Looking back at the Academic Advisor Competition

Searching on Google for the phrase “Academic Counseling Profession Competition” on May 26, 2011, there were 196 results and all were associated with the address of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities - VNU. This is proof that this was the first time such a competition was held and the final round took place on the night of May 18, 2011.The Academic Advisory Competition has just been completed, marking 63 days and nights with many emotions that perhaps only those who have actually participated can fully understand. We can affirm that the Competition has really had a certain impact on the training activities of the University, not only at the management level but also on the large teaching staff and at the same time the students. Launched in March 2011, with the slogan "Accompanying - Responsibility - Creativity", the University hopes that from the awareness to the actions of the teachers and students of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities in the work of academic advising in particular and in university training activities in general, from now on, that spirit will always shine. It is "Accompanying" because the work of academic advising is very different from the work of the previous homeroom teacher in its core philosophy.From the administrative, management, and commanding mindset in the relationship between homeroom teachers and students, we must largely shift to the mindset of sharing - guiding - consulting - supporting between homeroom teachers and students.. That is a strong shift that we look back on over the past 4 years and there are still many "gaps" that need to be filled. It is "Responsibility" because CVHT work in the context of converting credit training in the first years is really a big challenge, first of all for students. Leaving high school, they have not had time to get used to the new living environment, the new social environment, so they have to get used to the new learning environment immediately, quickly and a lot. The agility and creativity of young people in this case also sometimes have to stop before the "matrix" of training parameters, regulations and activities that require a certain level of digitalization for new students. Therefore, it will be happy for students when their CVHT is not only someone with solid knowledge and good skills but also a responsible person. It is "Creativity" because credit training is still new and CVHT work as we are doing it now also seems to be different from international practice. That context requires creativity in real conditions to carry out tasks and at the same time, will create new conditions. Of course, most people will agree that if the behaviors are responsible and highly accountable, then certainly there will be creative actions. Without creativity, we cannot find true values. From such awareness, the Contest was organized to arouse the sense of responsibility and creative thinking of units and CVHT. Through the contests, a series of problems and solutions were raised, which are truly valuable documents for us to look back at this important work in 4 years of credit-based university training at our school. Also in this "unprecedented" contest, the School invited student representatives to participate in the Contest's Jury. That is not only the way we show respect and listen to students' opinions, but also the expectation of the School on the role of the students themselves to help improve the CVHT work and improve training activities. Over the past 2 months, accompanying the CVHT contest is a contest specifically for students with the theme "Raising questions and creating situations for academic advisors". Through the content of the entries, the School clearly sees the very high demand of students expecting more efforts from the CVHT collective, but at the same time, it also sees that in students' awareness of the role and responsibility of the CVHT, there are still parts that need to be supplemented. In summary, 16 students were awarded prizes with issues raised very sharply and passionately. The School immediately recognized in the winning entries that there are things that need to be done immediately and things that require drastic investment to improve the quality of CVHT work. That is the greatest value that the student competition has brought.