Newsletter No. 143

2 No. 143 4th April 1999 CUHK Newsletter Treatment Late for Children with Mental Problems A study conducted by the Department of Psychiatry on the clinical profiles of children attending a psychiatric clinic revealed that in most of the cases the mental problem was not detected, nor the child referred, early enough. A total of 51 children up to age 17 referred to the L i Ka Shing Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Clinic were studied over a three-year period. The three major sources of referral were: (1) other departments of the Prince of Wales Hospital; (2) the Education Department/ schools; and (3) general practitioners. Fifty-six per cent of the second group, 43 per cent of the first group, and 24 per cent of the third group showed emotional and disruptive behaviour disorders. Three- quarters of the second group had had the problems for over ayear compared to only half of those referred by the other two sources. Ninty-eight per cent of the second group and 80 per cent of the other two groups received a psychiatric diagnosis. A third of the second group required in-patient treatment, while only 8 to 10 per cent of the other two groups were hospitalized. The study concluded that child psychiatric problems must be detected and treated at a much earlier stage. Otherwise the problems will escalate and continue into adulthood. Child mental health service should also be expanded and its mode of delivery further developed. Mrs. Shelley Lau, Director of Home Affairs, spoke on 'Future Challenges for District Administration' at the fifth College Life Luncheon 1998-99 of Chung Chi College on 10th March. More TDU Seminars Teaching for Graduate Capabilities Prof. John Bowden, director of the Educational Programme Improvement Group and professor of educational development of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Australia, and Prof. Ference Marton, professor at the Department of Curriculum Studies of the University of Hong Kong, were invited by the Teaching Development Unit to conduct four seminars on Teaching for Graduate Capabilities for teaching staff of the University from 1st to 4th March. Seminar topics included the development of generic capabilities, variation and learning, m i x i ng teaching methods and choosing assessment methods t o develop graduate capabilities. Student Ratings as Indicators of Teaching Quality Prof. Ting Kwok-fai of the Department of Sociology shared his research findings on the reliability and validity of student ratings with staff from different faculties at a workshop organized by the Teaching Development Unit on 12th March. Prof. Ting's study used data collected from over 11,000 students from 2,442 sociology classes between 1994 and 1998 at the University, and examined the meanings of three overall course ratings: overall satisfaction with lecturing performance, overall satisfaction with course design, and students' self-rated study effort. The findings suggested that Hong Kong students are reliable raters, that student ratings are largely valid measures of education quality, and that course evaluation can be a very informative source for educators to improve teaching quality. Ar eTime s Propitiou s fo r a BB A Programm e i nHote l Management Acting Director of the School of Hotel Management Prof. Lee Kam-hon Shares His Views Prof. Lee Kam-hon A new School of Hotel Management has been established under the Faculty of Business Administration at the University and will admit the first batch of 50 students to its BBA programme in Hotel Management this September. The new programme aims at giving an integrated business education to its students with real-life application in the industries of hotel, tourism, and real estate. This perhaps explains why acting-director of the school Prof. Lee Kam-hon remains optimistic about the school's reception by the public despite the current economic downturn. 'The nurturing of expertise is a long-term endeavour. Education should not vacillate between what is "hot" from one moment to the next. Similarly, the nurturing of industries requires the patience and foresight of leaders in society. If one is convinced of a brighter prospect for Asia and for the hotel and tourism industries, i t is only logical to plan beyond the current economic downturn,' he pointed out. The faculty's business administration programme gives students an all-round education. He explained that they learn how to lead an enterprise and acquire skills that go beyond the demands of particular industries. As such they should be able to adapt their skills in accordance with the demands of changing conditions. 'As a School of Hotel Management, we'd like them to contribute in specific areas such as hotel, tourism, real estate, consultancy etc. of course. But the programme is only a laboratory for them to strengthen their grasp on business and management concepts and for them to delve further into concrete problems i n particular industries,' he said. Tourism makes up a very significant part 一 approximately 10 to 12 per cent 一 of the Gross Domestic Product of developed countries such as the US and the UK. It is also agreat help to employment, much more so than the financial market which also brings in much income. As Hong Kong is a developed economy, it depends on tourism to bring i n income and employment opportunities. Prof. Lee predicts that the current lull is only short-term. Looking at tourism in terms of two of its major components, the meeting industry and the sightseeing industry, he pointed out that although the holding of conventions and exhibitions depends largely on economic prosperity, and may not be faring so well at present, better times are expected. This is due to Hong Kong's role as both 'gateway' and 'meeting place': it is the 'gateway to mainland China' and occupies the 'heart of Asia'. The performance of the other component, the sightseeing industry, depends on the attractiveness of a place to tourists. In this respect Hong Kong also has enormous potential as it embodies both the traditional and the modern. He said, 'Mainlanders want to come here because it is a world class modern city, whereas tourists from the West are attracted by its strong Chinese tradition.' He added that setting up the school now is an advantage in a way because when the economy is not going at full speed, i t offers leaders and educationalists of a society an opportunity to reexamine issues such as manpower training and the orientation of its industries and try to reinforce foundations. Yet would the students also share Prof. Lee's faith in the future and would the School of Management be able to attract the top students in the yearly intake as the faculty has done in the past? 'This is a question not only for the school but for the whole business faculty,' Prof. Lee said. 'There should not be any worries. China will play an essential role on the world stage in the future, Hong Kong w i ll play an essential role in China, and business will continue to play an essential role in both China and in the region.' He added that when the first batch of students graduate in 2001, the economy may have revived in which case demand for people with their skills and calibre may far outweigh the supply. 'What I want to tell the students is this: in the worst case scenario, you are not worse off than students of other business disciplines; and in good times, you will do very well indeed,' lie said. The school is hiring teaching staff from two main sources: teachers of business who are knowledgeable in the areas of hotel, tourism, and real estate; and hotel management experts who 'treasure the value of conducting rigorous research in business as a discipline'. Prof. Lee explained that hotel management education can take two directions: vocational training, which emphasizes the practical aspect of hotel management, such as the programmes currently offered at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the Vocational Training Council; and more theory-oriented business education such as the CUHK programme and that of the Cornell Hotel School in the US which, for the past 10 years, has been hiring faculty with a background in business management. The new School of Hotel Management will have approximately 12 to 15 teachers for the next two years, four to eight of whom will teach full-time, while the rest w i ll be staff teaching from other departments of the faculty. The school concluded a strategic alliance with the Cornell Hotel School at the end of 1998. This entails staff and student exchange, joint research endeavours, and executive education. Each year four Year 2 students will spend a year, or eight students w i ll spend half a year, at the Cornell Hotel School, and vice versa. In fact student exchange has already commenced. Four BBA students interested in hotel, tourism, and real estate will spend their 1999-2000 academic year studying at the Cornell Hotel School. For their industry practicum, the students w i l l do consulting business projects under the supervision of teachers for various firms. The school is considering setting up graduate programmes such as an M.Sc. programme for working executives and a small-scale Ph.D. programme. It also hopes to enrol students from all of Asia. But Prof. Le said, 'That will depend on the University's and UGC's policies. Right now our flagship is the undergraduate programme. We also have to look at the future demands of the industry.' Pie ra Chen

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