Newsletter No. 60

Are We Expecting Too Much? Prof. Y.M. Yeung on collegiate systemand the Shawspirit Prof. Yeung Yue-man graduatedfrom the University o fHong Kong with a BA(Hons) degree, and went to North America topursue postgraduate studies in Geography. He receivedhis MAfrom the University o f Western Ontario and his doctoratefrom the University o f Chicago. Prof. Yeungjoined The Chinese University asprofessor o fgeography in 1984, He served as University Registrarfrom 1986 to 1990, when he was appointed director o fthe Hong Kong Institute o fAsia-Pacific Studies, a post he still holds today. He became head o f Shaw College in February 1994. Collegiate System on Decline? ‘Colleges still have their distinct functions. However, it’s also time for their role in university education to be redefined.' This is the response o f Prof. Y. M. Yeung, who was appointed head o f Shaw College last February, to comments from teachers and students who held the view that the influence o f colleges is gradually on the decline and the college spirit is waning. These May be The Reasons Prof. Yeung has analysed the factors contributing to the colleges' apparent decline. He believes that the following five have been the most important. First, the colleges are now much larger than before, and it is a fact that as any organization grows larger, internal coherence and effectiveness o f intra-communication w ill naturally and inevitably be sacrificed. A college with over two thousand teachers and students nowadays cannot aspire to the close interpersonal relationships that existed 30 years ago, when the same college