The First Six Years 1963-69

first time in the history o f civilization, the time span o f drastic cultural change has been telescoped into less than the normal life time o f an individual. The present generation o f mature adults re present the first generation faced w ith managing a culture sub stantially different from the one they originally inherited. One major consequence o f this new way o f life is to cause the well- educated youth o f today to become an obsolete man o f tomorrow unless he keeps abreast o f new developments. Obsolescence occurs visibly in regard to knowledge. The set o f facts that the present adult generation learned in their youth about nature, the human personality, the arts and the ordering o f human affairs has today been supplanted by a more complete and ex tensive set. In regard to skills ， obsolescence is even more apparent. The rapid rate o f technological change today requires that adults adopt new methods o f work and often even new vocations. There are other ways o f becoming obsolete, which are less visible, but more tragic. The increasing necessity for maintaining mob ility coincident w ith concentrated urban living now requires adults w ith in their life-time to learn new patterns ， values, affiliations and ways o f personal identification w ith the ir environment. The Department o f Extramural Studies is not only conceived as an arm o f the University, bu t also as an instrument to take the pulse o f the community and thereby diagnose its strengths and weaknesses. Not only does the Department o f Extramural Studies open the gates o f learning to outsiders, bu t i t also pushes the walls o f the campus far beyond its physical site to encompass the whole community. As early as March 1964 ， an Extramural Studies Committee was appointed by the Vice-Chancellor to examine the possibility o f instituting Extramural Studies for The Chinese University and to propose a workable programme. The Committee was chaired by the President o f United College ， who submitted a report on behalf o f the Committee to the Vice-Chancellor in June o f the same year recommending that a Department o f Extramural Studies be estab lished as soon as possible. The Department launched its first pro gramme in A p ril 1965 by offering a course in Modern Mathematics to acquaint school teachers w ith the teaching o f this new mathe matical concept. From then on, the expansion o f the Extramural Department has been most impressive. The President o f United College was appointed concurrent D irector o f the Extramural Studies Department and the services o f a fu ll-time Deputy Director were secured. A Provisional Board was formed in 1966 ， which was changed into an Advisory Board in 1967. M r. K.S. Lo assumed the chairmanship o f this Board ， whose members include two members o f the University Council and other 66