Newsletter No. 69

2 No. 69 4th May 1995 CUHK Newsletter Right Where You Start Comments from Senior Administration From the Director of Personnel * 'Look at this, The Chinese University of Hong Kong is looking for faculty staff in various disciplines. Should we give it a try? Living and working in an Asian city may be interesting.' 'Yes, why not?' * 'There's an express mail for you from Hong Kong. It must be the contract. Quick, open it.…' ‘I don't understand some of the terms. I'd better clarify with their Personnel Office.' * ‘I just received an e-mail from the Personnel Office. Now that they have clarified the terms for me, I do think I'd like to take the job.' * 'We'll be flying to Hong Kong in three months. We need to reserve plane tickets and ship our things. And where are they going to house us? Don't forget we also need to find a school for Katie.' ' Don 't worry. It is stated in the contract that air passages, housing and visa application will all be taken care of by their Personnel Office. We just need to take a little time to fill in these forms. For Katie's schooling, let me ask if the Personnel Office there can help us in any way when I write to accept their offer.' * 'I just got these two booklets in the mail. This Guidebook for New Staff contains the answers to some of our questions. It states that we can bring pets to Hong Kong, so we can bring Bobby. There's also a list of schools. The Personnel Office suggests that we write to one of these schools and register our need for a place there. This will expedite the application process for admission. I'll go through the Staff Handbook to see what they have on leave, medical benefits, outside practice...' * 'Look at this. The Personnel Office says quarters may not be available for us right away when we arrive in Hong Kong. They ask whether we'd like to stay at a hotel or the University Guest Houses for a few days before we move into the flat on campus. I think we should. I ' ll e-mail Personnel to tell them we've received our employment visa and picked up the plane tickets. Have we missed anything?' * 'Welcome to the University! Was it difficult for you to find your way to the hotel?' 'Notat all. The department arranged for a staff member to pick us up at the airport last Saturday. I really appreciated that. You know, my wife, my daughter and I were carrying so many things with us and we arrived late in the evening.' 'Sorrycampus accommodation is not immediately available. The flats on campus are quite limited. Some flats need to be vacated before they can be renovated and made ready for the newcomers.' 'That's all right. We're fine at our hotel. Here are the receipts for shipping my baggage. I've also filled in the new employees' forms sent to me. I'm supposed to give them to the Personnel Office, which means I should give them to you. Am I right?' 'Yes, you can leave them with us.' 'By the way, I have written down some questions that I still have about the University. I wonder who can help me.' 'Letme see 一 the Staff Quartering Unit will be happy to help you with the questions relating to your flat. The Accounts Office will arrange for the reimbursement of your baggage allowance. I f you prefer bank transfer, we can also arrange for that. Let me check with my colleague about your staff ID number. With that you can go to the University Library to apply for the library card.' Thank you very much. Could I call you again if I have further questions?' 'Certainly.You are always welcome.' This is just one scenario from the initial experiences of an overseas staff at CUHK. The Personnel Of f i ce currently lends its services to over 4,000 staff. The services include recruiting people for different departments, helping appointees to settle in, dealing with matters after appointment such as substantiation, promotion, and retirement, administering benefits such as leave, education allowance and medical care, as well as processing applications for conference attendance, outside practice and staff development. Matters such as individual grievances, staff relation problems, and misconduct calling for disciplinary action also require our attention. And in the meantime, proactive and reactive policy and developmental work are undertaken to correspond to changing University needs. The functions of the Personnel Office are multifarious. Its basic objective is to recruit individuals who can provide the expertise and manpower needed to accomplish the educational mission of the University. On the one hand, we have to ensure that the University is well-equipped to meet this objective; on the other hand, we have a duty to help the University provide a working environment conducive to personal and professional growth, and in keeping with the basic personnel principles of consistency, fairness, and equity. With competing demands, con f l i c t i ng interests, resource constraints, and people-related complexities and sensitivities, it is not an easy task. There is of course always room for improvement in delivering personnel services — we could be more prompt in providing assistance and there could be a more personal touch in dealing with individual problems. There are also policies to be reviewed from time to time. The Personnel Office will continue to work towards realizing the goals of the University, and would earnestly request understanding, cooperation and support from all members of CUHK. Sophie Lau DANCE PROJECT COMES TO A CLOSE The closing performance of the dramatic dance event 'Podium Dance Project 一 University Station' was staged on 24th March at the University Mall. Jointly presented by Sir Run Run Shaw Hall and Dancing City, the performances which spanned seven days took place in different locations on campus, including the University Square and major bus stops. Combining original dance movements with stunning visual images, the project was an attempt to explore the possibilities of dance and provoke thoughts about this art form.