Vice-Chancellor's Report 1990-93

Evaluation of Programmes and Courses Alongside the expanding student number and course offerings, a concerted effort has been made to ensure the quality of teaching and maintain academic standards. Course evaluation has been carried out by many departments continuously over the years as a mechanism to obtain feedback from students. To give impetus to the process, the Senate recently resolved to adopt as a policy to require all departments to conduct course evaluation. Each faculty is charged with the task of determining the evaluation mechanism, and is responsbile for the overall supervision and monitoring o f the exercise in departments within its purview. The effectiveness of the course evaluation w i ll nonetheless be reviewed and evaluated at the Un i ve r s i ty level periodically. With the launching o f the new credit unit structure, the role o f the visiting examiners, who have to be selected from senior academics outside the University, has been expanded and strengthened. Their visits are crucial events of the departments. The organization of these visits has evolved towards a fairly structured format. No efforts w i ll be spared to maintain teaching quality and to achieve academic excellence. Participation in Joint University and Polytechnic Admissions System (JUPAS) In September 1990, the University, together with five other UPGC-funded tertiary institutions, launched ajoint admission scheme known as the Joint University and Polytechnic Admissions System for the admission of students to full-time first-year first-degree programmes. Under the new scheme the application procedure is simplified and the institutions' decision points in student selection are synchronized. Secondary 6 students can apply for admission to the six institutions at the same time using a single application form. They w i ll then be considered by the institutions independently on the basis of the students' public examination results (in particular the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination results), academic and extracurricular achievements in Secondary 6， and performance in interviews. Successful applicants are notified by the institutions at the same time so that they can choose from the admission offers the institution and programme they wish to enter most. The University's participation in JUPAS has been successful and student intake under this scheme has been satisfactory in terms o f both quality and number. Following a review there w i l l be further modifications and refinements to this scheme for admissions in 1994. Major Developments in the Faculties With the establishment of a new Faculty of Education and a new Faculty of Engineering in 1991, the University now has seven faculties, whose 57 departments offer a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes to our students. Each faculty has worked hard to improve the scope and content of their courses to cater to the new manpower needs o f society. Faculty of Arts In the Faculty of Arts, a new Department of Japanese Studies was set up in 1991 to offer a multidisciplinary major pro- 7