I am very pleased to present to you the brand-new
Annual Report of the University Grants Committee (UGC). This year,
we have undertaken a significant revamp to the Report, formerly
called "Facts & Figures", to give a fuller description of
the Committee's activities in the year. In doing so, we hope to
enhance communication and solicit feedback from our stakeholders and
the community at large. I trust you will find this Report
informative and readable.
Higher Education concerns every member of the
society. It bears greatly on the city's competitiveness, economic
prosperity and quality of life. It is not just an instrumental tool
for economic development but also a means to bolster the vigour and
confidence of a city. The theme of this Report is "Partner for
Excellence". Indeed, over the years, the UGC has been
collaborating as a staunch partner with the Administration, the UGC-funded
institutions and other stakeholders to strategise the development of
the higher education sector in Hong Kong. It is heartening to note
that several Hong Kong institutions are known globally for their
excellence in certain fields or generally.
Partnership to reach common goals
2009/10 was a hectic and fruitful year for the
UGC. The major work for the whole sector is to gear up for the "3+3+4"
academic reform. Global recruitment of academic staff and a rigorous
review of the curriculum are underway. The UGC is aware of the
challenges that lie ahead to make the transition a success, and acts
as a facilitator by providing financial support, offering
independent advice, and liaising between the Government and the
eight funded-institutions. As for campus development, with funding
approval from the Legislature, all the twelve "3+3+4"-related
capital works projects have now commenced construction. We are
working closely with the institutions to ensure timely completion of
the projects, i.e. before September 2012.
On the research front, the advent of the
$18-billion Research Endowment Fund (REF) has provided a welcome
fillip to the research endeavours of our institutions. The
investment return of REF amounted to about 6% for the year ending 31
December 2009. The Research Grants Council has also been thinking
hard how to make best use of the "Theme Based Research" funding
stream that will flow from the REF. We have in addition started to
allocate a new stream of recurrent funding to the institutions to
promote and incentivise the transfer of knowledge between
institutions and the society, with a view to bringing about
socio-economic benefits to the community and businesses.
Another major exercise we accomplished this year
was a review concerning the institutional development of the Hong
Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd). Following up the UGC's earlier
review report which recommended HKIEd to develop additional
complementary disciplines, and to strengthen its research capability
and research training environment, we carefully evaluated HKIEd's
detailed proposals in these two areas. With the professional advice
of international Education experts and a day-long visit to the
Institute to meet with its management, academic staff and students,
the UGC was of the view that HKIEd had satisfied the prerequisites
for receiving additional non-Education undergraduate, and research
postgraduate, student places.
We
don't just work for our stakeholders,
we work with them. We listen to views from the public through
various open channels, such as the "Higher Education Forum" on
our website, and our regular meetings with student and staff
representatives. To promote better stakeholder communications, we
have taken forward several new measures this year. A new
Communications Group was set up to explore various proactive
measures to enhance the public's understanding of the Committee's
work and the achievements of our higher education sector. This new
annual publication is an example. I also attended before the
Legislative Council Panel on Education to brief our legislators of
the Committee's work in January 2010.
New dimensions in pursuing excellence
The UGC strongly believes the entire higher
education sector should be viewed as one force, with each
institution having its own unique role and strength. International
excellence has always been the benchmark of our work. By working
hand in hand with the Administration and the UGC-funded
institutions, we aim at pursuing excellence in both teaching and
research.
The
UGC's pursuit of role and improvement starts
from within. Not only have I invited and taken on board suggestions
from the Heads of Institutions on areas the UGC should improve upon,
last year we also reviewed our Notes on Procedures to streamline
these long-established procedures. The Notes, which govern the
Committee's relationship with the Administration and the
institutions and set out the major operational/procedural elements
of the interplay among the three, have been significantly rewritten
to enhance efficiency while safeguarding public accountability.
