Chinese University of Hong Kong

The Chinese University of Hong Kong
香港中文大學
Motto	博文約禮 (Classical Chinese)
Motto in English	To broaden one's intellectual horizon and keep within the bounds of propriety
Established	17.10.1963
Type	Public
Chairman	Dr. Vincent Cheng
Chancellor	Sir Donald Tsang
President	Prof. Joseph Sung
Vice-president	Prof. Benjamin Wah Prof. Kenneth Young Prof. Jack Cheng Prof. Pak-chung Ching Prof. Michael Hui Prof. Henry Wong Prof. Yangsheng Xu
Provost	Prof. Benjamin Wah
Vice-Chancellor	Prof. Joseph Sung
Undergraduates	11,255
Postgraduates	3,060
Location	Ma Liu Shui, Sha Tin, New Territories, Hong Kong 22°25′11″N 114°12′24.45″E
Campus	Rural, 137.3 hectares (1.373 km2)
Colors	Purple and gold
Affiliations	ASAIHL, ACU, IAU, Association of Christian Universities and Colleges in Asia
Website	www.cuhk.edu.hk/

Chinese University of Hong Kong
Traditional Chinese	香港中文大學
Simplified Chinese	香港中文大学
Transcriptions Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin Xiānggǎng Zhōngwén Dàxué Cantonese (Yue) - Jyutping hoeng1 gong2 zung1 man4 daai6 hok6 - IPA [hœ̂ːŋkɔ̌ːŋ tsʊ́ŋmɐ̏n tàːihɔ̀ːk]

The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Abbreviation: CUHK or Chinese University) is the second oldest university in Hong Kong. Its languages of instruction are English, Cantonese, and Mandarin. The school is also the home to the Yale-China Chinese Language Center.

The university has 61 academic departments organized under eight faculties: arts, business administration, education, engineering, social science, medicine, science, and law. Within these 61 departments are 117 undergraduate programs and 247 postgraduate programs.

The CUHK has a great achievement in Physical science and Mathematics and is the only tertiary education institution in Hong Kong with Nobel Prize Laureates being professors in it, including Chen Ning Yang, James Mirrlees, Robert Alexander Mundell and Charles K. Kao (Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics, 2009). Others include mathematician Shing-Tung Yau, laureate of the prestigious Fields Medal and Veblen Prize, and computational theorist Andrew Yao, laureate of the Turing Award. It also has laureate of the Fields Prize (Prof. Shing-Tung Yau), equivalent to Nobel Prize.

Rankings

CUHK possesses different positions in various University rankings done by various recognized institutions. In 2011, QS World University Rankings placed CUHK at 37th in the world, making it 2nd in Hong Kong and 5th in Asia but the QS department of Asian University rankings which releases an independent list each year ranked the CUHK 3rd in Hong Kong and 5th in Asia. The Times Higher Education World University Rankings gave this university a position of 151th in the world, making it 15th in Asia and 3rd in Hong Kong.

Tradition and history

The university's founders hoped that it would become the bridge that connects China and the West, and to combine tradition with modernity.

Collegiate system

As a collegiate university, it comprises seven colleges that differ in character and history, each retaining substantial autonomy on institutional affairs: Chung Chi College, New Asia College, United College, Shaw College, Morningside College, S. H. Ho College, and Lee Woo Sing College. All undergraduates are affiliated to one of them. Currently, two new colleges are to be established in the near future; namely Wu Yee Sun College and C. W. Chu College.

Colleges are communities with their own hostels, dining halls and other facilities. Students receive pastoral care and whole-person education, including formal and non-formal general education by means through close interaction with teachers and peers. Colleges promote extracurricular activities.

Science Center in the main campus

Hotel affiliated to the Hotel Management program

Ho Sin-Hang Building, home to the Faculty of Engineering

History

• 1957, New Asia College, Chung Chi College, and United College established the Hong Kong Chinese Higher Education Association, same year, the colleges received government funding and academic status.
• 1959, New Asia College, Chung Chi College, and United College became government funded institutions of higher education.
• 1963, New Asia College, Chung Chi College, and United College combined to become The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
• 1965, School of Education established.
• 1976, The Chinese University of Hong Kong Ordinance enacted, CUHK was established as a collegiate university.
• 1977, School of Medicine established.
• 1986, Shaw College established.
• 1991, School of Engineering established.
• 1994, converted to three-year bachelor degree program.
• 2004, School of Law established.
• 2006, the establishment of two new colleges, Morningside College and S. H. Ho College, was announced.
• 2007, three colleges, C. W. Chu College, Wu Yee Sun College and Lee Woo Sing College, were announced.

Funding

In 2005, The Chinese University of Hong Kong's budget was HK$4,558 million, with government subventions of about HK$2,830 million. In the 2008-09 fiscal year (starts April 1), total income was down to $4,413 million while government subvention had risen to $2,916 million.

The university's School of Continuing and Professional Studies (SCS) was established in 1965 under the name of the Department of Extramural Studies. In January 2006, the school was renamed the School of Continuing and Professional Studies.

Libraries and museum

Gate of Wisdom, a 1987 bronze sculpture by Ju Ming, standing outside of the University Library

Main article: Art Museum of the Chinese University of Hong Kong

The university library system houses the Hong Kong Studies Archive, Hong Kong Literature Collection, Chinese Overseas Collection, Nobel Laureate GAO, Xingjian Collection, Nobel Laureate CY Yang Archive, American Studies Resource Collection and Modern Chinese Drama Collection.

