HUFLIT holds a training session on “Risk management in higher education institutions”

The training session was held to help the University’s leadership and unit heads understand the role and significance of risk management in the University’s governance, and to understand the risk management process and how it can be applied in an educational institution. From there, the significance of this work would continue to be conveyed to all staff, lecturers and specialists, creating a basis for the faculties and units to carry out risk management at the University effectively.

Risk is understood as the possibility of an adverse or undesired event occurring that causes damage or negatively affects the organisation’s objectives. Avoiding risk and the mindset of “every cloud has a silver lining” are no longer appropriate in management today. Instead, risk management ensures that an organisation is able to identify and respond to potential risks, thereby minimising damage and improving operational effectiveness. Risk management is now also an important position in large enterprises and in financial sectors such as banking, insurance and securities.

Using a method of synthesising and analysing documents as well as good practices in risk management in many parts of the world, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Le Van Hao introduced the basic concepts and terminology of risk management, the reasons why higher education institutions should pay attention to risk management, the risks a higher education institution may face in the context of autonomy, and a risk management process that can be applied in each university.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Le Van Hao particularly emphasised that risk management helps protect an educational institution from the impact of hazards, minimise the damage from adverse events and proactively identify new opportunities. At the same time, risk management contributes to ensuring compliance with the law and internal regulations, demonstrating the institution’s autonomy and accountability. In addition, risks can be grouped by the organisation’s areas of activity in order to assess their likelihood and level of impact. Throughout the risk management process, there must be regular communication and consultation with stakeholders, along with comprehensive monitoring and review.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Le Van Hao also observed that risk management at Vietnamese higher education institutions still faces many challenges and has not received due attention. However, from the very start, universities can learn from the theories and practices of risk management long developed and accumulated worldwide in the fields of economics and business, saving time on initial research.

In the workshop session that afternoon, participants were divided into groups to carry out an exercise identifying risks that could affect the strategic objectives of each unit, department and faculty. The groups received feedback and revisions from Assoc. Prof. Dr. Le Van Hao and the whole University. Through this, the participants gained a clearer understanding and were able to identify risk management for their unit objectives, step by step building appropriate response scenarios and contributing to consolidating HUFLIT’s strategic objectives in the period ahead.

Some photos from the training session: