Newsletter No. 195

Ground-breaking for Hong Kong'sFirs tTeaching Hotel T he ground-breaking ceremony of the University's teaching hotel was held on the afternoon of 19th December 2001. The first of its kind in Hong Kong and perhaps the region, the hotel w i ll be built on a site adjacent to the University Train Station, ove r l ook i ng the scenic Tolo Harbour. It w i l l be a 600-room four-star international hotel w i th 10,000 square metres o f conference and teaching facilities for use by the University. The teaching hotel w i l l provide the facilities and teaching support f or hands-on training of students and other practicum and development programmes coordinated by the Un i ve r s i t y 's School o f Ho t el Management. Established in 1998, the School of Hotel Management has worked closely with the Hotel School of Cornell University and the local hospitality and tourism industry to launch high quality and widely acclaimed programmes for the training of hotel professionals and the promotion of executive education and research. And the University has taken the initiative to build a teaching hotel on the University campus in collaboration with New World Development Company Limited. Tourism plays an important role in the economy o f Hong Kong. Located conveniently at the heart of Asia and the gateway to the mainland, Hong Kong has always been and w i l l remain both an international business hub and a popular tourist destination. The aspiration of the School of Hotel Management to develop into a regional centre o f excellence i n hotel management is in line with the Hong Kong Government's vision to establish and p r omo te Ho ng K o ng as As i a 's premier international city, and a world- class destination for leisure and business visitors. I n his we l c om i ng speech, vice- chancellor Prof. Arthur K.C. L i said that wi th its own teaching hotel, the School could offer not only programmes at the undergraduate level, but also top-notch professional and executive t r a i n i ng courses for high-powered practitioners in the field. 'The School can experiment w i th new service ideas, new products, and new systems.' He said, 'It can also expand the scope of its activities to include consultancy services for relevant industries on the mainland and in other parts of Asia. It can aspire to become a regional training centre for hotel property management, hotel investment, and hospitality-related services.' On the same occasion, Dr. Cheng Yu-tung of New World Development Co. L t d . expressed his d e l i g ht i n the collaboration and believed the teaching hotel would be conducive to upgrading the standard and image o f the hotel industry in Hong Kong. ' I n the past, hoteliers learnt their profession mostly via on-the-job training,' Dr. Cheng said, '(The teaching hotel project) will combine textbook knowl edge and on-the-job practice, elevating the standards of our graduates who desire to enter the hotel industry. It w i l l provide a good training platform for aspiring hoteliers.' Dr. A l i ce K.Y. Lam, chair o f the University Grants Committee, supported the p r o j ect and ca l l ed f or greater collaboration between academia and the industry to benefit both parties and Hong Kong as a whole. 'Such an undertaking is indicative of the staunch support from the industry itself for hotel and hospitality education at the tertiary level. While the UGC fully backs any worthy educational programme that can develop and upgrade human capital for our community, we always encourage the universities t o solicit extra resources from the private sector to enhance the quality of education they offer.' (From left) Prof. Japhet Law. dean of the Faculty of Business Administration, Prof. Liu Pak-wai, pro-vice-chancellor, Dr. Lee Hon-chiu, University Council Chairman, Dr. Alice Lam, Dr. Cheng Yu-tung, Prof. Arthur K.C. Li, and Prof. Lee Kam-hon, director of the School of Hotel Management Departmen t o fNursin g Rename d Nethersol e Schoo l o fNursin g T he University's Department of Nursing was renamed the Nethersole School of Nursing at a dedication ceremony held on 14th December 2001 in the Esther Lee Building. The original Nethersole School of Nursing of the United Christian Medical Service was the first hospital-based nurse- training school in Hong Kong, and had served the local community for over a century. With the introduction of nursing education at the tertiary level in Hong Kong during the 1990s, the Alice Ho M i u Ling Nethersole Hospital considered the historical task of hospital-based nurse training schools completed, and resolved to transfer the name of its nursing school to the Department ofNursing at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, so that its culture of 'compassionate care' may continue. The CUHK Department of Nursing has, over the last decade, provided quality nursing education which is vital to the advancement of the profession in Hong Kong. Bearing a new name, it w i ll continue to uphold its mission of 'servingthe community through quality education, caring practice, and advancement of health sciences' and to promote the concept of 'serving the community with compassion'. Guests officiating at the dedication ceremony included the Rt. Rev. Louis Tsui, bishop of the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Diocese of East Kowloon; Dr. Alice K.Y. Lam, chair of the University Grants Committee; Mr. John Li, chairman of the United Christian Medical Service Board; Mrs. June Li, chair of the Nethersole School of Nursing School Advisory Committee; Mr. Simon Sit, chairman of the Executive Committee of Alice Ho M i u Ling Nethersole Hospital; and Prof. Arthur K.C. Li, vice-chancellor of the University. Ms. Betty Yuk, the principal of the Nethersole School of Nursing, passes a lamp to Prof. Sydney Chung, dean of the Faculty of Medicine, signifying the continuation of the spirit of the Nethersole School of Nursing. Support for Four Research Projects T he following four research projects undertaken by University staff members have succeeded in attracting funding support from different quarters: • Real-time Bilateral Teleoperation of Internet-based Robotic Systems (HK$725,200) Sponsors: National Natural Science Foundation of China and Research Grants Council Principal investigator: Prof. Liu Yunhui (Department of Automation and Computer-aided Engineering) • 'Life Clinic', a Three-tier Coordinated Service Model— Joint Project on Prevention of Elderly Suicide (HK$1,771,230) Sponsor: Hong Kong Council of Social Service Principal investigator: Prof. Helen Chiu Fung-kum (Department of Psychiatry) • A Web-based Database and Training for Hong Kong Flora and Vegetation (HK$1 ,500,000) Sponsor: Quality Education Fund Principal investigator: Prof. Chu Lee-man (Department of Biology) • Economic Reforms and Labour Market Transitions in Urban China (HK$696,000) Sponsors: National Natural Science Foundation of China and Research Grants Council Principal investigator: Prof. Zhang Junsen (Department of Economics)

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