HKUST Annual Report 2019-2020

HOLISTIC LEARNING Sports Development The Sports Teams Assistance Scheme, under the Dean of Students’ Office (DSTO), provides teams with funding and opportunities to represent HKUST in local and international inter-varsity competitions and elite student athletes with financial support to represent Hong Kong in international competitions. The Scheme supported more than 600 local and non-local students in 66 sports teams and 35 sports in 2019-20. Two elite student athletes were also admitted to HKUST via the newly launched Student Athletes Admission Scheme. In a significant addition to the water sports center, the University’s new boathouse was prepared for use as a central storage area for boats and equipment, as well as a backup base camp for training and practice, and an avenue to build cooperation between the University and water sports organizations in the community. The boathouse is expected to open in the third quarter of 2020. Student Life and Wellbeing To continue to develop students’ full potential amid challenging times, a co-creating program #U2.0 Journey was rolled out in Spring 2020 by DSTO, bringing together students, faculty, and staff members to reimagine the future role of education and drive sustainable transformation under the new normal. Twenty faculty and staff members teamed up with 32 students to co-create the blueprint for PREPARING STUDENTS FOR THE WORKFORCE Leadership Training and Career Education Over 2019-20, 96 members received training and coaching to learn how to lead themselves and others as members of the Redbird Leadership Community. Given the unprecedented events of the year and the limitations placed on experiential learning opportunities, participants demonstrated resilience in continuing their learning through training and coaching online. One gold award, four silver awards, and 69 certificates of completion were earned, recognizing students’ achievements, service, and dedication. In Spring 2020, all career development programs and consultation sessions moved online due to COVID-19. Online program offerings were increased and made available to students located in different time zones. A total of 81 online programs were conducted and more than 3,000 students took part. Employability and Internships HKUST continued to rank highly in the Emerging/Trendence annual Global University Employability Ranking, being placed at No.10 (No.1 in Greater China) in 2019. It also remained a popular campus for employers to search for potential recruits and interns. Despite challenging situations, both of the biannual Career Mosaic job fairs, organized by the University Career Center, took place. The first was held on campus in October 2019 and the second online in May 2020. To assist students gain early work experience, the Career Center’s Internship Network (iNet) connected potential participants with programs in Hong Kong and worldwide, while individual companies and organizations also offered placements. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the iNet Team additionally promoted a virtual internship program, comprising over 40 start-ups and run by a Singapore consulting firm. More than 900 undergraduates are expected to secure internships via iNet over the reporting year. In May 2020, the Innovation and Technology Commission launched a Science Technology Engineering Mathematics (STEM) Internship Scheme, with a total of $8 million allocated to HKUST. By the end of June 2020, close to $6 million had been successfully earmarked, with more than 230 students successfully landing internships through the scheme. #UniLifeLAB (University Life: Learn Apply Build-on). Guided by a facilitated design thinking process, the teams reframed and redesignedDSTOprograms and faculty projects in eight different work areas, including community engagement, leadership development, career education, preventive and emotion first aid, intercultural understanding, interactive e-visuals, sustainable consumption, and business ethics. The process generated 16 new project ideas, with some individual ideas to be implemented in stages in 2020-21. Programs redesigned by the participating teams seek to provide opportunities for students to discover themselves, chart their career paths, and cultivate a positive mindset. In 2019-20, a total of $6.4 million in financial aid was offered to 212 students experiencing financial difficulties due to prolonged hardship and/or unforeseen events, with an average amount of around $30,000 per student. Internships undertaken in Hong Kong over 2019-20 involved a wide range of organizations. For example, biological science students worked with Hong Kong Wetland Park and The Green Earth, an NGO, while physics students interned at two spin-off hi-tech companies, Light Innovation Technology and Acoustic Metamaterials Group, involving the department’s facultymembers and graduates. Meanwhile, new internships partners for humanities and social science students include Tai Kwun and the Hong Kong Heritage Project, Hutchison Telecommunications Hong Kong Holdings Limited, and Champion REIT. HKUST ANNUAL REPORT 2019-2020 15 14 Learning For Life