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University of Hong Kong

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Template:Infobox Hong Kong University

The University of Hong Kong (zh-hk: 香港大學, zh-cn: 香港大学, pinyin: Xiānggǎng Dàxué; abbreviated as HKU and 港大) is an English-speaking university. It is the oldest tertiary institution in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Its motto in Latin is Sapientia et Virtus (明徳格物), meaning wisdom and virtue or sometimes cited as Foresight and Social Conscience. The University has traditionally been one of the best universities in Asia.

University history

University of Hong Kong can trace its origin back to the former Hong Kong College of Medicine in 1877. The University was founded when Sir Frederick Lugard, Governor of Hong Kong, laid the foundation stone for Main Building on March 16, 1910.

Two years later, the University launched the official opening of its Faculty of Medicine. One of the more renowned scientists of the College's early alumni was Dr Sun Yat-sen, the founder of modern China. The Faculty of Engineering and Arts were established within a year of the official opening.

On December 1916, the University held its first congregation, with just 23 graduates. Ten years after the founding of HKU, it became coeducational in 1920.

The Queen Mary Hospital opened in 1937, has served as a teaching hospital since that time. Before the outbreak of the Second World War, the university had four Faculties - Arts, Engineering, Medicine and Science.

During World War II the university was temporarily closed.

HKU has a history of nurturing the largest number of graduate students in the territory. They form an important and valued part of the university and make up approximately 10% of the total student population. All ten faculties and departments provide teaching and supervision for research (MPhil and PhD) students with administration undertaken by the Graduate School.

The year 2001 marked the 90th Anniversary of the HKU. Growing with Hong Kong: HKU and its Graduates - The First 90 Years was published by the University Press in 2002 as an impact study about HKU's graduates in different fields of Hong Kong.

Event of "Academic Freedom" in 2000

The University faced one of its biggest crises in 2000 when Dr. Robert Chung Ting-yiu, director of the Public Opinion Programme at HKU, alleged that he had received political pressure from Chief Executive of Hong Kong Tung Chee-hwa through Vice-Chancellor Prof Cheng Yiu-chung and Pro-Vice-Chancellor Prof Wong Siu-lun to discontinue his public opinion polls on Tung and his government.

Although the allegations were denied by Tung and HKU, a controversy erupted over the question of political interference in academic freedom. HKU set up a three-member panel led by Justice Noel Power to investigate Chung's claims. After 11 days of open hearings in August, the panel concluded that there were what it called covert attempts to pressure Chung into discontinuing his polls. The panel concluded that Dr. Chung is 'an honest witness who was telling the truth in relation to the matters he is complaining about.', but 'neither Lo [The Chief Executive's Senior Special Assistant] nor the vice chancellor 'disclosed the full and truthful extent of what was said in [the] meetings. Both Prof. Cheng and Prof. Wong resigned just before the University Council met on September 9 to vote on whether or not to accept the panel's report.

Prof. Ian Davies stepped in as Vice-Chancellor for two years before a world-wide search selected Prof. Lap-Chee Tsui as the new head of the University in 2002.

Present

The University of Hong Kong has been rated as the top university in Hong Kong and one of the most prestigious universities in Asia. According to the The Times Higher Education Supplement in 2005, HKU was 2nd among top universities in China and placed 41th in the world.

HKU benefits from a large operating budget supplied by high government funding compared to many Western countries. HKU professors were among the highest paid in the world, equalling or exceeding the salaries of American private universities. However, with the reduction of salaries in recent years, this is no longer the case.

The University of Hong Kong is a founding member of Universitas 21, an international consortium of research-led universities.

Campus and history

The university main campus covers 160,000 square metres of land on Bonham Road and Pok Fu Lam Road in the Mid-levels of Hong Kong Island. HKU has some of the few remaining examples of British Colonial architecture in Hong Kong.

It has a medical campus in the Southern District near Sandy Bay and Pok Fu Lam, separate from the main campus, which includes Queen Mary's Hospital and research facilities.

The university also operates the Kadorrie Agricultural Research Center, which occupies 95,000 square metres of land in the New Territories, and the Swire Institute of Marine Science on the southern coast of Hong Kong Island.

Main building

The oldest structure in the University of Hong Kong, was a gift from Sir H.N. Mody and designed by Architect Messrs Leigh & Orange. Built between 1910 and 1912, it originally comprised two courtyards conceived in the Post-Renaissance Style in red brick and granite. The main elevation is articulated by four turrets with a central clock tower (a gift from Sir Paul Chater in 1930). Two courtyards were added in the south in 1952 and one floor in the end block in 1958. It was originally used as classrooms and laboratories for the Faculty of Medicine and Engineering and is now the home of various departments within the Faculty of Arts. The central Great Hall is named after Mr. Loke Yew, a benefactor of the University in its early years. It became a declared monument in 1984.

