Who We Are
Our Mission
Our Values & Innovations
The faculty of The American University in Vietnam ensures that both the university institution and the enrolled students capitalize on their capabilities to unleash their creative potential for the benefit of society. To develop students’ creativity and integrative skills, the faculty offers interdisciplinary courses that cross the boundaries of academic disciplines. Unlike other universities, we offer these capstone courses each year, not at the end of the degree program. Students learn how to integrate knowledge and analysis to “connect the dots,” early in their studies. For example, in our freshman year’s “Technology, Culture and Society” capstone students gain insight from drawing upon multiple disciplines, including physical sciences, sociology, technology and applied sciences, business and economics, and social psychology. In this course, each student takes on a particular technology (e.g., genetic engineering) and thoroughly examines the history, technical function, and impact of that technology on culture, social norms, behavior, economy, environment and people’s lives. Upon completion of their research, students present and share their findings with the university community in a public forum.
The faculty of AUV is committed to making students globally aware. They require every semester students to study, research and explore about a particular nation or region of the world. Each semester a “qualified native” instructor is hired to conduct a special seminar/workshop to guide students in gaining a well-rounded view of the culture, history, economy, demography, business, government, and social institutions of the nation/region in focus. At the semester’s end, students demonstrate their global understanding of the nation/region and present their research about contributions to the world from the region. The faculty of AUV ensures that upon graduation, students will have been made familiar with multiple aspects of life in all regions of the globe.
Faculty members of AUV have a deep commitment to the practice of higher education. They believe that students learn best when given a supportive learning environment to develop their unique abilities, talents, intellect, and passion. Instead of giving canned instructional material, the role of our faculty is to help students explore, experiment, discover, apply and use a balanced mix of knowledge & skill, creativity & perspective, insight & wisdom while nurturing their personal and professional values through learning and self-discovery.
Members of our faculty motivate and engage students in all stages of their learning process. A small class size allows professors to pay individual attention to each student’s learning style, unique ability and talent while noting areas of intellectual strength and skill shortcomings. To maximize student achievements, faculty members make use of project-based learning, applied research, and diverse instructional methods. In each course, students are engaged in group projects, individual experimentation, focused research, collective problem solving and decision-making. This way, students not only strengthen their intellectual abilities but also sharpen their communication and social skills to expand their perspectives and experiences as they work with others.
Our faculty is mindful of creating bridges between theory and practice to expose students to work and life in the “real world.” They engage students to do field work, to observe the back-end operation of businesses, to have face-to-face conversations with international executives, to reflect on corporate site visits, to work in professional office settings, and to gain first-hand experience from co-op education, internships with international companies, and transnational student exchanges. This way, the faculty ensures that each student gains insight into how the real world operates, how to conduct work, how organizations function, how executives think and manage, how businesses and industry interact with society, and how institutions and government respond to public expectations.
Upon completion of their coursework at AUV, students are expected to apply their knowledge, skills, talents, and experiences for the direct benefit of the community, including service at community-based organizations, NGOs, social work institutions, charities, local government service, and non-profits entities. This service learning is conducted directly under mentorship of the faculty in collaboration with the administrator of the served institutions.