As an institution serving diverse groups of adult learners, the OUHK has continued to improve and broaden its curriculum to meet the needs of different sectors of the community. The OUHK's programmes have grown steadily in variety and number over the years. In the October 2002 semester, the University's four Schools offered a total of 110 programmes and 195 courses at postgraduate, degree and sub-degree levels for Hong Kong residents, while the Li Ka Shing Institute of Professional and Continuing Education (LiPACE) had 60 programmes and 505 courses. The University also offered four programmes and 11 courses for students in Mainland China.

Local programmes of Schools
The University attaches great importance to maintaining the ongoing relevance and quality of its academic programmes. Every OUHK programme undergoes a revalidation exercise after five or six years of operation. In preparing for a programme's revalidation the Programme Team conducts a critical review of various aspects of its implementation, including the progress of course development, opinions expressed by students and tutors on course presentation, the performance of students, and the views of recent graduates. The Team also solicits opinions from the Advisory Peer Group, which has representatives from local business and professional groups, on the future direction of the programme. An experienced academic acting as External Programme Assessor offers his or her opinion on the programme's academic standard and its currency in light of developments taking place in the field of study. During the year the Senate revalidated 28 OUHK degree and sub-degree programmes, the largest number yet handled by the University in any single year.
 
 
Some of the programmes launched in 2002-2003.

 
 
 

New degree and postgraduate distance learning programmes offered included the Bachelor of Social Sciences in Public Administration (also with Honours), the Postgraduate Certificate in Language and Learning, the Postgraduate Diploma in Education (Primary), and the Master of Human Resource Management.

The School of Business and Administration and the Hong Kong Productivity Council jointly offered a Professional Certificate in Logistics and Supply Chain Management, which has a major focus on practical exposure in the form of workshops and company visits.

Preparations were made for the launch of a number of new programmes in April 2003. They were the Master of Laws in PRC Law, the Postgraduate Certificate in Commercial Law (PRC Law), the Postgraduate Certificate in Legal Studies (PRC Law), the Postgraduate Certificate in Multimedia and Internet Technology, the Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages and the Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering (also with Honours).

The OUHK's involvement in face-to-face teaching expanded during the year with the approval of a full-time Bachelor of Business Administration programme, which will offer a chance for the University's own associate degree students – who numbered 85 in October 2002 – as well as associate degree holders from other institutions in Hong Kong to continue their studies. This programme will be launched in September 2003. The OUHK's full-time associate degree graduates can also go on to study further through distance learning at the University.

Graduates of face-to-face associate degree programmes of City University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University can apply for credit transfer if they enrol on a number of Bachelor degree programmes at the OUHK. Up to half of the required credits for these programmes can be exempted.
 
 
Mr Davy Lee (right), President of the Hong Kong Institute of Company Secretaries, with Prof. Ip Yiu-keung, Dean of the School of Business and Administration, at a contract signing ceremony granting exemptions for some OUHK students when they join the Institute.
 

More recognition by professional bodies
In recent years the OUHK has obtained recognition for its programmes and courses from an increasing number of professional bodies. More recognition was granted by professional institutions to the graduates of postgraduate programmes offered by the School of Business and Administration during the year.

The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants granted exemptions from three to five examination papers to graduates of the School's Postgraduate Diploma in Professional Accounting, Master of Professional Accounting, Master of Business Administration and Master of Corporate Governance (MCG) programmes.
 
 

The School's Collaborative Course Agreement with the Hong Kong Institute of Company Secretaries was renewed for another three years. Under the agreement, graduates of the MCG programme receive full exemption from professional examinations leading to full membership of the Institute and the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators in the UK.

The School of Science and Technology was informed by the Hong Kong Nursing Council that graduates of its Higher Diploma in Nursing programme would be eligible to seek for the Part I Registration for the qualification of Registered Nurse (General) without taking further examinations.
 
 

Apart from writing course materials, the Educational Technology and Publishing Unit is also responsible for their printing, packaging and warehousing.
 
 

Course development
In its early years the OUHK relied heavily on buying in course materials from overseas institutions. Since the 1990s, the University has begun to produce its own courses. More courses are now being developed by its own staff due in part to the shortage of qualified external developers. An increasing proportion of multimedia and online elements is being included in courses and more Chinese courses have been developed to meet the needs of students. About $36 million was allocated for the development of 56 new courses.

In the past, institutions from Malaysia and Canada have adopted some of the course materials developed by the University. During the year the National Open University of Nigeria concluded a licence contract with the OUHK to use 17 of its courses, which represented the University's first major overseas export of courses.

