Newsletter No. 73

4 No. 73 4th September 1995 CUHK Newsletter Four New Department Heads Speak Their Minds Thirteen academics in the University assumed department chairmanship for the first time in 1995. They include Lee Wood-hung (Japanese Studies), Simon S. M. Ho (Accountancy), Lau Chung-ming (Management), Hau Kit-tai (Educational Psychology), C. K. Wong (Computer Science & Engineering), P. C. Ching ( E l e c t r o n ic Engineering), Wong Wing-shing (Information Engineering), N. Magnus Hjelm (Chemical Pathology), Ann E. Mackenzie (Nursing), T. F. Fok (Paediatrics), L. A. Damani (Pharmacy), Henry Wong (Chemistry), and Lam Kin-che (Geography). The CUHK Newsletter spoke to them about their thoughts on being appointed as well as plans for their departments. Four of the interviews were conducted in English and the rest in Chinese. What follows is a summary of the views of the four English- speaking department heads. The other reports can he found on the Chinese pages. Prof. N. Magnus Hjelm, Chemical Pathology For Prof. Magnus Hjelm, being appointed as head of his department means following through with tasks he has begun not too long ago, having only come to Hong Kong at the end of 1994 from the Institute of Child Health of the University of London, where he was chair and professor of chemical pathology. So, perhaps the question 'What's your impression of the department?' hasn't yet acquired an obsolete ring to it. 'The department is mature 一 it's been in existence for 10 years now. My collaborators, including those in the Faculty of Medicine and the Prince of Wales Hospital, are all well-trained scientists and academics —people with very good track records. My task has been to see how these people will help me take the department into the next century, beyond July 1997.' In the process of transition one of their main endeavours is to make impact at an international level by doing research of high quality, the findings of which should make their mark in the best journals in the field. Amongst their selected areas of research is molecular pathology, the study which links changes in the molecular machinery in cells and the genetic code to disease. Prof. Hjelm calls himself 'a person looking after molecules .' But what exactly are the factors which motivate him and his co-workers in their molecular pursuits? One important factor is the growing incidence of lipo-disorders, diabetes, and malign diseases worldwide. The changing diet of the local population— from traditional Chinese food to fast food at the expense of our waistlines and life-spans — has meant that Hong Kong enjoys no exemption from this trend. 'There's been a global interest to knowmore about how we' re programmed, because in the long run that will give us the key to what riskswe carry—how we develop diabetes, hypertension, malign disorders, and so on. We hope that, as a result, such disorders can be detected earlier and counselling can be given, as for instance on what foods and working environments to avoid, so that we do not die prematurely.' On the subject of the one-line budget, Prof. Hjelm says he's had good experience with its workings in Denmark and England but has yet to see if it will be the same here. 'Ifit's a real one-line budget, that is, if it allows the departments the full right and responsibility to spend the money as they deem appropriate, it's a good thing; but if there are still barriers between the staff, consumer, and instrument budgets, then it's a three-line budget.' As department head, what words does Prof. Hjelm have for his department? Teamwork. Combined we achieve more than as individuals. I could not have done all this good work myself.' Dr. L. A. Damani, Pharmacy Dr. Damani admits chairing the department is a task he looks forward to, but not without a tinge of apprehension. As the department is relatively new 一 only three years old —he expects his new post to entail a lot of administrative work. And although he welcomes the one-line budget, believing it would make resource allocation more efficient, he is also aware that it would add to his workload. All these new commitments couldmean less time for research, time which has always been precious to him. He relates, 'Inmy academic life I moved twice: once from the University ofManchester to the University of London; and then from the University of London to CUHK in 1992. Both times my research was thrown into disarray. Clearly the new demands on my time now will influence research, but I hope to streamline administrative matters in such a way that it takes a minimum amount of my time away from research .' Dr. Damani would like to clear the air a bit before he gets his hands full. 