DONG THAP, Vietnam—Samar State University (SSU) of the Philippines and Dong Thap University (DThU) of Vietnam are currently staging the 2025 International Exchange Program from March 16 to 21, 2025, at DThU, Vietnam. Along with this student exchange initiative, representatives of both universities convened for a discussion on further potential collaborations between SSU and DThU.
The dialogue explored four key areas for joint initiatives, including discussions on 1) student exchange programs, 2) faculty exchange programs, 3) other training programs, and 4) research collaborations.
Student Exchange Program
The Student Exchange Program (SEP) between SSU and DThU that started in 2022 will now be administered annually and will be participated in by 8-10 students per phase. The program shall include non-teacher education students in the selection process for the upcoming phases.
Additionally, the two institutions discussed the establishment of an annual short-term internship program among teacher education students. This may potentially include multiple teaching practices at selected practicum school, and participation in cultural exchange activities.
Faculty Exchange Program
SSU and DThU are also considering the implementation of a Faculty Exchange Program that may include guest speakership for faculty or university-level seminars, workshops, and conferences; online lectures for students of the partner university on specialized topics/majors; and online meetings for topic-based presentations and professional experience-sharing.
Under this program, the two universities are also eyeing an online/on-site/hybrid English-Vietnamese lecturers exchange for DThU’s non-English majors and/or SSU’s non-Vietnamese majors. The officials have also confirmed the terms for the forthcoming deployment of SSU lecturers to teach English courses to DThU students.
Training Programs
SSU and DThU also talked about international credit transfer programs and the institutions’ participation through University Mobility for Asia and Pacific (UMAP) programs, SEAMEO, and Passage to ASEAN (P2A) networks.
Research Collaboration
Finally, SSU and DThU also intend to collaborate on funding and implementation of research projects and the writing and publishing of scientific papers. The two universities seek to commence this plan through a separate Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).
These plans will go through a legal scrubbing with SSU’s Legal Office and then will be endorsed to the Joint Council for the approval of the University’s Board of Regents (BOR).
The SSU delegation being hosted in Vietnam will stay until the 21st of March 2025 for the culminating activity of the 2025 International Exchange Program between SSU and DThU.
The meeting was held at the FL Zone-H1 of DThU Campus and joined by SSU President Dr. Redentor S. Palencia, SSU International Affairs Office Director Dr. Elmer A. Irene, DThU Vice-Rector Mr. Cao Dao Thep, DThU Head of International Affairs Office Ms. Nguyen Anh Thu, and DThU Dean of the School of Education Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van Dung, DThU Dean of the Foreign Languages Faculty Dr. Vo Phan Thu Ngan, and DThU International Affairs Office Staff Le Chanh Truc.