My message last year began with the celebration of the OUHK’s 20th anniversary. This year, I begin my message with news of another celebration, though of a different kind. While anniversary celebrations commemorated our successes and achievements in the past, our celebration this year is even more significant as it heralds opportunities and possibilities for the future. In December 2010, we were successful in our bid for an additional site on Chung Hau Street in Ho Man Tin.


This site will be used for building a new OUHK college. The project will not only expand our campus facilities, but also enable the establishment of full-time programmes in cultural and creative arts, testing and certification and medical services. These programmes are being tailored to develop the professionalism and talent required for the territory’s ongoing sustainability and future success.


The land grant is particularly gratifying as it highlights the Government’s endorsement of our full-time, face-to-face programmes. It is also an acknowledgement of the important role played by the OUHK and our New College in providing self-financing higher education in Hong Kong. We have come a long way indeed since 2001, when our full-time programme commenced with fewer than 100 students.


While this New College will provide a significant boost to our full-time programmes, we are by no means reducing our emphasis on our distance learning objectives. To ensure that flexible and open learning remain at the forefront of our activities, we are seeking to expand our distance learning programmes and promote blended learning by adding elements of guided self-learning and face-to-face teaching where appropriate.




In addition to these exciting developments, we have had a busy year. First, we celebrated our 21st birthday; and, at our 19th Congregation, more than 5,700 graduates received their awards, bringing the total number of OUHK graduates to well over 60,000. We also marked the 10th anniversary of our full-time, face-to-face programmes.


On the academic front, we offer more than 200 programmes and about 800 courses in distance learning and face-to-face modes to some 19,000 students. We expand and enhance these programmes on a continual basis to meet the needs of our students, business and industry and the community. During the year, we launched two full-time face-to-face nursing programmes to cater for the strong and ongoing demand for medical nurses. Looking ahead, we will be exploring programmes related to testing and certification in response to the Government’s strategic direction to drive the development of the industry.


To ensure that we are fully prepared for the new ‘3+3+4’ system coming into effect in 2012, we have established new entry criteria for our full-time undergraduate programmes. Also, with the implementation of outcome-based education, which emphasizes the alignment of programme and course outcomes with institutional outcomes, we train our students not only to be competent academically but also to show a commitment to lifelong learning.


The OUHK is actively expanding links with institutions worldwide and pursuing international partnerships and alliances. At the 24th Asian Association of Open Universities Annual Conference in Hanoi, Vietnam, in October 2010, we shared our experience in open education with our counterparts in the region and, on this occasion, I was honoured to be elected as a member of the Association’s Executive Board.




We have also worked with universities overseas to offer joint academic programmes to meet evolving educational needs. Closer to home, we continued to foster academic links in mainland China and in the region, participating actively in academic exchanges, educational conferences and learning forums.


The continual enhancement of our programmes and the provision of suitable facilities, student support and state-of-the-art equipment all require funding and ongoing investment. As a self-financing institution, the OUHK continues to engage in an uphill struggle to meet its targets. Fortunately, with prudent planning and the generous support of our benefactors, we have emerged as a successful and effective tertiary education institution, which offers quality programmes comparable to those institutions funded by the University Grants Committee (UGC) of Hong Kong.

A highly encouraging example of such support was the $15.56 million donation from The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust towards the establishment of the Jockey Club Audio-Visual Production Centre. It has given us a cutting-edge in serving the learning community. We are also pleased to have received a very positive response from the community, alumni, staff, students and friends to the University’s fund-raising efforts under the Government’s Fifth Matching Grant Scheme.


To further demonstrate our commitment to open education, we launched a new Open Learning digital platform, which provides a range of free e-learning facilities and is open to anyone. Also, we are proud to be one of the only two universities in Hong Kong to be invited by Apple to join iTunes U to make available our educational resources free for the public to view online or download. These facilities have helped us to take a huge step forward in contributing to the building of a truly global open educational network.




Moving forward, however, we see numerous areas for improvement and development, as well as various challenges ahead. Touching on some of the recommendations made by the UGC in its Aspirations for the Higher Education System in Hong Kong report in December 2010, we at the OUHK would like to call for long overdue equal access to funding for tertiary research projects as well as the expansion of financial support for students on self-financed programmes by distance learning, while supporting the suggestion of setting up a single quality assurance body for the whole post-secondary system.


In conclusion, let me thank every one of you, our staff and students, our benefactors and the community, for your commitment and support. Only with your help have we been able to broaden our vision so ably and quickly. I hope you will continue to give us your full support in the future as we persevere in our efforts to provide high-quality and lifelong ‘Education for All’.


 
    Vice President (Academic) Prof. Danny Wong (left) and Vice President (Technology and Development) Prof. Leung Chun-ming (right)