President e-letter, 15 April 2011

Abstract

The Hong Kong University lf Science and Technology Office of the President e-letter Dear Colleagues, Students and Alumni, It has been a very busy semester already! For the University Administration, the Spring Semester has seen much planning activity including the development of a Strategic Plan review, Academic Development Proposal to UGC and the start of the 2011/12 Annual Planning process to develop 3-year Academic/Operations Plan. While senior management and Budget Committee are heavily involved, stakeholders within the institution have contributed much effort in the preparation of many of the submissions. Faculty and students are also busy at present, with the preparation for examinations and assignments. Talking about assessment, I want to remind you how much the University stresses the importance of academic integrity and honesty. The University publishes guidelines and I know takes an educative rather than punitive approach to the question. That said, the University can only do so much. It is up to each of us as individuals to ensure that we practice and encourage appropriate behaviors. Academic integrity and honesty are critical values in upholding HKUST's reputation as a community of scholars. All students who join HKUST are committed to an Academic Honor Code. The Provost Office is reexamining the existing guidelines and our practice to uphold the University’s principles on Academic integrity and honesty. All staff and students are reminded to be aware of the regulations and work together to maintain the highest standards. Update on the 20th Anniversary Celebrations With the collaborative efforts from Chairmen and members of the Organizing Committee and sub-committees, the 20th Anniversary Celebrations began with Long Service Award ceremony to thank faculty and staff who have served HKUST for 20 years. The Ceremony was held on 27 January 2011 and over 250 faculty and staff members received the Award in recognition of their contribution to the HKUST Miracle. On behalf of the University, I wish to express again our appreciation to the awardees for their years of dedication to the University. As the University moves into its third decade, we have an even bigger dream to chase. The University will continue to rely on your contributions. On 17 February 2011, over 350 students, staff and alumni took part in the '2011 HKUST Run for Vision', a meaningful and colorful event to celebrate the University's 20th Anniversary and to raise funds for ORBIS. The funds raised were presented by me to ORBIS on 20 February when I took part in the Leaders Cup in the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon 2011. The HKUST 20th Anniversary Presidents Dialogue invited distinguished university presidents to share their valuable perspectives on world higher education. We were very happy to have Prof Jean-Lou Chameau, President of California Institute of Technology and Prof Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, Vice-Chancellor of University of Cambridge on 7 April and 13 April respectively. Their talks were insightful and very well received by a packed audience. The philosophy of these great universities does not differ in any great deal from that of HKUST. Both emphasize the need to strive for quality and excellence in all our endeavors. We agree! 'Science' is our middle name! It is the mission of HKUST to promote science in the community. At the juncture of our 20th Anniversary, the 'Einstein in Hong Kong' program aims to offer people of Hong Kong a series of scientific and artistic events centered on the legendary Albert Einstein - one of the greatest scientists in the twentieth century. There will be an exhibition, an academic conference, public lectures, music workshops and concerts, day camps for secondary students, and a writing workshop and competition, to be held over a five-month period from April to August this year. I am sure it will be easy for everyone to find a program of their interest to get a touch with Einstein! The Grand Celebration for the 20th Anniversary was just held at Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center on 8 April 2011. Officials from the Central Government and Hong Kong Government, Consuls-General, donors, institutional leaders, Court and Council members, distinguished alumni and colleagues honored us with their presence. It was indeed a very joyous and memorable event to toast the success of the University with our dedicated founders, faculty and faithful supporters. A big thank you to all the colleagues who helped to make the evening a great success! Take note also that there will be a great celebration party for the 20th Anniversary at the campus on 25 November for all the university community. Check out the 20th Anniversary page for more on the celebration events and read the congratulatory messages from our friends around the world. Meanwhile, I am very pleased to share with you an article published in China Daily on 18 February 2011 entitled 'We Have Good Stories to Tell'. This unsolicited article speaks for itself in terms of the good stories that HKUST has to tell. For me, the most important recognition is that HKUST’s achievements have been realized in 20 short years. This external perception confirms one of the main branding concepts contained in our Strategic Plan. Senior Leadership Appointment The University has recently announced appointments to several senior leadership positions: Professor Lionel Ni as the Dean of HKUST Fok Ying Tung Graduate School and Professor Mitchell M Tseng as Associate Vice-President for Research and Innovation, both effective from 1 March 2011; and Professor Mordecai J Golin as Associate Vice- President for Postgraduate Studies with effect from 1 April 2011. Lionel, Mitchell and Mordecai are experienced leaders and professors of the University with outstanding records in scholarship and teaching, accomplished research achievements and broad administrative experience. I welcome them all to their new roles. 5-year Strategic Plan (2011-2016) Further to my letter in December which highlighted the process and approach of the 5-year Strategic Plan (2011- 16) review, I am pleased to let you know that the Plan was approved by our Council in early March. Building upon our fifteen-year strategic vision, 'The HKUST 2020 Strategic Plan: Building on Excellence', we have developed an updated 5-Year Strategic Plan (2011-2016) that reaffirms our vision and mission. The 5-Year Plan titled '1- HKUST' sets out strategies and objectives in six key developmental areas namely Education, Research, Faculty Development, Community Engagement, International and Mainland Strategy, and Organization and Resources. It will serve as a forward-looking, action-oriented 'work plan' for the University. There has been extensive consultation with faculty and staff. The 5-year Strategic Plan will be released in May. An electronic version will be posted on the University website with an email announcement. