The Review 2009

8 The Review 2009 • Teaching 8 The Review 2009 • Teaching An international outlook is an essential component of excellence in universities because it indicates a willingness to draw from the best minds and ideas in the world and to have impacts that can apply beyond one’s borders. In teaching and learning, this outlook is represented by people and experience – by welcoming people from overseas to our University, sending our students overseas, and encouraging them to learn from each other and share their knowledge with local communities. HKU has always had a strong international bent. More than half of our professoriate staff come from outside Hong Kong and we have the largest number of non-local students enrolled of any university in Hong Kong. In 2008-09 we admitted more than 3,000 students who had nationality outside Hong Kong and currently have about 80 different nationalities represented on campus. For full-time undergraduates, whose numbers are limited by government policy, about 300 undergraduates came from Mainland China (more than 8,000 had applied) and 115 from other countries. We work with governments in some cases who help to select out the most talented students from their countries to apply to HKU. Interestingly, more top students from other Asian countries are choosing to come here, attracted by our global rankings (24th in the world according to the Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings 2009 ) and word-of-mouth reports. We also encourage our students to gain overseas experience, sending 851 HKU students on exchange in 2008-09 and welcoming 901 exchange students from around the world. The interactions of local and non-local students help to promote intercultural understanding and tolerance, which has been incorporated into our new learning aims. The curriculum is being reformed in advance of 2012, when undergraduate studies will increase to four years from three, and we have developed six educational aims in consultation with staff, students and stakeholders of the University. Intercultural understanding and global citizenship are included alongside critical intellectual inquiry, communication and collaboration, upholding personal ethics and critical self- reflection, leadership and advocacy for the improvement of the human condition, and tackling novel situations and ill-defined problems. Some aspects of the new curriculum will start rolling out in 2010, in particular ‘Common Core’ courses which will offer students a deeper understanding of issues that are fundamental to all human societies. Students will be required to take two Common Core courses in 2010 and six in 2012 of the 40 courses needed to graduate. In support of the internationalisation of our campus, the Senate has endorsed English as HKU’s lingua franca , encouraging its use for both academic and student / community activities on campus. We want to ensure that students and staff of all nationalities can communicate through a common language and achieve greater tolerance and cultural inclusiveness. HKU is an institution of global distinction and we expect our graduates to regard themselves as global citizens and aspire to improve the world through their work and their dealings with others. 9 The Review 2009 • Teaching