Programmes in Mainland China
The OUHK started offering business administration programmes in Mainland China in 1997. Since then it has also enrolled students for programmes in translation and teacher education. All 3,000 Mainland graduates of the University studied business, with about two-thirds obtaining a Master's degree and about one-third a postgraduate certificate. About 3,000 students were taking the University's programmes jointly offered with 13 partner institutions in 22 cities in March 2003.
 
 
Mainland MBA students of the University are required to come to Hong Kong to attend some seminars and a graduation ceremony. Students listen attentively to a lively lecture given by Mr Yip Man-loong, General Manager of Wisecourse International Limited, at one of these seminars.
 
 

Among partner institutions, the Institute of Continuing Education in the Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences had the largest number of students, all of them studying for an MBA. The collaboration between the University's School of Business and Administration and the State Statistical Bureau on a joint MBA programme as an internal training programme ended after the 2002 graduation. Over 740 students were studying the Master of Education programmes that the University's School of Education and Languages organized with three institutions, including Yunnan Radio and Television University – a new partner.
 
 

The University's School of Arts and Social Sciences also collaborated with the Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences to develop the first distance learning Master's programme in PRC Law to meet the growing demand for legal experts in Chinese law after China's accession to the World Trade Organization. The programme examines a wide spectrum of PRC laws and aims at equipping learners with a comprehensive and systematic understanding of the basic laws and jurisprudence of the PRC. It was scheduled to be launched in the Mainland and Hong Kong in April 2003.

The University's Mainland operations are coordinated by an office in the southern city of Shenzhen. The office was moved to the 31st floor of the SEG Plaza in early 2003 with an expanded team of staff.

  
Some of the staff of the OUHK Consultants (Shenzhen) Ltd.
 
 

Short courses, agency programmes, workplace education and full-time courses
LiPACE, the academic unit of the University which focuses on non-distance learning teaching, entered its 11th year. Over the last decade the Institute's programme offerings have expanded to 24 subject areas from certificate to postgraduate level. There are both face-to-face and distance learning programmes and courses catering for the needs of over 18,000 students.

During the year nearly 9,600 students enrolled on the Institute's short courses and professional programmes, which covered areas from arts, languages and communication to business, IT and health sciences. A number of new programmes were introduced, including those in law, logistics, sex education, psychology, public relations, long-term care, translation, financial investment and tourism and hospitality management.
 

 

(Left) June Yao, an outstanding student of Project Yi Jin, speaking at the programme's graduation ceremony.

(Right) Cheung Yuen-ling obtained a Certificate in Child Psychology at the outstanding student awards and professional programmes graduation ceremony.
 
 

LiPACE continued to build its reputation as one of the leading providers of workplace education in Hong Kong. Nearly 3,000 students took part in workplace training, through LiPACE tailor-made training courses for organizations of different sizes and industries. Programmes that LiPACE organized in cooperation with overseas institutions attracted over 2,600 students who studied for qualifications at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

In September 2002, LiPACE graduated the second batch of 46 students on the Project Yi Jin programme and the first batch of 23 students on the pre-associate degree programme. In March 2003 about 200 students were on these two programmes, which provide an alternative study route for secondary school leavers who have not obtained satisfactory public examination results. During the year the Institute collaborated with the YMCA College of Careers on the provision of Project Yi Jin programmes. Under this scheme the YMCA was responsible for teaching the LiPACE programme at its premises, while LiPACE retained overall responsibility for the quality and standards of the programme. In this way, LiPACE was able to offer more venues for the Yi Jin programme. In view of the success of this kind of collaboration, LiPACE has plans to extend it to more programmes – such as the pre-associate degree – and more partners in the coming year.
 
 
Some products of the OUHK Press.
 
 

OUHK Press
The OUHK Press publishes books and multimedia materials in various forms to support courses at the University and promote open and distance learning. It maintained steady sales and continued to make a profit on most of its publishing projects during the year. Today its CD-ROMs and educational publications are widely known in the educational community.

Two new books in Chinese – Curriculum, Learning and Assessment: the Hong Kong Experience and Curriculum in Context, which is a translation of a reader of the Open University in the UK – were added to the University's popular list of books on education. In addition, to promote the research done in distance and online learning in Asia Pacific countries, the Press published two academic titles, Open and Distance Education in the Asia Pacific and Advancing Online Learning in Asia, which consist of collections of papers highlighting the research carried out in these areas. Several interactive CD-ROMs on history and economics and VCDs on health issues were also produced.
 
 
 
2002-2003 OUHK Annual report