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Dear Colleagues and Students,
The anxious wait is finally over, sort of. On 9 May, the University Grants Committee (UGC) formally notified CityU that 13 of its 19 associate degree (AD) programmes would be cut off from government funding by 2008. Only six* will retain public support. The withdrawal process is to begin as early as in 2004-05 and end, within a more accelerated timeframe than previously expected, by 2007-08.
CityU's President, Professor H K Chang, talked today about the one topic that has grabbed the whole city's attention and got on everyone's nerves over the past five weeks: SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome. Professor H K Chang said he was sad that the side effects of the epidemic outbreak of atypical pneumonia in Hong Kong have hurtled the local economy and people's livelihoods into near chaos, not to mention emptying school classrooms and university campuses.
In his usual reflective style, the President, Professor H K Chang, began his monthly chat with Linkage, an update on the impending budgetary turmoil (see Linkage 219 and 220), with an observation steeped in history and irony.
In late February, a flurry of media reports on the government allocations for local universities in 2005-08 sent waves of jitters and dismay across local university campuses. Added to staff concern was a government proposal, now tabled before the Legislative Council, urging universities to"delink" their pay scales from those of the civil service, effective 1 July.
At this year's Lunar New Year Staff Party, the President wished every member of staff, their families and the University a prosperous and productive Year of the Goat. Professor H K Chang was doing his best to pep up staff spirit in the face of a "gloomy" budgetary outlook for local universities, a scenario that has captured intense media and staff attention since late last year.
Has CityU made up its mind on how to deal with the looming crisis of the budget crunch, in the face of cutbacks in government funding? Is delinking our salaries from those of the civil service, with a consequential cut in our paychecks, already on the cards? If you have paid attention to what our President, Professor H K Chang, has said to the newspapers over the past few days, the answers seem to have been set in stone.
2003 has finally arrived, whether we welcomed and noticed it or not. As the new year begins, what does the future hold for CityU and its staff? What principles should guide us through the tumultuous times ahead? Linkage, as usual, went to talk to the President, Professor H K Chang, to find out what's on his mind, a few days before he took off on vacation.
By the end of our five-year AURORA strategic plan in 2002, the staff, students, and alumni had completely turned around the fortunes of City University of Hong Kong. According to an Asiaweek survey in 2000, City University's rank among Asian universities jumped from 50 to 27, indicating a quantum leap in the University's teaching, research, facilities, as well as staff and student quality.
In a bold and audacious stroke that cuts a wide swathe across the whole institution, the President Professor H K Chang announced on 25 October a reshuffle of the University's senior management structure and line-up, effective from 1 December.