outlined issues related to the urgent meeting to elect the GPC. He affirmed that the meeting followed standard procedures and regulations.

Before the meeting, the secretariat (GPC office) provided a list of resumes of candidates wishing to join the Science and Training Council (20 members) and related legal documents on Science and Training Council’s Zalo account.

At the beginning of the meeting, the Chair of the Science and Training Council announced the reason for the meeting and clearly stated the goal and purpose of nominating and introducing a list of suitable professors and associate professors to send to the Rector to decide on the establishment of a Science and Training Council in 2025, expected to consist of 9-15 members.

Subsequently, Associate Prof Dr Huynh Quang Huy, a member of the Scientific and Training Council and head of the GPC office, highlighted key points in legal documents, information about the 20 candidates with professor or associate professor titles who had registered for the 2025 GPC, scientific CV standards as per regulations, and considerations regarding the specialties of the 12 candidates applying for professor or associate professor titles in 2025.

The Scientific and Training Council then discussed the number of GPC members, ranging from 9 to 15, with at least two-thirds being permanent lecturers of the university. The council verified and confirmed the list of permanent lecturers.

Next, the council discussed criteria based on the candidates’ summarized scientific CVs, relevant specialties, and experience in the GPC. The council discussed the nomination process to ensure the correct number and composition as per regulations, for submission to the rector for final decision.

The Scientific and Training Council then introduced and elected a vote-counting committee of three members (none of whom were candidates for the GPC or applying for professor or associate professor titles in 2025). The vote-counting committee guided the voting process, publicly announced the results, recorded the vote-counting minutes, stored the ballots, and sealed them for confidentiality as required.

According to Xuan, the publicly announced vote results showed that 16 out of 20 candidates received seven or more votes (over 50 percent of the attending members’ votes), and 14 out of 20 received 10 or more votes (over 50 percent of the summoned members). To ensure the legality of the voting results, the Scientific and Training Council agreed to select 14 candidates with 10 or more votes for the final nomination list, with all attending members in agreement.

No qualified professor unfairly excluded

Xuan further noted that after receiving the official meeting minutes, the rector found some points unclear and convened an urgent meeting with the rector and members of the Scientific and Training Council.

Regarding the claim that a qualified ENT professor was excluded, Xuan clarified that among the 20 candidates considered for nomination by the Scientific and Training Council, two were ENT specialists.

The first was Associate Professor Dr Nguyen Thi Ngoc Dung, former rector of Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine, currently Chair of the HCM City Medical Association, with extensive experience, having served on the university’s GPC for five terms from 2020 to 2024.

The second was Professor Dr Tran Phan Chung Thuy, a lecturer at the University of Health (Vietnam National University, HCMC).

Both were included in the public voting list, but the vote results showed that Associate Professor Dr Nguyen Thi Ngoc Dung received 13/13 votes, while Professor Dr Tran Phan Chung Thuy received 7/13 votes.

“There was absolutely no case of Professor Dr Tran Phan Chung Thuy being excluded in violation of regulations,” Xuan said, adding that Thuy had no objections to being excluded from the list.

Le Huyen