CUHK also houses the Chinese University of Hong Kong Art Museum, which houses "a wide range of artifacts illuminating the rich arts, humanities and cultural heritage of ancient and pre-modern China." In 2010, The Chinese University of Hong Kong was chosen to be a part of the BBNM Group for its excellence in co-operation projects with the corporate world in Hong Kong. Today, they are represented among the BBNM Member schools.

Faculties

There are eight faculties at CUHK:

Faculty of Arts Faculty of Business Administration Faculty of Education Faculty of Engineering

Faculty of Medicine Faculty of Social Science Faculty of Science Faculty of Law

Each faculty runs undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.

Yale-China Chinese Language Center

Main article: Yale-China Chinese Language Center

The Yale-China Chinese Language Center (CLC), formerly New Asia - Yale-in-China Chinese Language Center, was founded in 1963 under the joint auspices of New Asia College and the Yale-China Association. The center became part of Chinese University in 1974 and has been responsible for the teaching of one language education (Putonghua and Cantonese) of university students as well as other Putonghua and Cantonese learners. Courses are offered for non-native speakers and for native speakers of Chinese.

University programs are divided into Putonghua courses for local students, Cantonese courses for mainland Chinese Students and Putonghua and Cantonese courses for international exchange students

Programs are provided to public, with Putonghua/Cantonese courses for non-native speakers (Chinese as a foreign language/second language, CFL), and Putonghua/Cantonese courses for native Chinese speakers.

Transportation

Although the campus is located away from the busier districts in Hong Kong, access to campus is easy. The university connects with the other districts of the city via the Mass Transit Railway and the Hong Kong bus system. Buses and trains stop by Chung Chi College.

See Maps of the Shatin main campus: Campus Maps

Controversies

Goddess of Democracy

Main article: Goddess of Democracy (Hong Kong)#CUHK controversy

On 29 May 2010, when the CUHK student union sought to permanently locate a 'Goddess of Democracy' statue on campus, the administrative and planning committee of the University convened an emergency meeting for 1 June, chaired by incumbent Vice-chancellor Lawrence Lau, to consider the request. The application was turned down; the reason provided was the need for the University to maintain political neutrality. Staff and students objected to the refusal, however, accusing the committee of self-censorship; students declared they were prepared for a stand-off against the University, saying they would ensure the statues were accommodated on campus "at all costs".

Students attend an open-air meeting at the university campus

A student meeting was convened, and student union President Eric Lai told 2,000 attendees that the University officials should apologise for their opposition of the art display. On 4 June, bowing to public outcry and student pressure, the University relented, and allowed the statue on campus.

The Goddess and the accompanying relief at the Chinese University Shatin campus

Vice-chancellor designate Joseph Sung, who was consulted on the vote in absentia, admitted that it was the biggest political storm in 21 years. He revealed that, in addition to preserving political neutrality, safety and security concerns were factors in the decision. He also drew a distinction between this application - for a permanent University installation - and hypothetical applications for short-term expressions of free speech, suggesting the latter would have been more likely to be approved, but he criticised the management team as "immature" and "inexperienced" in handling the incident.

An editorial in The Standard criticised the committee's naivety in not anticipating the reaction. It was also highly critical of Sung for seeking to distance himself from the decision with such a "lame excuse". Outgoing Vice-chancellor Lawrence Lau defended the committee's decision as "collective and unanimous" after "detailed consideration," citing the unanimous vote of the administrative and planning committee, and he disagreed with Sung's characterization of the management team. While the vote was unanimous, however, Sung stated that he had suggested the wording of the decision include the qualification that the committee "had not reached a consensus."

The student union said the two professors should have communicated to reach a consensus, and that Lau's reply "failed to explain why the school used political neutrality as a reason to reject the statue."

Vice-chancellors (Presidents)

• (1963-1978) Professor Choh-Ming Li (李卓敏教授)
• (1978-1987) Professor Ma Lin (馬臨教授)
• (1987-1996) Professor Sir Charles K. Kao (高錕教授), Laureate of the Nobel Prize in Physics 2009
• (1996-2002) Professor Arthur Li (李國章教授)
• (2002-2004) Professor Ambrose King (金耀基教授)
• (2004-2010) Professor Lawrence J. Lau (劉遵義教授)
• (2010–Present) Professor Joseph Jao-yiu Sung (沈祖堯教授)

CUHK people

Main article: List of Chinese University of Hong Kong people

Focused areas of research

CUHK has adopted in its Strategic Plan 2006 the strategy of focusing its research investments in five fields of academic enquiry:

• Chinese Studies
• Biomedical Sciences
• Information Sciences
• Economics and Finance
• Geoinformation and Earth Sciences

See also

• Education in Hong Kong
• List of universities in Hong Kong
• Joint University Programmes Admissions System
• List of buildings and structures in Hong Kong
• Sister school from Taiwan:Taipei Medical University
• CUSIS

External links

• Official website
• Chung Chi College
• New Asia College
• United College
• Shaw College
• Morningside College
• S.H. Ho College
• CW Chu College
• Wu Yee Sun College
• Lee Woo Sing College
• 40 years of CUHK
• Centre for Innovation and Technology (CINTEC)