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Abbreviations and Technical Terms
This list is largely confined to abbreviations and terms peculiar to higher education. Those in more general use are not included, nor are those which occur in very limited contexts in the report and are explained therein. Minutiae such as degree titles are also excluded.
| Age participation rate | The proportion of young people for whom places are provided in higher education within Hong Kong. The population for this purpose is usually taken as the average of the 17-20 age group, and the government's current targets are 18% for entry to degree courses and a further 6% for entry to sub-degree courses |
|---|---|
| AL | Advanced level |
| APA | The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts |
| CAT | Credit accumulation and transfer |
| CDCF | Common data collection format |
| CHL Report | An economic analysis of continuing education commissioned by the UGC from a research team at CUHK |
| CityU | City University of Hong Kong |
| CPBE | Centre for Professional and Business English, PolyU |
| CPE | Continuing and professional education |
| CUHK | The Chinese University of Hong Kong |
| EC | Education Commission |
| ECR | Education Commission Report |
| EMB | Education and Manpower Branch |
| ft | full time |
| fte | full time equivalent. The numbers of part-time students are converted into "full time equivalents" for the purposes of student number targets and funding. The conversion factors are based upon costs (often marginal costs), course length compared with full time study and other considerations |
| FYFD | first year first degree |
| hc | headcount. Actual number of students |
| HE | higher education |
| HEI | higher education institution |
| HKALE | Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination |
| HKBU | Hong Kong Baptist University |
| HKCAA | The Hong Kong Council for Academic Accreditation |
| HKCEE | Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination |
| HKIEd | The Hong Kong Institute of Education |
| HKMA | The Hong Kong Management Association |
| HKPC | Hong Kong Productivity Council |
| HKU | The University of Hong Kong |
| HKUST | The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology |
| Interim Report | "Higher Education 1991-2001, An Interim Report", UGC November 1993 |
| JASPIC | Joint Admission Scheme for Polytechnics, Technical Institutes and Colleges (now Joint Admissions Scheme for Post-Secondary Institutions' Courses) |
| JUPAS | Joint University and Polytechnic Admissions System (now Joint University Programmes Admissions System) |
| LC | Lingnan College |
| MR | "Manpower 2001 Revisited", EMB June 1994 |
| OLI | Open Learning Institute of Hong Kong |
| PACE | Centre for Professional and Continuing Education, PolyU |
| PolyU | The Hong Kong Polytechnic University |
| POSTE Report | A study of the preparation of students for tertiary education commissioned by the UGC from a research team at HKU |
| pt | part time |
| R | non-teaching element in grant |
| R1, R2 | components of R |
| relative cost weighting | the cost of teaching one student, or the research of one member of staff, in a particular discipline compared with that in a reference discipline (often taken as humanities). Also used between levels |
| RGC | Research Grants Council |
| RPg | research postgraduate |
| SCE | School of Continuing Education, HKBU |
| SCOPE | School of Continuing and Professional Education, CityU |
| SCS | School of Continuing Studies, CUHK |
| sd | sub-degree |
| SEM | Secretary for Education and Manpower |
| SPACE | School of Professional and Continuing Education, HKU |
| student/staff ratio | the number of fte students divided by the number of staff. Allowances have to be made for cross-disciplinary teaching and other factors. The ratio varies between subjects from about 5 to 15 and is a major determinant of relative cost weightings |
| T | teaching element in grant |
| TC | technical college |
| TLQPR | Teaching and Learning Quality Process Review |
| TPg | taught postgraduate |
| Ug | undergraduate |
| UGC | University Grants Committee |
| unit cost | recurrent expenditure (excluding specific items such as research grants) divided by number of fte students. The overall figure for the UGC institutions in 1995-96 was about HK$200,000 per student year |
| UPGC | University and Polytechnic Grants Committee (former name of UGC) |
| VTC | Vocational Training Council |
| year | The institutions' financial year runs from 1 July to 30 June. The academic year varies between institutions, with the majority favouring 1 September to 31 August. The UGC uses the financial year for both grant and student number calculations. |