HKUST Annual Report 2019-2020

The Education goal for the HKUST 2020 Sustainability Challenge was a commitment ensuring that all students gain a solid understanding of sustainability concepts and graduate with the capacity and commitment to solve problems locally and globally. Looking at the curriculum as a whole, the cross-School Sustainability Education Advisory Group, formed in 2017-18, updated its study on the scope and distribution of the University’s sustainability education. Findings showed that as of the 2020 target year, sustainability related coursework comprised around 6% of all undergraduate courses, and 9% of new approved undergraduate courses. The study found that 64% of recent graduates completed two or more sustainability-focused courses before they graduated, and 95% of graduates have taken at least one course. To foster a cross-disciplinary sustainability mindset among students and assist in building the wide-ranging outlook needed to tackle eco-issues, the Division of Environment and Sustainability developed a comprehensive module on Life Cycle Thinking, a significant way to encourage responsible long-term decision-making. This has now been adopted by the School of Engineering as preparation for final-year students in their capstone projects. More modules are being developed for other disciplines. EDUCATION GOVERNANCE In accordance with the HKUST Ordinance, the Council, Court, and Senate are the University’s supreme governing, advisory and academic bodies, respectively. the societal situation. Nevertheless, Court Members had been shared the latest development and achievements of the University through other means of communication. Taking advantage of similar channels, Members were able to offer advice and suggestions to the Administration and communicate with fellow members of the University community in a timely manner. The Court welcomed a number of new Members, including four representatives from the Senate, and is glad to re-appoint a number of long-serving Members, some of them as Honorary Court Members. The Senate During the review year, Senate continued to examine important academic policy issues and a number of program and course proposals, including those for HKUST(GZ). New Programs at different levels have been reviewed by the Senate. They span from Minor Programs for undergraduate students to the first-ever Doctor of Business Administration Program of the University. For quality assurance purpose, Senate has scrutinized the policy for approving undergraduate courses to be delivered through pure online mode, the grading guideline bands and the policy to suspend Minor Programs with low enrolment. To ensure proper procedures in handling student conduct matters, the Regulations on Student Conduct and Academic Integrity of the University had also been refined, following the review of the Provost Office. As the supreme body overseeing the University’s academic matters, Senate has set up a designated working group in October 2019 to review and make recommendations to update the Terms of Reference and Membership Composition of its Committees for effective governance. With the purpose to further strengthen effective integration between the Clear Water Bay operation and the Guangzhou Campus, and to better support the distinctive academic structure of HKUST(GZ), the Senate approved the reorganization of the HKUST Fok Ying Tung Graduate School, which takes charge of matters on postgraduate education of both campuses, and to ensure consistency in policy formulation and quality assurance of the postgraduate programs. The Council Being the supreme governing body, the Council steers the overall strategic directions of the University. During the review year, Council continued to monitor the University’s development, through interactions with the senior Administration proactively, making reference to the key performance indicators as set out in the University Accountability Agreement (UAA). The UAA, with the purpose to enhance accountability through tracking of performance of all public-funded universities, was developed by UGC pursuant to the recommendation of UGC’s “Governance in UGC-funded Higher Education Institutions in Hong Kong” Report. The first annual report of the University’s UAA was submitted to the UGC, following Council’s approval in December 2019. As part of Council’s own mechanism to enhance governance, and with reference to the Sample Code of Conduct for Members of Public Bodies of the Independent Commission Against Corruption as well as international best practice, Council has reviewed and modified its existing Guidelines for Council Members , to attach in particular, the code of practice for Council Members and the description of the related regulatory framework to support Members’ discharge of their duties in governing the University, through their roles as public servants. While working unflaggingly in enhancing its governing role in HKUST, Council has established a separate set of governance framework in overseeing matters related to the setting up of HKUST(GZ). On top of the designated Task Force to discuss various issues, a Committee under the Council has been formed to help review matters which might not necessarily be covered by the scope of responsibilities of the existing Council Committees. A number of special Council meetings have also been held during the year to ensure timely review on matters related to the project. The Court As indicated in the University Statute, the Court ‘shall meet at least once in each academic year’, though it normally holds two meetings a year if at all possible. Subsequent to the meeting in May 2019, the Court Meeting originally scheduled for November 2019 had to put off owing to The end of the 2020 Challenge is a key milestone and demonstrates what the University can achieve from the concerted efforts of its community. HKUST has already started working on the next five-year challenge, which will build on the progress made, add new targets in water, landscape and biodiversity, and well-being. Our targets will be aligned to those of Hong Kong but be broader and more aggressive to consolidate HKUST’s position as a leader in sustainability in Hong Kong. THE NEXT FIVE YEARS HKUST ANNUAL REPORT 2019-2020 43 42 Governance