Bulletin Autumn‧Winter 2005

They helped bring the University into being: Dr. Choh-Ming Li and Mr. J.S. Fulton (1962) The college system of T h e Ch i n e s e U n i v e r s i ty can be r o u g h l y d i v i d e d i n t o t h r e e p e r i o d s. T h e first p e r i o d w i t n e s s ed the f o u n d i ng of the University. In 1957, N e w Asia, C h u n g C h i a n d U n i t e d came together to f o r m the Chinese C o l l e g es J o i nt C o u n c i l w i t h the objective of s e c u r i ng g o v e r n m e nt r e c o g n i t i on f o r t h e i r e f f o r ts i n p r o v i d i n g higher education for local y o u n g people. A f t er years of negotiation, th e g o v e r nme nt f i n a l ly a p p o i n t e d a c o mm i s s i o n i n 1962 w i t h M r . John S. F u l t on as c h a i r man to consider a n d d e t e r m i n e w h e t h e r a n d h o w a C h i n e se u n i v e r s i ty c o u l d b e created f r o m the thre e c o l l e g e s. I n A p r i l 1963, t he C o m m i s s i on p u b l i s h e d a r e p o r t, k n o w n as t he Fulton Report, r e c omme n d i ng th e establishment of a u n i v e r s i t y. T h e Report w a s a p p r o v e d i n p r i n c i p le b y the g o v e r nme n t. In Octobe r the same year, The Chinese U n i v e r s i ty of H o n g K o n g wa s f o r ma l l y f o u n d e d. Re f o r ms we re ma de d u r i n g the second period. In 1975, the g o v e r n or of H o n g Ko n g , in his capacity as chancellor o f the University, a p p o i n t ed an externa l c omm i s s i o n to r e v i e w the constitutional arrangements governing the U n i v e r s i t y a n d its c o n s t i t u e nt colleges. The n e xt y e a r, t he s e c o n d Fulton Report w a s p u b l i s h e d . I n t he Report, t h e c o mm i s s i on proposed that the Un i v e r s i ty s h o u l d strive to strike a balance b e t we e n ‘subject-orientated’ teaching a n d small g r o up 'student-orientated’ t e a c h i n g, a n d t h a t t h e l a t t e r s h o u l d be e n t r u s t e d to t he colleges. T he U n i v e r s i ty w o u l d be r e s p o n s i b l e f o r a c a d e m ic a n d d e v e l o pme nt policy , f i n a n c i a l ma n a g eme n t, the c u r r i c u l um , the conduct of examinations , a n d the a w a r d of degrees. The p a r t i c i p a t i on of senior academics i n the g o v e r n i n g bodies of the Un i v e r s i ty w o u l d be strengthened. The colleges w o u l d take care of teaching designed to h e l p s t u d e n ts d e v e l o p t he h a b i ts a n d mindsets r e q u i r ed of experts i n their chosen fields a n d to e q u ip t h e m w i t h the necessary skills for meeting n e w challenges i n a r a p i d l y changing w o r l d. In the third period, Th e Chinese University experienced n ew d e v e l o pme n t. Two decade s after its inception, the U n i v e r s i t y wa s u n d e r pressure t o meet the demands of an increasing s t u d e n t p o p u l a t i o n w i t h the facilities of the three colleges. I n 1986, th e University received a generous d o n a t i o n of HK$110 m i l l i on f r o m the Shaw F o u n d a t i on for the establishment of a n e w college, n amed Sh aw College after its patron Sir Run Run Shaw. The college admitted its first batch of students i n 1988. E m p h a s i z i ng the v a l u e of n o n - f o r m al e d u c a t i on a n d w h o l e - p e r s on d e v e l o pme n t, the college system o f The Chinese Un i v e r s i ty is a u n i q ue featur e a m o n g h i g h e r - e d u c a t i o n i n s t i t u t i o ns i n H o n g K o n g. The college s are sma ll c ommu n i t i es w h e r e pastoral care a nd g u i d a n ce are p r o v i d e d a n d t e a c h e r s a n d 4 Chinese University Bulletin Autumn • Winter 2005