Bulletin Vol. 3 No. 3 Oct 1966

i n a three year o l d! T h i s may not be too apparent to outsiders wh o can observe little of the Un i v e r s i ty a s a physical entity w i t h our three constituent colleges at such distances f r om one another. B ut let me review fo r y ou the events of the year, w h i ch in toto show progress in many fields. As y ou k n ow, we have charted an international course tha t is to keep our Chinese Un i v e r s i ty in the closest t o u c h w i t h universities overseas. No t a b le in this area this past year has been our staff development p r o g r amme. T h r o u g h a gift f r om the F o rd F o u n d a t i o n, ten of our staff have gone to the U n i t ed States, the senior men to engage in research and refresher courses and to get acquainted w i th the wo rk of their colleagues i n that c o u n t r y, the younger staff to study for higher degrees. Also, t h r o u gh the generosity of the Leverhulme T r u s t F u n d and the Shell O il Comp a n y, several of our staff and graduates are s t u d y i ng in the U n i t ed K i n g d o m, at the Un i v e r s i ty of Leeds, at the L o n d on School of Economics, and at the School of O r i e n t al and A f r i c an Studies. T h i s p r o g r amme of staff development is, I believe, u n i q ue among the universities of the wo r l d, and it is one we expect to continue. Great effort has been and is being made to recruit Professors and other senior Un i v e r s i ty teaching staff. B u t since our standard is high, r e c r u i t me nt has been relatively slow. I am happy, however, to be able to report that Professor Joseph F u has j u st arrived to occupy the Chair of Ch em i s t ry and Professor C h ' iu K a i m i n g t o assume the Un i v e r s i ty L i b r a r i a n s h i p. On the international level, the past year has also seen th e start of the California p r o g r amme, w h i ch w i t h othe r programmes has b r o u g ht students and scholars f r om overseas to the Un i v e r s i t y. T h i s year the n umb e rs have increased. T h e French, Ge r man and Japanese Go v e r nme n ts have c o n t r i b u t ed the services of language teachers to the Un i v e r s i t y, and the latter t w o have offered fellowships for our graduates to study at universities in their countries. I n the colleges, too, contact w i t h overseas institutions has g r own. T h e r e are the W i l l i ams P r o g r amme at U n i t e d, the Ya l e - i n - Ch i na P r o g r amme at N e w Asia, and at C h u n g C h i the D a r t mo u t h, Princeton and Wellesley Programmes. D u r i n g this past year we have seen the establishment of the Un i v e r s i ty Grants Comm i t t ee w i t h distinguished representation f r o m the U n i t ed K i n g d o m, Australia, and H o n g K o n g. T h e Comm i t t ee has met in H o n g K o n g twice to consider Un i v e r s i ty needs for the T r i e n n i um 1967 to 1970. These ma ny developments are a measure of our c o n t i n u i ng c omm i t me nt to a Un i v e r s i t y that looks o u t wa rd as we ll as i nwa r d. As to our internal developments, considerable progress can be reported. L e t me speak first of academic development. A year ago we saw the inauguration of the School of Education. T h e graduates of the first class are n ow serving the c ommu n i ty in various educational capacities. T h a n k s to the Asia Fo u n d a t i o n, the Centre for Mass Commu n i c a t i o ns was also established d u r i n g the year, w i t h a distinguished Ad v i s o ry Boar d of publishers, journalists and other experts. T h e Social Survey Research Center was set up in the s p r i ng w i t h F o r d F o u n d a t i on support, and has since been at w o rk on t w o i mp o r t a nt projects, the F am i ly Survey and the H i g h er L e v el Ma n p o w er Survey, T h i s September we have seen the inauguration of the L i n g n an I n s t i t u te of Business A dm i n i s t r a t i o n, a very happy event made possible by generous donations f r om the Board of Trustees of L i n g n an U n i v e r s i t y; and also this year the Un i v e r s i ty Graduate School has opened its doors, a very significant event in the history of the Un i v e r s i t y. T h e Graduate School has a dm i t t ed 33 students to w o r k fo r the Master Degree in five fields: Business A dm i n i s t r a t i o n, Chines e L i n g u i s t i cs and L i t e r a t u r e, Chinese H i s t o r y, Geography, and Philosophy. T h e reason for selecting only these fields at this time was to meet the f o l l ow i ng criteria: (1) the p r o g r amme p l a n n i ng had been completed by the professors concerned, mos t of w h om h o ld permanent chairs; (2) there was a sufficient n umb er of experienced staff to teach and supervise graduate level studies; and (3) the l i b r a ry and laboratory facilities were adequate. T h e Institutes have been increasingly busy w i t h a wide variety of research projects. T h e Geography Research Center has received a grant f r om the Rockefeller F o u n d a t i on fo r an i mp o r t a nt population study, n ow well under way. T h e Economic Research Center w i l l, i n a few mo n t h s' time, complete its agricultural study on a projection to 1980 of the H o n g K o n g demand for agricultura l staples, w i t h funds p r o v i d ed by the U n i t e d States Go v e r nme n t. T h e Center for Chinese L i n g u i s t i cs S t u dy operates w i t h funds f r om the Asia F o u n d a t i on for special research in that field. On the undergraduate level there have been i mp o r t a nt developments. Perhaps wh at is most significant is the broad change in teaching methods w i t h the introduction of small-class teaching and seminars and the i n t r o d u c t i on of so-called "core" programmes in the curricula. T h e latter refers to the reduction of required courses to the essential m i n i m u m, thus freeing the teachers for t u t o r i al wo rk and more research, and also g i v i ng the students greater freedom to exercise their intellectual curiosity. I n d e p e n d e nt research by Un i v e r s i ty an d College staff has, indeed, increased substantially d u r i ng the year. T h r ee new undergraduate departments or subjects have been introduced, Journalism at N ew Asia, Mu s ic at C h u ng Chi, and Electronics at Un i t e d. I n the area of capital development I have several i mp o r t a nt matter s to report. T h e I n t e r - Un i v e v s i ty H a l l to house visiting scholars has been completed. I 2