Hung Hing Ying Building

Financed by Sir Paul Chater, Professor G. P. Jordan and others, it was opened in 1919 by Governor of Hong Kong Sir Reginald Stubbs and housed the student union. After World War II, the building was used temporarily for administrative purposes. The East Wing was added in 1960. The building was converted into the Senior Common Room in 1974. It was named in honour of Mr Hung Hing Ying in 1986 for his family's donations to the university. The building was subsequently used again for administrative purposes, and now houses the Department of Music. This two-storey Edwardian Style structure is characterized by a central dome and the use of red-brick to emulate the Main Building opposite. The building was declared a monument in 1995.

Tang Chi Ngong Building

The idea to establish a school of Chinese was proposed between the two World Wars. Construction of the premises began in 1929 with a generous donation from Mr Tang Chi-ngong (father of the well known philanthropist Sir Tang Shiu-kin) after whom the building has been named. It was opened by Governor of Hong Kong Sir William Peel in 1931 and since then further donation was received from the Chinese community for the endowment of teaching Chinese language and literature. The building has been used for other purposes since the 1970s but the name remained unchanged. At present, it houses the Centre of Asian Studies. This three-storey flat-roofed structure is surfaced with Shanghai plaster and was declared a monument in 1995.

The three-storey Fung Ping Shan Museum was originally erected in 1932 as a library for Chinese books. Named after its donor, the building consists of masonry on the ground level surmounted by a two-storey red-brick structure with applied ornamental columns topped by a pediment over its entrance. Since 1962, the Chinese books collection, now known as the Fung Ping Shan Library, was transferred to the University's new Main Library and the whole building was converted into a museum for Chinese art and archaeology. Among its prized collections are ceramics, pottery and bronzes. In 1996, the lowest three floors of the new T. T. Tsui Building were added to the old building to form the University Museum and Art Gallery.

History of halls

St. John's College

The University's first hall of residence, St. John's Hall, was built by the Church Missionary Society in late 1912. It was at St. John's Hall that the custom of holding High Table Dinner was introduced in 1916, and subsequently taken up by other halls. St. John's Hall housed male students until the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong. The site is now occupied by St. Paul's College. A post-War inspection on August 31, 1945 found the Hall totally ruined with only its four walls remaining. St. John's College was built to replace the former Hall and its sister hostel, St. Stephen's Hall.

The old halls

The first residential hall under the University's direct management was Lugard Hall which opened in 1913 and was originally named University Hall (not to be confused with the later University Hall purchased in 1956). It was followed by Eliot Hall and May Hall which opened in 1914 and 1915 respectively. The three-storey red-brick Edwardian-style buildings on terraces were linked by corridors and stairs. They were designed by the Architect Messrs Denison, Ram and Gibbs.

When the Japanese invaded Hong Kong at the end of 1941, these buildings became part of a temporary relief hospital set up to provide additional support to Queen Mary Hospital.

Torrential rain in 1966 necessitated repairs to Eliot and May Halls. When works were completed, they were combined with Lugard Hall to become one residential unit - Old Halls. When Lugard Hall was subsequently demolished in 1991, the Old Halls became obsolete and the two remaining wings reverted back to using their old names of Eliot Hall and May Hall. Eliot Hall continues to provide boarding facilities for students while May Hall has been converted into university offices since September 2000. Eliot Hall has been converted for administrative purposes while May Hall is used as hostel for postgraduate students.

Morrison Hall

After St. John's and Lugard Halls, Morrison Hall was the third men's hostel built for students. Like St. John's Hall, it was established by a religious body, the London Missionary Society, in 1913 and located on Hatton Road. Rev. Robert Morrison, after whom the hostel was named, came to China in the early nineteenth century. He was an early missionary of the Society and the first translator of the Bible into Chinese. After his death, his collection of books was transferred from China and stored in the old City Hall. His library was acquired by the University library in 1925. In the Rare Book Room of the Main Library, readers can find his books bearing stamps of the old City Hall or some with his signatures.

Morrisonian boys were renowned for their outstanding team spirit and sporting achievements. In 1948 after the Second World War, the Hall underwent restoration, but was finally closed in 1968. In 1997, a plan to build a new hostel bearing the name Morrison Hall was initiated by old Morrisonians. On June 27, 2001, the "Campaign for Morrison Hall" started. The new building is put into use from August, 2005

University Hall

This castle-like building is a charming blend of Tudorbethan and Gothic revival architecture. It was built about 1861 by Douglas Lapraik, a Scottish businessman, who named the two-storey building with its four corner towers Douglas Castle. After the French Mission bought the house in 1894, the building was renamed Nazareth House, and housed a dormitory, a chapel, a library and a large printing house famous for printing about 60,000 books annually in 28 languages. The University of Hong Kong acquired the house in 1956 and converted it into a men's residence hall, renaming it University Hall.

