HKUST 2006-2007 Annual Report
17
CAMPUS LIFE
At HKUST, enrichment activities outside regular academic programs are an
essential part of an all-round education and a key component of the university
experience. With that in mind, we provide a campus life conducive to the
nurturing of leaders and lifelong learners.
The University encourages students to be participants, not observers, and where
possible to become leaders and organizers, as has been shown this year in
activities organized at an international level.
All first-year students stay on campus for at least one semester to help them
develop a community spirit. They must also take as a graduation requirement
a non credit-earning “Healthy Life Style” course through which they are
encouraged to form a lifelong habit of incorporating physical activity into
their schedules.
They can join any one of the 100-plus student societies, stand for office in
student elections, help organize intra-mural sports and generally absorb the
culture of serving others.
Confluence Agora are organized every semester for hall residents by the Student
Affairs Office to help sharpen networking and communication skills. These social
events bring students together with prominent leaders from commerce, industry
and the professions to gain early insights into the working world and to give
pointers in career directions.
HKUST students are active on a broader stage as well. In July 2006, they
celebrated the 15th anniversary of the founding of the University by organizing
the InterFest (International Student Festival). This event brought 800 university
students from the Mainland, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and the UK,
as well as those from local sister universities, to the Clear Water Bay campus for
a variety of cultural and sporting events.
Some attendees took part in a meeting of the Delta Forum, set up in 2002 by
HKUST students’ organizations to encourage discussion on issues affecting the
development of the Pearl River Delta region. Initially targeting students from
Mainland China, Macau and Hong Kong, the Forum has expanded its scale of
operations and become more international.
Cultural activities were further strengthened by:
•
The HKUST Arts Festival, organized by the Center for the Arts and staged
by student societies specializing in the performing arts, along with the Judo
Club and the Photographic, Film and Shaolin Martial Arts Societies
•
An Afternoon Performance Week, which brought together the Magic Club,
the University Philharmonic Orchestra, the Chinese Orchestra and the Center
for the Arts
•
A joint performance by the Dance Society and the China Central University
for Nationalities’ student art group
•
A visit by 32 members of the orchestra, chorus and dance group from the
Student Art Union at Southeast University, Nanjing.
On the sporting front, the University’s student societies are active in the
organization of intervarsity competitions, which this year included korfball,
fencing, archery, netball and beach handball.