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the stakeholders including Court and Council members, faculty, staff and students who have contributed to help shape the approach and content of the Plan during the review process. I enjoy the opportunities to interact with you and I am sure that with the collaborative effect from all the stakeholders, the Strategic Plan will take HKUST to its next level of success. Student Achievements I am always proud of the great achievements of our faculty members but this time, I would like to applaud some of the recent encouraging achievements of our students. We are delighted to acknowledge that our Computer Science programming team (HKUST Optimus Prime), led by Dr. Ke Yi has advanced to the 2011 ACM-ICPC World Finals which will be held in Orlando, USA from 27-31 May, 2011. ACM-ICPC is a very prestigious annual multi-tiered computer programming competition among the universities of the world. This year, around 7,000 teams worldwide participated in the Regional Contests, and among them, 102 teams have qualified for the World Finals. Well done and good luck, HKUST Optimus Prime! At the same time, HKUST students have won gold at the 2010 International Genetically Engineered Machine Competition (iGEM) held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). This contest, iGEM, is the world's largest-scale international student competition in the field of Synthetic Biology with 130 teams and 2,000 participants from universities all over the world took part in the Competition this time. Led by Prof King Chow of the Division of Life Science, our students from different academic departments have made this remarkable achievement. This is a good example of the assimilation of learning, research and extracurricular activities into one single pursuit; and the students have demonstrated an exemplary level of cooperation and team spirit. I would add that our Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) launched 5 years ago has successfully fostered a research culture and enabled undergraduate students to benefit from the research excellence of faculty members. We have plans to expand this program as much as we can. I encourage all eligible students to consider participating. President’s 1-HKUST Student Life Award Launched in early January this year, the President's 1-HKUST Student Life Award aims to support student events and initiatives to foster a greater sense of belonging among HKUST students. I am glad that there was a very enthusiastic response to the Award. Over 20 proposals were received. I endorsed the Selection Committee's recommendation to allocate the Award to five projects. They are March in March, UST Great Minds, HKUST Talent Contest 2011, Organic Fun Day@HKUST and UST Without Boundary. The projects cover a wide spectrum from fitness events to cultural activities with a vision to promote cultural diversity and experiences that engage students to collaboratively develop a vibrant community at the University. The first project, 'March in March' – Hiking with the President: A walk to the Tseung Kwan O Trail, was held on 19 March 2011. Although the weather was a bit foggy that day, people coming along enjoyed the fun of hiking and benefited from the opportunity of getting to know others in the University Community. If you didn’t come to the UST Great Minds event held on 31 March, you have missed a lot of fun! The inspiring and imaginative talks by ten professors from different schools ignited the thinking of the audience. The event was a great success. My congratulations to the organizers. HKUST Convocation 2011-2013 In November 2010, the University Council approved the formation of the HKUST Convocation. According to the Constitution, all degree graduates of HKUST are members of the Convocation. Subsequent to a call for nomination for the Election of the 1st Standing Committee of the HKUST Convocation, nine alumni have been elected to serve on the Committee for a term of 2 years, commencing from 1 April 2011. Alumni, comprising the majority of the Convocation members, will play a significant role in the organization. The University is pleased with the formation of the Convocation and its Standing Committee. It is anticipated that the Convocation can help further to strengthen the alumni network and facilitate alumni’s contributions to the University. Thoughts While we are blessed with the wonderful development of this University, we grieve with all who have lost relatives and friends during the catastrophic earthquakes in New Zealand, China, Japan and Indonesia over the last several months. Please join me to offer our thoughts to all of those in the community touched by the immensity of these human tragedies. I have written to send our sympathy and concerns to some of our close sister institutions in Japan. On top of the serious damage, there is also the worry about the radiation leaks at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. At any rate, in the face of a huge humanitarian disaster, people should come together to aid those in need. In fact, a plea for help also came from the family of Lo Bo Wing who is our Mechanical Engineering exchange out student at the University of Minnesota. Just 19 days after arriving Minneapolis, Bo Wing was diagnosed with blood cancer. Bo Wing is now having chemotherapy in University of Minnesota Medical Center and is in need of bone marrow transplant. The University is offering help to Bo Wing’s family where we can. You can help too! If any of you haven’t yet registered for the Hong Kong Red Cross Bone Marrow Donation Scheme, I urge you to take action immediately because any of us may be a suitable donor to help Bo Wing or others who are suffering from this lifethreatening disease. I sincerely hope that people who suffered or who may be having difficulties in their lives will be able to recover and move forward with strength and determination. We wholeheartedly wish them well. And finally… As I said at the beginning the Spring Semester has been very busy but rewarding. Our campus has been a hive of activity these last weeks. I am sure that all of you, like me, continue to find your experiences at HKUST challenging yet rewarding. Until the next time, best wishes to all and Happy 20th Anniversary! Yours sincerely, Prof Tony F Chan President 15 April 2011 Archive: - Please select - Copyright © 2010 The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology - Please select - 23 December 2010