All these programs will provide a multi-faceted
education enhancing cross-disciplinary knowledge
and intellectual skills through integrative courses,
collaborative work, capstone projects, and a series
of experiential activities such as Overseas Exchange,
Internship, Professional Seminars, and Corporate
Projects. Students will be trained to address issues
as well as to analyze and solve problems from
multiple and holistic perspectives. The aim is to
produce graduates competent to deal with complex
real-world problems.
Internationalization
Internationalization has been a major initiative
of the University and is a core component of our
strategic plan. In 2007-08, we admitted 39 degree-
seeking international students from 18 countries
along with about 230 non-local students from the
Mainland. We expect further growth in non-local
intake in 2008-09.
In terms of international exchange, 504 overseas
students came to HKUST and 497 HKUST students
went overseas on exchange in 2007-08. The sizable
number of international students offers many
cultural and social exchange opportunities between
local and overseas students.
With the generous support of the Swire Group,
we are able to attract outstanding international
students to pursue full-degree studies in Hong
Kong under the Swire International Young Fellows
Program. The first batch of Swire International
Fellows graduated in 2008 with outstanding
academic performance, scoring the top 1.5% of
the graduating class.
Scholarships
Students are the most important assets of a
university. To recruit the best talents to come to
HKUST and to recognize the outstanding academic
achievements of our students, a new Scholarships
and Awards Unit was established in Spring 2008
to coordinate the planning and administration
of scholarship matters. Thanks to the generous
support of donors, the University has been able
to steadily increase the number of scholarship
recipients in recent years. In 2007-08, 9.32% of our
students are scholarship recipients.
The Transition to the Four-year Degree
In 2012, Hong Kong’s educational reform will
finally have progressed to the higher education
sector. With only four years remaining to plan
for additional students and a new curriculum,
important milestones have been reached in the
process of implementing the four-year degree.
Planning for the crucial run-up to 2012 took a
major step forward in 2008 with the University
Grants Committee’s approval of academic plans
for the 2009-2012 funding triennium. HKUST’s
“3-3-4“ transition plans have been welcomed by
UGC, especially the strong commitment to the
development of interdisciplinary programs.
Meanwhile, the University Senate has approved a
provisional template for the curriculum, including
plans for a substantial University Common Core
under which all undergraduates, regardless of their
major, will study arts, humanities, social sciences,
science and technology, while building key skills in
communications and quantitative reasoning.
Key organizational changes have also been made
to strengthen planning and implementation.
The appointment of a Dean of Undergraduate
Education will provide a champion for University-
wide initiatives for undergraduates, while bringing
the Student Affairs Office under the purview of
the Academic Affairs Branch will reinforce the
partnership between students’ academic programs
and their broader campus experience.
Outcome-Based Education
To implement Outcome-Based Education (OBE)
for the new four-year undergraduate curriculum,
the University has set up OBE Steering Groups at
the University, School, and Department levels. The
University and Schools have developed learning
outcomes statements and these are now being
integrated with the four-year curriculum development.
OBE is an initiative of the University Grants
Committee to coincide with the transition of Hong
Kong’s undergraduate education from three to four
years. The initiative calls for programs at all levels to
have clearly defined learning objectives, to set out
the teaching and learning processes for achieving
HKUST 2007-2008 Annual Report
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