MU Connect issue 2 (May 2022) page 02,03 and 04

Back in 2019, the University rolled out a five-year Strategic Plan comprising five areas of priorities. Now, halfway through the planning cycle, a review has been conducted to take stock of the activities carried out so far. At the same time, some new initiatives are on the way, laying the groundwork for the next strategic plan. Such initiatives have been conceived in light of the spirit encapsulated by the University's new title of 'Hong Kong Metropolitan University' — a commitment to offering quality education that meets society's evolving talent needs as well as providing students with recognized academic qualifications in this ever-changing social environment — so that all HKMU graduates can get off to a good start in a career of their own choice and contribute to a better society. On 1 April, President Prof. Paul Lam presented the University's latest plans to staff members and listened to their feedback.

Laying academic cornerstones

Learning and teaching

A series of structural changes have been implemented to strengthen the University's academic foundation. Kicking off the initiative was the setting up of the Office for Advancement of Learning and Teaching (ALTO) in August 2021 to foster synergy in pursuing excellence in educational delivery and promoting student-centred learning and teaching, as introduced in the last issue of this newsletter. Efforts centralized by ALTO include launching the Co-curricular Extracurricular Learning Toward Innovative Comprehensive Soft-skills (CELTICS) programme which encourages students to build an e-portfolio documenting their various learn-ing activities, and designing student learning experience surveys in order to identify their learning needs. Furthermore, the University has introduced an academic analytics project to identify at-risk students at an early stage and established staff–student consultative committees for specific student groups. Another of the University's new establishments was the School of Open Learning, coming one month after ALTO, to enhance HKMU's unique role as a provider of university-level open education in Hong Kong.

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Academic Reform

An even more revolutionary change under way is the Academic Reform, which is to be completed by 2023. The reform aims to remap all academic programmes under a three-credit-unit denomination framework, replacing the original five-credit-unit system. This move will provide students with more flexibility to participate in more learning activities in addition to their major courses. The Academic Reform also incorporates 'University Core' subjects that will help students develop as professionals as well as responsible citizens and nationals.

Research and knowledge transfer

While research is central to the building of academic strengths, resources are limited. To maximize impact, the University has identified nine strategic research areas under the different Schools and created a Research Impact Fund from its own Quality Enhancement Measures (QEM) scheme to support the research. Meanwhile, it is also reviewing its overall research policy and the setup of its research infrastructure.

As far as research education is concerned, the University is attracting a growing body of high-calibre research students by introducing competitive stipends supported by the Research Grants Council's Faculty Development Scheme and internal funding. Anticipating a surge in projects involving knowledge transfer, such as collaborations with industries and consultancy services, the University is in the process of setting up a company to facilitate research commercialization,
patent management, start-up investment and product licensing.