Vice-Chancellor's Report 1978-82

Chapter 5 Academic Exchang e an d Outside l ink s International Link s Continuing the tradition to foster a truly international character for the University, the many international links established in the past have been further cultivated and expanded. The University continues to benefit from its association with international and regional associations of universities such as the International Association of Universities (IAU), the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU), and the Association of Southeast Asian Institutions of Higher Learning (ASAIHL). Generous support for staff training and teaching as well as research visits was extended to the University by a large number of international foundations and agencies including the British Council, the Croucher Foundation, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and the Trustees of Lingnan University, while the Governments of France, West Germany, Italy andJapan continue to support the University with visiting lectureships. International Exchange Programmes It has long been an established policy of the University to encourage the exchange of academic staff and students with universities in other parts of the world. International exchange programmes exist in many different units within the University, and are coordinated by the Senate Committee on International Programmes. The largest among such programmes is the International Asian Studies Programme (IASP). Established in 1976 in cooperation with the Yale-China Association, it had already attracted a total of some 302 students, researchers and scholars to the University from 21 countries, mainly the United States andJapan. IASP participants were associate students of the University and therefore free to take courses offered in the regular curriculum; the Programme itself also offered a number of its own courses to cater to the special needs of the participants. Apart from regular courses in the areas of Chinese language and 45