Last year was an important milestone for the OUHK as we celebrated our 20th Anniversary with a rich array of academic, cultural and social activities under the theme of ‘Quality University Education Forging Ahead with Innovation and Flexibility’. As we revisited the OUHK’s success in pioneering open and lifelong education in Hong Kong, it was also an opportunity for the University to show gratitude to our partners, friends, students, alumni, staff and the public for their support over the years. The smooth conclusion of Anniversary activities was the result of the collective efforts of all OUHK members. Special tribute must be paid to Anniversary Celebration Steering Committee Chairman Mr Vincent Woo and Members for their guidance, as well as to the sponsors of various activities.
The OUHK would not have achieved so much in a short span of 20 years without the support from our Council members, who accepted their public appointments by the Government voluntarily without remuneration. In June 2009, Dr Eddy C Fong took up the helm as Chairman of the OUHK Council, following the retirement of Dr the Hon Charles Lee Yeh-kwong. We are most fortunate to have these two distinguished members of the community to lead the OUHK in promoting the mission of ‘Education for All’ and lifelong learning. Dr Lee has served as our Chairman from 1998 to 2003 and from 2004 to 2009, during which his leadership and vision have guided the OUHK’s growth from strength to strength. His expertise in financial planning and fundraising has been a blessing to our self-financed public university. We are most grateful that Dr Lee has agreed to continue to give us advice in his capacity as a member of our Sponsorship and Development Fund Committee.
Dr Fong has been our Council member since 2003 and Treasurer since 2004, during which he has helped us further enhance our corporate governance and financial management practices. As the Non-Executive Chairman of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, as well as a respected community leader and financial expert, Dr Fong will definitely bring new inspiration to the OUHK and guide us to scale even greater heights.
Our student population presently stands at over 19,000, and our graduates number over 60,000. Another important source of support for the OUHK is from our alumni. Throughout the year, our alumni development work was strengthened with the launch of more bonding initiatives and activities by our newly established Alumni Affairs Office. As a result, our Alumni Link scheme, which has been in place since 2003, recorded a 100% increase in membership to 21,000 over the past year. In addition to the three existing associations mostly counting alumni from our distance learning programmes, the Full-time BBA Alumni Association of the OUHK was established in April 2010.
The formation of the first alumni body for graduates from full-time programmes was a significant indicator of the growth of our full-time student population. Our student numbers grew from 116 in 2001-2002, when we launched our face-to-face programmes, to over 3,800 studying on campus and about 1,500 at partner institutions over this last year. The numbers of applicants through the Joint University Programmes Admissions System (JUPAS) and direct entry also recorded increases of 46% and 20%, respectively, over the previous year. In addition, the University’s Li Ka Shing Institute of Professional and Continuing Education (LiPACE) received over 3,350 applications and enrolled over 2,500 full-time students, the highest number so far and an increase of over 70% over last year. The year also saw the graduation of our first batch of 92 full-time nursing students, including the first 38 local degree graduates in mental health care. All obtained the Registered Nurse qualification and are now serving in various health care organizations.
In view of the severe demand for Enrolled Nurses, preparations were made for the launch in September 2010 of two new full-time nursing programmes – the Higher Diploma in Nursing Studies (General Health Care) and the Higher Diploma in Nursing Studies (Mental Health Care). Graduates from the two new programmes can go on to enrol in the University’s existing distance learning Higher Diploma in Nursing or Higher Diploma in Mental Health Nursing programmes, which are tailor-made for Enrolled Nurses to get upgraded to Registered Nurses.
With the impending admission of full-time students through the new ‘3-3-4’ system in 2012, in which students study for three years in both junior and senior secondary school and four years at university, the OUHK began deliberations on the entry requirements for various JUPAS programmes and changes in the curriculum structure, including those related to General Education requirements. Discussions were also conducted on the implementation of outcome-based education, including the development of a list of attributes we expect our students to have upon graduation, and generic course-based outcomes for face-to-face and distance learning students.
The continued increase in our full-time students has made it imperative for further campus expansion to provide a better learning environment for all. With the March 2010 opening of the 3,000-sq.m. OUHK-CITA Learning Centre (OCLC) on Lai King Hill Road in Kwai Chung, the main office of LiPACE was relocated to this new venue and more space is now available for the Institute to offer courses related to fashion, design and photography. Plans are also afoot for the construction of an Audio-Visual Production Centre, sponsored by the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, as well as a garden on the rooftop of the Campus Phase Two building and a coffee corner on campus.
We will bid for land near our Ho Man Tin campus to increase physical facilities for existing students, as well as to offer new degree programmes related to the development of the six pillar industries designated by the Government. If successful, we plan to build additional teaching blocks for use by students, from as early as September 2012. As in the case of our Phase One and Two campuses, construction of the new buildings will have to be supported through a fundraising campaign. In particular, the $230-million Campus Phase Two project would not have proceeded so smoothly without the resounding success of our fundraising campaign for the Government’s last Matching Grant Scheme.
The announcement of the Government’s 5th Matching Grant Scheme this year was most timely for tying in with our latest campus expansion fundraising initiatives. We sincerely hope that we can repeat our previous success and reap the most from the Grant, so that more resources will be available for financing our campus expansion plans. This would also help us in our other endeavours for enhancing research, new course development and student support. The OUHK has financed its recurrent operational expenses mainly from tuition income and has only received infrequent Government project-based subsidies from time to time. Sponsorship support from the community, alumni and students is essential for the realization of large scale capital projects such as campus development.
The OUHK’s Strategic Plan 2008-2017 is positioning the University to deliver more flexible, interactive, personalized and intelligent learning to meet the increasingly complex needs of the globalized knowledge-based society of today and tomorrow. A $62.8 million ‘Centre for Innovation’ (CFI) project funded by the Education Bureau was initiated, which includes creating a student-centred learning environment that blends the strengths of distance, face-to-face and online learning, as well as the production of more e-learning courses and the enhancement of the University’s Online Learning Environment (OLE). More learning tools were introduced during the year, including those for voice discussion and transcribing text to speech to enrich students’ learning experience.
In addition, a two-day academic retreat under the theme of ‘Blended Learning – The Way Forward for OUHK’ was held for over 30 academic staff to encourage brainstorming new ideas for course delivery. Groundwork was made for the launch of the digital platform ‘Open Learning’ to leverage new media to enhance access to the University’s educational resources and build learning communities through a single portal.
The achievements of the OUHK over the last 20 years have made it a successful model of open learning around the world. Looking into our third decade, the OUHK will remain steadfast to our mission of providing quality, innovative and flexible education for all. We shall try our best to meet the educational needs of people in Hong Kong and beyond, widening access, encouraging participation and enriching lives. I call on all like-minded individuals and organizations to join us in our pursuit of equity in education and a better tomorrow for everyone.
