Newsletter No. 65

2 No. 65 4th March 1995 CUHK Newsletter Comments from Senior Adminstration JOINT UNIVERSITY AND POLYTECHNICADMISSIONS SYSTEM (JUPAS) The exercise for selecting JUPAS applicants for entry in 1995 will soon begin. Mr. S.M. Lee of the Admissions Section, who has witnessed the launching of this joint admission scheme in 1990-91 and its subsequent revision leading to the implementation of a new JUPAS procedure in 1993-94, takes the opportunity to write on the scheme and explain how the new JUPAS procedure worked last year. From the Deputy Registrar Origin of the Joint Admission Scheme The idea of a centralized admissions scheme fo r tertiar y institution s wa s firs t brought up by the Education Commission i n its Repor t No . 2 published i n Augus t 1986 ， but it wa s not until Septembe r 199 0 that the six degree-granting institutions funded by the UPGC launched a joint scheme, known as the Joint University and Polytechnic Admissions System (JUPAS), for processing applications for admission to undergraduate programmes. The main objectives of the scheme were (and have continued to be) to enable the institutions to ru n thei r admissio n exercis e i n a wel l coordinated manner, to allow students to make well-informed choice s o f institutions / programmes, an d t o mak e th e admissio n procedure simpl e fo r bot h institution s an d students. Since at that time the institutions had different entr y point s an d duration s fo r undergraduate studies, the JUPAS operated on a two-year cycle and on the basis of a common decision poin t o f admissio n fo r bot h institutions and students. Students applied for admission when they started their Secondary 6 year and were informed of the results of their applications a t the end of Secondar y 6 . The successful applicant s coul d the n choos e t o accept f i r m offers an d ente r Th e Chines e University immediately or take up conditional offers fo r admission to the six institutions after Secondary 7 . Applicant s als o ha d th e flexibility of not accepting offers made to them so as to remain eligible for consideration by institutions/programmes whic h stil l ha d vacancies. Revision of the Scheme and the New JUPAS Following th e introductio n o f Advanced Supplementar y Leve l subject s i n the Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination from 199 4 an d Th e Chines e University' s decision t o admi t student s onl y afte r Secondary 7 i n th e sam e year , th e JUPA S Board o f Managemen t undertoo k a majo r review o f the JUPAS operation in 1991 . The Board wa s o f th e vie w tha t becaus e o f th e flexibility offere d t o applicants , th e conditional offer approach had created serious uncertainty ove r intake targets and involved too much guess-work on the part of bot h institution s an d applicants; i t wa s als o to o complex and not cost-effective. The Board therefore proposed a revised syste m (ne w JUPAS ) which was based on the iterative model. Th e ne w JUPA S wa s accepted by the institutions fo r implementation with effect from the 1994 entry. The JUPAS Exercise In 1993-94(for 199 4 entry) The ne w JUPA S exercise for 1994 entry operated on a one-year cycle, and began in Septembe r 199 3 whe n Secondary 7 student s an d private candidates were invited to submi t applications . Applicants were allowe d t o ente r u p t o 2 0 study programmes whic h had to be placed in order of preference . The y wer e als o permitte d t o change thei r programm e choice s and/o r th e preference orde r o f th e programme s a t any time unti l 15t h Jun e 1994 . Individua l institutions/programmes considere d th e applicants based on their own criteria, and in the cas e o f Th e Chines e University , th e selection criteri a include d th e applicants ' results i n th e Hon g Kon g Certificat e o f Education Examination and the Hong Kon g Advanced Leve l Examination , an d thei r school principals ' reports . Fo r thos e programmes whic h conducte d admissio n interviews, applicants ' performanc e a t th e interview wa s also taken into account . Afte r the selection exercise, a list of applicants who were considere d worth y o f admissio n wa s drawn up in order of merit (ranking) for each programme. Th e applicant' s 2 0 programm e choices i n orde r o f preferenc e wer e the n matched against the applicant's merit rankings in these programmes in a computer iteration process, an d the applican t wa s offere d th e highest o f hi s preference s (best offer) fo r which hi s meri t rankin g mad e him eligible . Main round offers wer e then made to11 ， 867 successful applicant s (47. 