Annual Report 1994-95

Vice-Chancellor's Review 校長報告 3 Vice-Chancellor' s Revie w D u r i n g the year u n d er r e v i ew, o ur University recruited s ome 180 n e w staff a nd a dm i t t ed over 4,000 students. It is n o w 23 per cent larger i n staff p o p u l a t i on a nd some 12 p er cent larger i n student p o p u l a t i on than it was just three years ago i n 1991-92. T h e v o l ume of academic activity w i t h i n the University has increased i mme n s e l y. T h e i m p r o v ed f u n d i ng p o s i t i on a nd the p e r c e p t i on of significant opportunities i n H o n g K o n g h a ve s t i mu l a t ed action. T h e c omp e t i t i on f or research f u n ds a n d f or students a m o n g local tertiary institutions has accentuated the quest f or excellence. This year m u c h a t t e n t i on was p a i d to three areas i n particular ： the quality of teaching, a n e w f u n d i ng mo d e l, a n d institutional morale. This was d r i v en b y events b o t h internal a n d external to the University. Te a c h i ng Qu a l i t y For several years this university has increased the quality a nd quantity of research. I n the competitive b i d d i ng for research funds f r om the Research Grants Council (RGC), C U H K has s c o r ed e x c e p t i o n a l ly w e l l e a ch y e a r. T h i s, w h e n c o u p l e d w i t h t he i n t r o d u c t i on of the research assessment exercise b y the University Grants Comm i t t ee (UGC), a n d the focus o n tangible outputs as a measure of scholarly achievements, l e d t o a p e r c e p t i o n o n t he p a r t o f s o me academics that emphasis m a y have b e en tilted t o o far towards research. Colleagues w e r e alive to this danger, a n d measures h a v e b e e n i n t r o d u c ed t o r e d r e ss t he b a l a n c e, a n d to r e - a f f i rm t he p r i m a r y i mp o r t a n ce of excellence i n research. I n a n article p u b l i s h ed i n the CUHK Newsletter, a f o r t n i g h t ly p u b l i c a t i on f or i m p r o v i n g i n t e r n al c o m m u n i c a t i o n, I a r g u e d f o r t he i m p o r t a n ce o f t e a c h i ng excellence. My contention was a nd is that teaching our students a n d fostering their l e a r n i ng are our p r i ma ry responsibilities. Since r e s e a r ch is essential i n e n a b l i ng t e a c h i n g m e m b e r s t o c r e a t e n e w k n o w l e d g e as w e l l as to k e e p u p w i t h