HKUST Annual Report 2018-19

14 ANNUAL REPORT 2018-19 Learning for Life Residential Life To ensure more students benefit from the experience of living on campus, the Dean of Students’ Office’s Student Housing and Residential Life Office managed to increase the occupancy rate from 94% to 98% from January 2019. Residential programs to assist students in adjusting to and making the most of campus and hall life now include four major initiatives. The First-Year Experience (FYE) @ Residence Program helps freshers adapt to university living. Living Learning Communities focus on different themes, such as the arts, fitness, and sustainability. The popular activities held by these communities were opened up to all hall residents in 2018-19, and all activities will be accessible to all undergraduate and postgraduate residents from 2019-20. Green Trekkers promotes eco- awareness and clean-ups in the community while integration on campus is encouraged through teaming local and non-local students as roommates and a hall cultural buddy program. Mental Health and Wellness Over the year, the Counseling and Wellness centers organized different outreach programs such as a psychological assessment booth, a fun day, psychoeducation training, sharing sessions, workshops, a day camp and field trips to help students understand the importance of mental health. The Center also engaged 29 students to be peer counselors, who could reach out to fellow students in need of support, encouragement, companionship or information about resources on campus. In a new endeavor, a team of students and staff from the School of Science set out to inspire students to fail fearlessly, and overcome their current obstacles and mistakes by inviting other students, faculty members, and the University’s President to recount personal setbacks on camera, which were then shared with the HKUST community in International Day for Failure in October 2018. Following the failure day, the team continued to collect alumni stories on how they overcame their limitations and continued toward their dreams. PREPARING STUDENTS FOR THE WORKFORCE Leadership Training The Redbird Leadership Community helps students realize their potential as leaders through training and an award scheme. In 2018-19, 79 community members received coaching on leading themselves and others, teamwork, and facilitation. The participants served within the University and local community as volunteers, leaders, mentors, and catalysts for change. A total of five gold awards, six silver awards, 35 bronze awards, and 23 certificates of completion were earned, recognizing students’ achievements and dedication. The Learners’ Circle initiative was successfully piloted to enhance undergraduates’ first-year experience through peer exchange and knowledge co-creation. The open conversation sessions were facilitated by trainers around themes such as “Preparing for 21st Century Challenges”. Fifty students participated in the two pilots. Employability and Internships HKUST has been highly ranked for graduates’ career preparation, being placed No. 10 in the Global University Employability Ranking 2019 (No. 1 in Greater China, seven years in a row) by Emerging/Trendence, and No. 1 in both the Best Career Services Satisfaction Award 2019 (seven years in a row) and Best Employability Rating Award 2019 (two years in a row) as self-rated by HKUST students in the Hong Kong Talent Survey by Universum. In the University’s Career Mosaic, a biannual job fair, a record-breaking 450 employers visited campus to recruit for internship and graduate positions. Students’ enthusiasm for internships remained strong, with placements offered by individual companies and organizations, and the University Career Center’s Internship Network (iNet) continuing to connect potential participants with other internship programs in Hong Kong and worldwide. Close to 1,000 undergraduate students landed their internships via iNet. The year also saw about 15% growth in those participating in winter internship programs. Students took up outbound internships in five major cities in Mainland China (Shanghai, Guangxi, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Chengdu) and further afield to Brunei, Singapore, Japan, the UK, Ireland and Spain. School of Science career building programs extended their reach, with the start of a Social Entrepreneurship Training Program offering a series of entrepreneurial training and winter internships in social enterprises and philanthropic ventures; HKUST Science X Teach Unlimited Foundation Job Shadowing Scheme, in cooperation with Teach Unlimited Foundation, an active recruiter at HKUST; and the Career Mentor Training Scheme, organized with HKUST Career Center, to enable students to become career peer mentors, who can provide basic support to their peers.