Student accommodation and hall system

  • Residential halls
    • St. John's College
      • Founded in 1912 as St John's Hall. Combined with St. Stephen's Hall in 1955 and moved to current location as St John's College.
    • Morrison Hall (male undergraduates and mixed postgraduates)
      • Established in 1914 in memory of the first missionary to come to China, Robert Morrison. The old male-only hall was demolished in 1968. The new Morrison Hall is re-established in 2005 with the aid from the old-Morrison alumni, located next to the Flora Ho Sport Centre.
    • Ricci Hall (male only)
      • Founded in 1929 by the Society of Jesus. Demolished in 1966, rebuilt in 1967, renovated in 1990.
    • Lady Ho Tung Hall (female only)
      • Lady Ho Tung Hall was founded in 1951 by Lady Ho Tung. Demolished and rebuilt in 1998.
    • University Hall (male only)
    • Robert Black College (postgraduates and visitors only)
      • Founded in 1967 with the help of Sir Shiu Kin Tang.
    • Swire Hall (Swire Hall)
    • Simon K. Y. Lee Hall
      • Founded by Justice of the Peace Lee Kwok Yin in 1985.
    • Lee Hysan Hall
      • Founded with the help of Richard Charles Lee in 1992. First group of students came from the Old Halls.
    • R. C. Lee Hall
      • Founded with the help of Richard Charles Lee in 1992.
    • Wei Lun Hall
      • Founded with the help of the Wei Lun Foundation in 1994.
    • Madam S.H. Ho Residence for Medical Students
    • Pokfield Road Residences
      • Apartment-like flats for postgraduate students.
    • Graduate House (postgraduates only)
      • Founded in 1998.
    • Starr Hall
      • Founded in 2001 with the help of the Hong Kong Jockey Club. It is the largest hall in HKU, accommodating 500 students.
    • Patrick Manson Student Residences
      • Mainly for exchange undergraduate students.
    • Lee Shau Kee Hall
      • Founded in 2005. It is next to the Flora Ho Sport Centre.
    • Suen Chi Sun Hall
      • Founded in 2005. It is next to the Flora Ho Sport Centre.

Consultation concerning the Hall Education and its future development was opened and organized by the working group under the Committee on Student Affairs in 2002. The consultation came to the second stage in the fall of 2003.

(See also: Official Information on HKU's student residence information)

Criticism

Declining English Standards: The government Higher Education Resources Organizer, as well as academics, parents, and local Hong Kong business people, argue that the university (and even more so others in Hong Kong) suffers from a serious decline in English standards since the handover in 1997, but there is no evidence to support this. The university is officially an English-language medium university, but some classes are now unofficially taught in Cantonese, the local Chinese dialect in Hong Kong.

Evidence of this problem is hidden behind the university's claim to have the highest average score on the Use of English test for admissions. While it is true that HKU has the highest score in Hong Kong, that score is still only 2.79 (on the scale of A [5] to F [0], 2.79 is somewhere between a C and a D).

Government research recognises the need to introduce higher standards for English proficiency regarding entry to universities, as well as the possibility of more English tests before graduation. Furthermore, enforcement of the use of the English-language as the medium of instruction in classrooms must be improved.

The Common English Proficiency Assessment Scheme (CEPAS) was introduced by the University Grants Committee (UGC) in academic year 2002-03 to provide internationally recognised accessment of English proficiency to students. Under this scheme, final year students of publicly-funded undergraduate degree programmes of UGC-funded institutions (a total of 8 universities) are encouraged to take the academic module of International English Language Testing System (IELTS). Eligible candidates may have their test fee reimbursed for the first attempt.

According to the UGC announced IELTS result for the academic year 2004-2005, 8,700 participants of CEPAS obtained an average of 6.64 on a 9.0-point scale. Participants of the University of Hong Kong, with an average of 6.98 and 3 students of full score, topped among the 8 schools.

Hall System: The Hall system has attracted controversy as some students have complained of being subject to hazing, however these incidents would be considered quite tame by the standards of most Western countries.

Many students also argue that the current Hall administration and admission system is unfair: each Hall is dominated by a small elected committee of students who have significant control over who is accepted to the Hall (there is an objective point system for admission, but subjective interviews play a large role in giving committee members control over acceptance). It is alleged by many former students that they lied about high-school extra-curricular activities to be accepted, and upon joining the Halls must submit regularly to activities or else run the risk of being forced out of the Hall. Furthermore, the more recently completed halls such as Starr Hall have been pressured to adopt traditional Hall customs mentioned above, rather than being allowed to adopt modern cultures.

