Advanced Program in Civil Engineering

Thuyloi University (TLU ) was chosen and funded by the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) to educate the Advanced program in Civil Engineering (AP-CE) under the Decision No.528/QD-BGDDT dated on 29 January 2011. The curriculum is fully conducted in English based on the curriculum from University of Arkansas (UoA), USA. 

Program Specification

1. Name of awarding institution: Thuyloi University (TLU). However, since 2014 if students participated in the "2+2 B.S.C.E.", TLU students have studied for approximately 3 years (or 2 years for student having 5.5 IELTS) at TLU and approximately two years at the Partner University(UoA) to obtain a Bachelor degree from UoA.

2. Name of educational institution: Thuyloi University

3. Name of program: Advanced Program in Civil Engineering

4. Name of degree: The Degree of Engineer (Advanced Educational Program) under curriculum of University of Arkansas, USA

5. Education level: Undergraduate

6. Field of study: Civil Engineering

7. Mode of study: Full time

8. Program objectives:

- Understanding basic principles of CE;

- A basic knowledge of mathematics, physics, chemistry, informatics for professional study;

- Skills to study and communicate in English;

- Self-study, research and group work;

- Applying advanced knowledge of CE in research, design, construction and construction of works in the fields of water resource, transportation, structural  engineering, environmental and geotechnical engineering;

- Approaching and implementing the structure management and operation related to water resource, transportation, civil construction, environment;

- Continuing to study further their education of higher levels (MSc, PhD) in the country and abroad;

- Understanding the basic knowledge of politics and government laws.

9. The duration of training: 4.5 years.

10.  Total credits of full course: 151 credits from July 2015 (excluding Physical Education, National Defence Education).

11. Entrance requirements and admissions

- Considering to recruit the excellent students who have won prizes at the national and international examinations according to the regulations of the MOET, and graduated from specilized high school, as well as achieved honors after 3 years of grade 10,11,12.

- The applicants who meet all of the above criteria will be considered for admission; the applicants having certificate of IELTS 5.5 or equivalent will be considered to move to study in the second year.      

12. Expected Learning Outcomes

After completing the curriculum, students will have the knowledge, skills and virtues as follows:

1. Knowledge

1. Understand and apply generic knowledge (mathematics, physics, chemistry, information technology-IT) in calculation, simulation, analysis and synthesis of a number of specialized technical issues.

2. Understand and apply the basic principles of CE to explain phenomena, identify the factors / loads effects on structures and analyse the response of structures / constructions under impacts.

3. Understand the methods, process of design, planning and calculation to determine the basic parameters of construction, construction systems such as:

- Transportation

- Civil construction

- Water resource

- Environment (in order to treat environmental pollution of water, air and solid waste).

- Geotechnical engineering (Underground works, deep holes, foundations of all kinds of works; Improvement and treatment of weak soil; Reinforcement, slope stabilization, design, minimization of land pollution).

4. Understand basic principles of construction management, project management, and environmental management.

5. Understand major practical knowledge related to the job of engineers including ethics, professionalism, the environment, social and political issues, globalization, contract documents and other legal issues.

2. Skill/ abilities:

1. Use English effectively in communication, study, work, and research, standardized according to AP of TLU, minimum 500 TOEFL or equivalent.

2. Write report, deliver a speech, discuss and negotiate.

3. Use effectively up-to-date tools and modern technology (Microsoft Office, CAD, measurement) in their job.

4. Apply effectively specialised software (SAP / ETAB / Geo-slope / Plaxis etc.) to solve professional problems.

5. Work independently and organize group work

6. Aware of necessity and have ability to engage in life-long learning

7. Identify, formulate and solve CE problems

8. Analyse, gather and process information and data related to specialized subjects

9. Calculate, design, construct, and manage (at the basic level) the projects related to transportation, civil construction, water resources, environment, and geotechnical engineering.

3. Virtue:

1. Have contemporary political beliefs, fulfil citizen responsibility, to abide by the laws

2. Have morality, professional ethic, sense of discipline and responsibility for job, community and society.

13. Education process, Graduation requirements

Students are studied in the best learning conditions of TLU, curriculum is based on the Civil Engineering curriculum of University of Arkansas, USA. This is one of the high ranking universities in the United States for education in Civil Engineering. The whole course will be taught in English (excepting to the compulsory subjects regulated by the MOET). Academic staffs are professors invited from the Partner University UoA and from other international universities as well as the lecturers of TLU who have much experience of teaching, and did teach/study in English-speaking countries.

The education process is organized based on the credit system. Graduation requirements are in line with the Regulation on education according to the credit of TLU. Students must complete all compulsory modules as well as the required elective modules of the program, a minimum total of 151 credits (as of July 2015) with a Grade Point Average of ≥ 5 , 5 on a scale of 10.

14) Marking schemes for the module’s components assessment and test scores of modules are subjected to the requirements of each module.

A module score is the summation of evaluation scores of all the module’s components multiplied by the corresponding weight. This is given on a scale of 10 (from 0 to 10) and rounded to a decimal. After that, the grade of the module is converted into a scale 4 (letter or number) based on the Regulation on education according to the credit of TLU.

15. Program content is based on the original curriculum of University of Arkansas framework. However, some subjects are not suitable for Vietnamese students so these have been replaced by regulated subjects under the MOET, including the Marxist-Lenin political subjects, physical education and national defence education and Intensive English in order to be able to learn in English. The program structure according to curriculum updated in March 2016 is demonstrated in Table 1.

Table 1: The program structure according to curriculum updated in March 2016

KNOWLEDGE CLUSTER

No. of Credits

%

Compulsory

 (134 credits)

 

1

General Knowledge                          

68

45

2

Basic Fundamental Knowledge

54

35.7

3

Specialized Knowledge

23

15.2

Elective

 (6 credits)

4

Elective Specialized Knowledge                  

6/24

4

Total

151

 

Certificate (Do not count in GPA)

5

Physical education                               

5

 

6

National Defence Education

11

 

 

16. Curriculum (updated in March 2016) includes a list of general and professional subjects, number of credits, division in charge, and periodic education plans as shown in the attached file.

17. Employability

Graduates of this field of study with broad and advanced specialized knowledge, as well as fluent English language (outcomes with IELTS 5.5) can easily integrate, study further, work and research in the international environment at foreign companies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs)etc., state agencies such as the Ministry or Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Geotechnical engineering, Transportation, Civil engineering, Agriculture and rural development, universities, research institutes, design consultants, management, assistant expert, project secretary, staff for domestic organizations and companies. They have many opportunities to keep pursuing master and doctoral courses domestically and abroad.