HKUST Annual Report 2017-18

54 The Council As the supreme governing body, the Council steers the University’s strategic direction and guides it to the highest standards of governance. During the year, the Council continued to enhance its governance role through the Task Force on the Review of Council Effectiveness and related working groups. Through Members’ review, the recommendations of the University Grants Committee (UGC)’s Report on “Governance in UGC-funded Higher Education Institutions in Hong Kong” (“the Newby Report”) had been appropriately addressed. To fulfil their fiduciary responsibilities on university governance in a wider sense of long-term sustainability on educational, financial and cultural development, Council Members had been involved in the strategic planning process through participating in the University Retreat and other opportunities, primarily to give advice to the senior management in setting the University’s strategic objectives and respective key performance indicators. Working towards a more coherent approach to induction and orientation and to facilitate Members’ understanding of the wider context of higher education, Council had rendered active support to the Sector- wide briefing sessions organized by UGC. As an ongoing developmental process, Council Members had also been given the opportunities to participate in different projects championed by respective Council Committees based on their skills and interests. Amidst a fast-moving world of higher education, Council has taken on a proactive role in appraising and monitoring the potential risks of the University. Since 2016-17, the Council has employed a more systematic methodology to review annually, the University’s risks and the related risk mitigation measures, through a risk register. At its eight meetings held during the year, Council had been providing advice to various Offices in steering their operations, from budgeting framework to investment policy statement; from mission and vision statements on knowledge transfer to donation policy; from campus infrastructure to student accommodation and facilities; on top of other external collaboration opportunities, to ensure accountability and good governance. The Court The Court, the supreme advisory body, met twice during the year to receive reports from the University administration and Council respectively. In December 2017, Members were apprised the University’s latest achievement and development in education and research, along with a number of proposed key issues to be covered in the forthcoming Strategic Plan. At the meeting in May 2018, Members made some valuable suggestions to the senior management on the overall direction of the University’s international and Mainland outreach strategies, riding on some of the existing collaboration initiatives. Those collaborative projects, such as the entrepreneurship and start-up activities under the existing HKUST LED- FPD Technology R&D Center at Foshan, and the proposed research initiatives between the Huizhou Government and HKUST’s Chemical and Biological Engineering Department of the School of Engineering in Daya Bay District, are expected to bring synergy to and promote economic growth of Hong Kong and the Mainland through innovation, technology, and knowledge transfer. Governance The Council, Court, and Senate are the University’s major governing bodies overseeing its diverse activities