2 pe r cen t o f th e total) in early August 1994, and were accepted by 11,716 applicants. The high acceptance rate was th e resul t o f th e JUPA S polic y tha t applicants who did not take up the offer would not b e furthe r considered , an d the fac t tha t each successful applicant wa s already give n the best offer. Places that could not be filled in th e mai n round , togethe r wit h thos e no t taken up by successful applicants, were later filled b y th e institutions/programmes i n th e clearing round. Some Observations on the 1993-94 Exercise Although the new JUPAS was run for the first tim e in 1993-94 , the operation was considered t o b e smoot h an d th e syste m proved to be much more effective and much simpler tha n the old one. More tha n 91 per cent o f th e seve n institutions ' place s wer e filled in early August, with only a negligibly small numbe r o f drop-out s later . Th e institutions had never been able to achieve this in the past. Owing to a shortage of applicants, the places in certain disciplines, like the physical sciences an d engineering , coul d no t b e completely filled in the main round. This was a territory-wid e phenomeno n an d wa s believed t o b e th e resul t o f a n insufficien t supply o f schoo l leaver s fro m th e scienc e stream and/o r a switc h o f students ' interest fro m scienc e an d engineerin g disciplines t o busines s an d th e humanities. It was also observed that some applicants di d not seem to understand the 'bes t offer ' syste m o f th e ne w JUPAS and did not select and rank their programmes according to their genuine interests. A s a result, the y ende d u p receiving offer s whic h the y di d no t really lik e an d whic h the y ha d n o alternative but to accept. Targets for 199 5 Applications fo r 199 5 entr y were invited from 1s t September to 1st November 1994 . A tota l o f 27,92 3 applications were received, out of which 24,000 od d were submitte d by schoo l applicants. 19 6 programmes offered by the seven institutions are covered in the JUPAS an d 13,86 6 place s ar e available , implying that one in every two applicants will have th e opportunit y o f pursuin g undergraduate studies in 1995-96. Among the institutions, The Chinese University offers the largest number of places and has received the largest number of 'Ban d A' (i.e . first, second and third choice) applications . With th e experienc e gaine d i n las t year's exercise , bot h applicant s an d facult y members of the institutions woul d now have a bette r understandin g o f th e ne w JUPA S procedure. I t i s therefor e expecte d tha t thi s year's JUPA S operation s ca n be even more effectively and smoothly completed. As there is some increase in the number of applicants this year, it is also likely tha t the institutions w i l l fin d i t easie r t o achiev e thei r 199 5 admission targets. S. W. Lee Renditions Anniversary Exhibitions O v e r th e pas t severa l months , th e Research Centre for Translation has been ma r k i ng th e 21s t anniversar y o f it s flagship journal , Renditions, w i t h a special issue , a serie s o f lecture s an d exhibitons featurin g its publications . From 7t h t o 10t h January, a displa y of Renditions cove r art , paperback s an d books wa s held in the foyer o f the Hon g Kong Cultural Centre. Officiating guest s at the opening ceremony o n 7t h Januar y were Si r Josep h Hotung , chairma n o f the Ho n g Ko n g A r t s Deve l opmen t Council an d Mr . Patric k Wu , executiv e director o f th e Win g Lun g Bank . Bot h organizations hel p suppor t th e centre' s publications. S i m i l ar exh i b i t i on s o f centr e publications wer e als o hel d from 3r d t o 15th Februar y a t th e Kowloo n Centra l Library an d fro m 20t h Februar y t o 3r d March a t the University Library . CUHK Team Clinch Silver Medal in Chemistry Olympiad T h e CUH K tea m cam e secon d afte r the Cit y Universit y o f Hon g Kon g i n the s i x t h Ho n g K o n g Ch em i s t r y Olympiad jointly organize d by the Hon g Kong Chemica l Societ y an d th e Roya l Society o f Chemi s t r y . Th e annua l function aim s a t promotin g interes t i n chemistry amon g universit y students . This yea r th e olympia d too k plac e o n 21st January i n the Hong Kon g Scienc e Museum. CUHK tea m members were chemistry majors Cressid a N g Ching-yan , H a Ma n - l e u ng an d H o Suk-che . Thei r advisers wer e Dr. Kevin W. P. Leung and Dr. Raymond W. M. Kwok . United Workshop Addresses Sex Issues United Colleg e hel d it s annua l workshop on 10t h February from 10.0 0 a.m. to 12.45 p.m . i n Lectur e Theatr e C1 . Pane l speakers include d Dr . Cheun g Chan-fa i from th e Departmen t o f Philosophy , Dr . Eliza W.Y . Le e fro m th e Departmen t o f Government an d Publi c Administration , Ms. Cecili a Wong , loca l writer , an d Mr . Wong Kui-hung, dean of students of United College. The y expounde d thei r view s o n the subject of campus sex . The panel presentation was followe d by a heated discussion among participants on related themes such as the relationship between the two sexes and sexual harrassment.