Message from the Rector

Message from the Rector of Hanoi Metropolitan University to Faculty Members and Students at the Beginning of the New Academic Year

Dear Teachers and Students,

We are beginning a new academic year in a context where Hanoi and the entire country are still straining every effort to fight the pandemic. Time and again, the Covid-19 outbreak has resurged and spread in the community, threatening our health and lives, and severely affecting all aspects of social life.

Our University has also had to adjust its plans and modes of teaching many times to adapt to the situation. Such changes have inevitably brought difficulties to both faculty and students. For long periods, we could not meet in person; teaching, thesis defenses, and even graduation ceremonies for final-year students had to be conducted online. The campus was quiet and empty without the presence of students and teachers. Teachers missed their students, and students missed the campus, their classes, and each other…

Yet, despite these hardships—and even now, as the new semester begins while the pandemic situation remains complicated—we have made great efforts to ensure that teaching and learning are not interrupted. We have followed the principle of “suspending classes at school, but not suspending learning.” The University and teachers have stood by our students in every activity. The Youth Union and the Student Association have provided timely support, both materially and spiritually, for students who had to stay in dormitories during social distancing. The University Trade Union has actively coordinated with healthcare facilities to ensure that the largest possible number of our lecturers receive Covid-19 vaccinations. These efforts are truly valuable and worthy of appreciation.

In the time ahead, our lecturers and students are also ready to join hands with the City in fighting the pandemic and protecting public health. University facilities may be used as quarantine centers or as treatment sites for patients if necessary. Whatever the context, we will strive to maintain our academic activities and do our best in teaching and learning.

Alongside teaching and learning, the University leadership, together with our staff and faculty, have been preparing the best possible learning conditions and facilities to welcome students of all cohorts back to campus once we overcome the pandemic.

As another academic year arrives, I would like to wish our teachers and students of Hanoi Metropolitan University resilience, determination, and effectiveness in teaching and learning. Above all, I wish for our safety in overcoming the pandemic, for heightened responsibility to ourselves and to the community, and for our joint efforts with Hanoi and Hanoi Metropolitan University to triumph over the pandemic and to achieve a successful academic year.

Welcome to the new academic year, dear teachers and students!

Rector
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyễn Vũ Bích Hiền