The Review 2006

The Review 2006 16 The Review 2006 17 Beyond the curriculum, students organise many social, educational and charitable activities through their societies and halls, and individually. The University’s General Education Unit also organises more than 40 courses each year to broaden student experience. In 2006 Project SEE (Students for Equality and Equity) was launched to bring together our local and international students and send them overseas to work on such issues as women’s rights and AIDS relief. Several participating students were inspired to launch their own non-governmental organisation to benefit poor children in Cambodia (see also Endowing the Community chapter). The new curriculum will expose students to more challenges such as how to study and socialise in a new country, how to apply classroom knowledge in a community setting and even how to get by without electricity (as the engineering students did in Guangxi). Our ultimate goal is that our graduates will possess not only the skills, experiences and professional knowledge traditionally required for success, but also wisdom in how to apply them. Kate Jessop is a Year 3 exchange student from Canada. “I chose The University of Hong Kong because of its excellent reputation and the incredible city it is situated in. The staff have been very flexible and helpful, and I love the atmosphere on campus. There is always something to do, whether it’s having a coffee in the Global Lounge, attending a seminar or catching up on reading in the impressive and comfortable campus library.” These experiences will be considered in the assessment process. The University will also continue to use English as the language of instruction, which is absolutely essential to maintaining an international campus and attracting students from abroad. We are mindful of the need to engage the community in this process of change. Stakeholders in the professions and business have been asked to comment on the qualities they seek in graduates. Furthermore, the University has made significant contributions towards helping others adjust to the new balance in higher education, including working with secondary schools in the move from a seven-year to six-year curriculum. Internationalisation An important area of change that graduates must be prepared for is globalisation. It is highly likely that during their working lives, they will either live abroad or be in regular contact with people from other cultures. The University already offers students numerous opportunities to gain international exposure and experiences and these will continue to increase with the four-year curriculum. Some 54 per cent of our academic and research staff originate from overseas. We also have an active exchange programme, sending 752 of our students overseas in 2005-06 and hosting 525 students from 19 countries. Exchanges are organised in several forms, some incorporated into a learning programme. For example, in 2006 the Faculty of Business and Economics entered into a unique partnership with the London Business School that will require full-time MBA students to complete part of their studies in London. A similar arrangement was also agreed with Columbia Business School to commence in 2007. Having increased the admission of international students, we are keen to strengthen opportunities for interaction with local students. A Global Lounge was opened in autumn 2005 to foster this interaction in a comfortable, internet-linked venue attractive to young people. In May 2006 the Jockey Club Student Village II was officially opened with three new residential halls which provided accommodation for 900 international students. In the same month we also agreed with the University of British Columbia to build a hostel in the province where 100 places would be reserved for our students on exchange. The arrangements were made possible by a generous donation from our honorary graduate Dr Simon K.Y. Lee. Educating the Whole Person Many effective learning experiences occur outside the confines of a classroom, through internships, student exchanges, community work and other practical exposure. The new four-year curriculum will increase the variety of these activities and give all our students an opportunity to learn through direct experience. A number of courses have embedded experiential learning into their curriculum. Students in the Centre of Urban Planning and Environmental Management, for instance, ventured into Central and Western District in 2005-06 to interview residents on sustainable planning and hold workshops, and their results formed the basis for a report to the local District Council. Social Work students travelled to Tin Shui Wai to investigate the social problems that plague young people’s lives there. Engineering students helped to design and oversee construction of a school in a poor rural village in Guangxi, which opened in October 2005.