Bulletin Number Four 1983

Hong Kong witnessed rapid population and economic growth in the 1950s and 60s. The phenomenal expansion in commerce and industry brought with it a pressing need for manpower with diversified talents and the increase in the number of secondary students led to a mounting demand for higher education. In response to these needs, The Chinese University of Hong Kong was established in October 1963. In the past twenty years, the barren hill adjacent to Chung Chi College has been transformed into a magnificient campus. Physical development of the campus was actively undertaken immediately after the Shatin site was formally leased to the University in 1970, and United College (formerly in Hong Kong) and New Asia College (formerly located in Kowloon) were moved to Shatin in 1972 and 1973. The present campus, with a total of ninety-three buildings, is an ideal place for higher learning and research. While the first decade was marked by physical development, the second decade has been characterized by organizational and academic development. Subsequent to the centralization of the three foundation Colleges in Shatin, the organization and functions of the University and its founda- tion Colleges have undergone significant changes and integration of the college departments has been implemented, all with the aim of pooling resources. Initially, the University was a liberal arts university, with only three Faculties: Arts, Science, and Commerce and Social Science. However, with the changing needs of society, the University has taken upon itself to provide more professional education. The Faculty of Business Administration was set up in 1974，and the Faculty of Medicine in 1977，taking in the first batch of medical students in 1981. The University has grown substantially not only in size (with the undergraduate enrolment now nearly reaching 5,000, as compared to the original 1,395) but also in the number of departments, from 16 over 40. Since 1981，apart from four-year full-time undergraduate programme the University has been offering six-year part-time degree programmes, which are an innovation in Hong Kong. Four programmes were introduced in the first two years: Social Work, Business Administration, Chinese and English, and Music. At the postgraduate level, the University has also made significant progress. Since its establishment in 1966, the Graduate School has expanded greatly: the number of divisions has risen from five to twenty- five, offering twenty-six master's programmes and six PhD programmes; and its student body has grown from 31 to 459. The School of Education, which provides professional training for university graduates, had a modest enrolment of 19 in 1965 when it was first set up, but the present enrolment reaches a total of 526 for the full-time and part-time Diploma in Education courses together. The three-year part-time M.B.A. programme, designed for practising managers and executives, now has an enrolment of 4