About 60 new members of academic staff participated in the Faculty Orientation Programme on 17 and 18 August to gain a better understanding of the mission and education philosophy of City University of Hong Kong (CityU), and learn more about the teaching practices and research opportunities at the University.

The programme introduced CityU’s vision, mission and future challenges, plus teaching, research and administrative support. It aims to help new staff adapt to a new environment and become familiar with what CityU excels in: professional education and applied research.

Organized by the Education Development Office (EDO), the two-day programme consisted of four sessions, covering CityU’s learning and teaching support; teaching practices and research expectations; research opportunities and support; and sharing sessions by teachers and students. The event demonstrates CityU’s dedication to provide a platform for current and new staff members to get to know one another better and its commitment to cultivating a caring teaching and learning environment.

In the introduction section, Professor David Tong Shuk-yin, Deputy President, gave an overview of CityU’s vision, mission and achievements, emphasizing that CityU is a world-class university which nurtures innovative professionals to serve Hong Kong and beyond, and excels in applied research in a number of areas.

“We welcome all of you to join CityU, a caring university. First and foremost, we care for our students, we care for each other and care for the university. By joining us, we hope you help us further enhance the caring culture of CityU,” Professor Tong said.

Professor Tong added that CityU had gained an international reputation in different areas over the past few years. CityU was one of the four universities in Hong Kong included in the top 100 technology universities worldwide by The Times Higher Education Supplement; the Faculty of Business was one of the three business schools in the Greater China region to be accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) International; and its faculty boasts eight Members of National Academies and 18 Fellows of professional societies.

His presentation was followed by a summary delivered by Professor Richard Ho Yan-ki, Vice-President for Undergraduate Education, on the four major challenges confronting the University. The challenges are: knowing the students; implementing Outcome Based Teaching and Learning; student recruitment; and implementing a four-year undergraduate curriculum.

The focus is on transforming students into professionals. “CityU is known to be responsive to changes," Professor Ho said. "Let us work together to incubate a new generation of graduates by engaging ourselves and our students in a transforming process.”

On the second day of the programme, Professor Roderick Wong Sue-cheun, Vice-President for Research and Dean of Graduate Studies, gave an overview of how CityU supports applied research. He cited five potential areas of research strength, namely: Administrative and Policy Sciences; Chinese and Comparative Law; Corporate Governance and Accounting; Digital Media and Multimedia Technology; and Structural Engineering.

Professor Wong further introduced sources of funding that are available to support colleagues’ research efforts. They include the start-up grant for new staff, the strategic research grant and the applied research grant offered by the University; and RGC Competitive Earmarked Research Grant (CERG), Public Policy Research Grant (PPR), RGC Central Allocation Scheme, and the Innovation and Technology Fund (ITF) offered by the Government.

Other CityU members giving presentations included Dr Jerry Yu Jer-tsang, Chief Information Officer; Dr Ellen Ko Law Yin-lan, Acting Vice-President for Administration; Professor Lilian Vrijmoed Kwan Lee-ping, Dean of Student Learning; Dr Eva Wong Yee-wah, Director of EDO; and Dr Ruth Yee Wing-yu, Associate Director of Student Development Services.