The committee set up in 2002 to examine the development of the Hall system has also been criticised by many students and academics as being non-transparent and dominated by a select few students who are pro-tradition.

Future development

In 2003, the HKU management panel put forth a strategic development plan with the goal of placing HKU among the world's best universities in the next decade or so.

In addition to increased academic research and development, it also aims to promote the continuity of education to the public, through better links between the University and the School of Professional and Continuing Education (SPACE).

HKU is also trying to establish a better alumni and external network for financially sustainable development [1]

Prominent alumni

  • Faculty of Engineering

Organization

The University's Chancellor is Dr Donald Tsang, GBM, JP, KBE, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong. The Pro Chancellor is Dr Sir David Kwok-po Li, GBS. The Vice-Chancellor is Professor Dr Lap-Chee Tsui, the Deputy Vice Chancellor is Professor R. Y. C. Wong, and the Pro-Vice-Chancellors are Professor C. F. Lee, Professor J. G. Malpas, Professor J. H. W. Lee and Professor P. K. H. Tam. The academic staff population is over 800.

Students

The student population of the University (including postgraduate students) was around 14,400 in 2001-2002, including over 5,300 postgraduate students.

Most of the undergraduate students admitted through the Joint University Programmes Admissions System (JUPAS) for the local Form 7 students while others will be admitted by Non-JUPAS scheme and Early Admission Scheme (EAS).

Student activities

There are two officially recognized student bodies, giving opportunities for students to participate in extra-curricular activities.

The Hong Kong University Students' Union (HKUSU) principally serves the undergraduate students, while the Postgraduate Students Association (PGSA) represents the postgraduate students.

Faculties and Departments

The university comprises of 10 faculties:

The School of Professional and Continuing Education (SPACE) is under the University of Hong Kong, which provides different levels of programmes on a wide range of subjects, and runs programmes without subsidy from the government. SPACE has recently involved into a community college-type institution, somewhat similar to Community College in the US.

Non-faculty academic units

Apart from the 10 faculties, there are also several study centres which provide study programmes and courses for students (source: www.hku.hk):

  • APEC Study Centre
  • Biomedical Engineering Research Centre
  • Centre for the Advancement of University Teaching
  • Centre for the Cellular Biology
  • Center for E-Commerce Infrastructure Development (CECID) - Collaborated with the Department of Computer Science
  • Centre for the Educational Leadership
  • Centre of the Endocrinology and Diabetes
  • Centre for Materials Science
  • Centre of American Studies
  • Centre of Asian Studies
  • Centre of Buddhist Studies
  • Centre of Urban Planning and Environmental Management
  • Centre on Ageing
  • CMI Support Centre
  • Cognitive Science Centre
  • English Centre
  • E-Business Technology Institute (ETI) - In Partnership with IBM
  • General Education Unit
  • Genome Research Centre
  • Geographic/Land Information System Research Centre
  • HKU Pasteur Research Centre Ltd
  • Hong Kong Centre for Problem-Based Learning
  • International Research Centre for Electric Vehicles
  • Institute of Human Performance
  • Institute of Molecular Biology
  • Journalism and Media Studies Centre
  • Kadoorie Agricultural Research Centre
  • Neuroscience Research Centre
  • Swire Institute of Marine Science
  • The Institute of Cardiovascular Science & Medicine
  • Women's Studies Research Centre

Students services

The university provides other services to meet students' personal needs. There are many services departments in the university - some of the most popular are as follows:

  • Career Education and Placement Centre
  • Computer Centre
  • Office of Students Affairs
  • Personal Development and Counselling Centre
  • Sports and Recreation Programmes/Facilities
  • University Dental Service
  • University Health Service
  • University Museum and Arts Gallery (formerly Fung Ping Shan Museum)

Libraries

  • HKUL was established in 1912 and is the oldest academic library in Hong Kong with over 2.3 million holdings. While the total stock in physical volumes has been growing, the electronic collection has also witnessed a rapid expansion. If you'd like to find out whether HKUL has a particular book or journal, visit the web-based library catalogue DRAGON to search HKUL’s holdings of books, journals, e-resources, and more.
  • First and foremost, HKUL serves current faculty, students, staff, and researchers who hold valid HKU IDs. However, HKUL does serve people with research needs or an interest in supporting the Libraries. To be part of this HKUL community, you are welcome to join HKUL Circle of Friends which is a group of friends and book lovers who support the Libraries.
  • As part of the Libraries' outreaching programmes, HKUL Reading Club has been established with a view to encouraging users especially busy young students to read, and to promoting intellectual and cultural growth of the University community. Look out for information on the upcoming activities or re-visit past book talks of the Club.
  • To foster closer ties with school students and at the same time instill upon them the importance of the library in their process of learning, the Libraries has started an outreach programme to visit schools.

See also

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