Bulletin No. 2, 2013

10 Chinese University Bulletin No. 2, 2013 Prof. Charles K. Kao with international students in the late 80’s In 1991, the Office of Academic Links was set up to coordinate the academic links programmes in individual units and to introduce interested institutions outside the University to parties within. At the time, CUHK was starting to dramatically raise its internationalization efforts. Mr. Mark Sheldon recalled that the then Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Charles K. Kao and other University leaders wanted to quickly expand bilateral agreements and diversify ties to include more European, Asian, even Latin American linkages. ‘The idea was to shift from a “study abroad” model of receiving international students from abroad to an exchange partnership model of greater range and diversity, allowing many more CUHK and College- level exchanges to emerge…. The leaders also saw the need for CUHK to expand its linkages with institutions in mainland China and Taiwan,’ he remarked. Today the OAL is the international academic relations arm of the University, promoting and facilitating the internationalization of the University in its research, teaching and learning programmes to help seek recognition for the University as a global leader and to nurture students to have a high degree of intercultural sensitivity, tolerance and a global perspective. To these ends, it develops bilateral student exchange and other international education programmes, builds teaching and research partnerships with overseas institutions, and engages CUHK members in the international academic community. The Universit y has over 520 international collaboration programmes with some 300 institutions in 34 countries/regions for research collaborations, faculty exchanges, joint teaching and student mobility presently. Importantly, a spirit of engagement with the world has been integrated into the culture of the campus. Ms. Fan who joined OAL 13 years ago, has noticed a change in mindset towards studying abroad. ‘When I first came, I had to convince students to go abroad. Many were eager to be done with studies and earn their first “bucket of gold”. But it seems we’ve managed to instil international education into their minds. At orientation days for secondary school students, the youngsters tell us they know about our programmes and they’re eager to go on exchange. It’s one of the reasons they apply to CUHK.’