UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES
THE FACULTY OF TOURISM STUDIES
1. About ourselves
The Faculty of Tourism Studies, University of Social Sciences and Humanities is a prestigious establishment in tourism and travel management training. Over the 15 years of development, the Faculty has gained numerous accomplishments in respect of training, scientific research and international cooperation.
- More than 2,000 fulltime undergraduate and 400 master students have enrolled in the Faculty facilitated by 20 enthusiastic and dedicated academic staffs, the majority of whom possess hospitality or tourism industry managerial experience that provides students practical and specialized business education;
- The training curriculum is intensively designed with regard to both tourism related subjects and supplementary ones. The combination between theory learning and practice enables our students to better adapt to the working environment and fill the needs of the industry;
- The scientific research projects vary from Vietnam National University level to ministerial level presided over by the Faculty and its lecturers have been highly sought after by different establishments and professionals in the tourism industry;
- There are also strong synergies between the Faculty and relevant three key stakeholder groups in the scientific tourism field: the industry, students, and academic staff. The development of these partnerships, which primarily facilitates the Faculty to gain success, will continue. The Faculty has incessantly innovated and enhanced its pedagogical methods in order to accommodate the international training trend and the tourism development. Since its inception in 1995, the Faculty has refined a distinctive mission of training and improving qualified human resource and become a symbol of excellent in the field. With remarkable achievements gained, the Faculty has the great honor of receiving the merit from Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, Hanoi People’s Committee, and the Prime Minister.
2. Innovative teaching and learning
The Faculty of Tourism Studies, University of Social Sciences and Humanities has incessantly created and renovated its educational methods in line with the international trend so as to offer a dynamic study climate to students and enable them to thoroughly demonstrate their own talent. Dialogues and meetings with senior industry executives (distinguished lecture) are incorporated into theoretical lessons. These specific subject lectures help students to broaden their knowledge and gain a deeper understanding of hospitality and tourism convention operations. In addition, the programme titled “Job opportunity for students” is annually held aiming to prepare students for the demands of the industry labor market. Through dialogues and advices from the guests who are the successful businessmen and specialists in the industry, students can accumulate experience for their job application upon graduation, orient their further career prospects and gain the chances of recruitment as well. DUAL DEGREE PROGRAMME
Another renovation is that full-time students from the 3rd to 7th semester of the Faculty may study a second major provided by other Faculties of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities or by the University of Foreign Languages (Vietnam National University, Hanoi). The graduates are granted two separate bachelor degrees corresponding two relevant majors they studied. WORK-INTEGRATED EDUCATION
The curriculum offered by the Faculty incorporates work-integrated education through actual activities and field trips. From 2014, the Faculty has designed a practice room for Travel, Hospitality, and Event so as to support its research, teaching and learning functions. It offers students the opportunity to learn a range of topics, from basic fundamentals to advanced skills in tour guide, presentation, event organization and other professional activities of hospitality and restaurant. Each year, nearly 200 students derive impactful practical experience at the Practice Room of the Faculty, at leading hotel chains or local tour operators. They may also participate in graduate internship programme at luxury hotels and resorts in Singapore. Moreover, students may join in field trips at the tourist routes and sites. Student’s involvement in practice will be assessed and ranked by the Faculty’s lecturers as a subject in the course. RESOURCE CENTRE
The centre is repository of a comprehensive range of teaching materials and references in tourism, hospitality and event field, including textbooks, reference books, magazines, scientific research reports, thesis, and conference documents. Students may also gain access to over 500 e-books and reviews related to the tourism, culture, gastronomy, and hospitality stored therein. Furthermore, the center is equipped with facilities for seminars, group discussions, and student projects. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
The Faculty has established international collaboration agreements, including those for staff and student exchanges, with several universities and institutions as the following: Chiangmai University (Thailand), University of Missouri (US), Leeds Metropolitan University (UK), Munich University of Applied Sciences (Germany), Rikkyo University (Japan), Université de Toulouse Le Mirial (France), Guangxi University (China), WUSS (Canada)
3. Training programmes
The delivery of application-oriented programmes matching student’s demand is a priority for the Faculty. They are geared towards providing students essential knowledge and skills for their management careers in the hotels, restaurants, and tourism sectors. The Faculty offers the following training programmes:
- Master of Tourism
- Bachelor in Tourism and Travel Management, in which students are able to select one of two oriented majors:
• Travel Management
• Event Management
- Bachelor in Hospitality Management (Scheduled to commence in 2015)
- Dual degree of Bachelor in Tourism and Travel Management, in which students can choose one of three oriented majors, namely:
• Travel Management
• Event Management
• Hospitality Management
- Tour Guide License
4. Scientific research and workshop activities
The Faculty’s academic staff always participates in the research activities in tourism science actively. They have widely published in leading local and international journals and achieved compliments for the quality of the research they conduct. In addition, our staff members produce writings and presentations at different international conference on tourism. Our lecturers have presided over two international projects on tourism environment protection, three projects collaborated with province and city, two special projects at Vietnam National University level, and a few projects at Ministerial level. They have also engaged in several projects cooperated with the Institute for Tourism Research and Development and gained international recognition. Primary research areas conducted by the Faculty:
• Assessing the impacts of tourism on the Vietnam socio-economy
• Assessing the status and impacts of ecotourism on tourism destinations
• Examining and assessing the operation and management process of festivals and special events in tourism
• Researching types of tourism: Festival tourism, event tourism, MICE, creative tourism.
• Researching consumer behavior of typical tourist groups.
• Developing trademark for tourism products and destinations.
• Researching gastronomic tourism activities in Vietnam
• Researching tourism culture, traditional customs, habits and festivals in tourism
• Human resource management and tourism human resource management
Other than those research activities, the Faculty is also active in organizing both local and international conferences on tourism, hospitality, and event topics. These conferences bring together experts from different fields and provide insightful exchange among academics, tourism policy-makers, and industry practitioners. A few remarkable conferences hosted by the Faculty include:
• Business Travel and Tourism Development in Vietnam
• Research and training of tourism in Vietnam
• Tourism, gastronomy and related business management issues
• Event Management – Training and professional practice in Vietnam.
5. Scholarships
Students who obtained excellent results in the Faculty will be awarded for a variety of the University’s financial support and other international scholarships, namely:
• Mitsubishi scholarship
• AEON scholarship
• Chung-soo scholarship
• PonyChung scholarship
• Shinnyo scholarship
Additionally, students with financial constraints also receive financial assistance and preferential treatment from the University, the Faculty, and some associated institutions (e.g. Vietravel Tour Company).