'I' d like to dispel the notion that senior academics are queuing up to take on the role of department heads. It is in fact an onerous task, one which an academic has to rise to and accept when asked to do so, for the good of the department, faculty, and university.' And indeed, as chairman of the only academic pharmacy department in Hong Kong, there are imminent tasks facing Dr. Damani. These include consolidating the present undergraduate programme in line with feedback from students and external examiners, overseeing the development and approval of a master's degree programme in clinical pharmacy in addition to the present undergraduate programme, preparing for the launching of an M.Phil. programme in 1996, planning for the department's move from the Lady Shaw Building to a new yet undecided location, building the department into a centre of excellence for pharmaceutical education and research in South East Asia, and improving links with professional pharmacy bodies in Hong Kong. The academic year ending in July 1995 saw the graduation of the department's first batch of students. The 31 graduates are also Hong Kong's first group of home-grown prospective pharmacists. Dr. Ann Mackenzie, Nursing Dr. Ann Mackenzie is 'very pleased and excited' about her new responsibilities. Any plans for the department? Lots, she said. The department is trying to channel nursing research, most of which is clinically based, into various focussed areas. One such area is outcome measurement, which essentially measures how much difference nursing care makes to the patients' health. Two projects have already been funded in this area —one investigating the rehabilitation of stroke patients, and a second evaluating new ways of working in community nursing. Another area is health promotion and prevention of life-style diseases, particularly with regard to women's health. These have become increasingly important to people in Hong Kong. Dr. Mackenzie says, 'Our programmes will show a greater emphasis on health promotion and prevention than in the past. This will be particularly evident in the new pre-registration degree course that begins in September.' Teaching also is moving in a new direction. 'We'd like students to think more critically and be more self-directive in their learning. Traditionally they're fairly passive, being used to lectures. We're trying to break up these long sessions by encouraging students to take a more active part in their learning and to do more work on their own using library and laboratory resources and audio-visual materials.' Another ongoing trend in nursing in Hong Kong is more graduate education for nurses. Dr. Mackenzie intends that the department should make greater contributions in this area. This will involve close cooperation with nurses in community and hospitals as well as reinforcing existing links with the School of Nursing and clinical areas at the Prince ofWales Hospital, so that both students and experienced nurses can benefit from the department's courses. Ultimately closer links will be established with nurses in China, but this is still at an early stage. Prof. N. Magnus Hjelm Dr. Ann Mackenzie Dr. L A. Damani Prof. C. K. Wong Dr. Mackenzie welcomes the one-line budget and believes it will bring more flexibility and offer more innovative use of resources. This should allow staff to attract more research funding and increase their research-based publications. 'Most of our research is applied to clinical practice and doesn't use large pieces of equipment that draw in the big funds. A greater exchange of views with nurse researchers from other countries in the Asia Pacific region and elswhere is one of our aims. More control over the budget will help in achieving our research aims.' Dr. Mackenize hopes the members of staff of her department will benefit from her leadership. One of her primary goals is to help academic staff develop as teachers and researchers. That's something I want to introduce into the department 一 more focus on staff development, because staff are the major resource.' Dr. Mackenzie obtained her doctorate at Surrey University in 1990, and has had a nursing career spanning 30 years.' Prof. C. K, Wong, Computer Science and Engineering Future expansion in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering will be marked by an emphasis on computer engineering, according to Prof. C.K. Wong. In fact the department, previously known only as the Department of Computer Science, officially acquired its adjoiner on 1st August 1995. Prof. Wong reports that students have been showing increasing interest in areas of computer engineering such as digital circuit systems, VLSI, and computer-aided design. At present the department is engaged in a wide range of research projects, with two main areas particularly relevant to Hong Kong. The first is intelligent bilingual multimedia information processing. Self-explanatory enough, this of course includes Chinese language processing. The second area comprises projects which utilize the telecommunication capability in Hong Kong, for example, newspapers on line. Prof. Wong, who obtained his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1970, believes that the department is understaffed yet overcrowded. 'Atpresent the student/staff ratio is one of the highest in this university, close to 20:1, compared to an estimate of 10:1 at HKU and HKUST.' He continues, 'Space is another problem. We are the largest department in the Faculty of Engineering and we have a lot of equipment, but we have only two floors with a significant portion of the space being open space not suitable for offices. Overall the entire faculty is under a lot of pressure regarding space.' As a result the department has to make sacrifices. 'We have to keep some computing equipment in boxes and put visiting scholars in the labs.' Piera Chen