Newsletter No. 336

No. 336, 19.4.2009 十 方 吐 露 TEN QUESTIONS FOR ( 續下頁 To be continued ) 1 上任教務長九個月，感覺如何？ How are the first nine months of being the Registrar? 大部分工作與我預期相差無幾，有很多事情要學習，不 過，我很喜歡與同事齊心協力，迎接挑戰，解決各類問題。 總括來說，教務長工作具挑戰性又有價值。 Things have turned out more or less the way I had expected. There are lots of things for me to learn, but I enjoy taking on the challenges and solving the problems I face by working with my colleagues together as a team. On the whole, I find my new duties as Registrar challenging and rewarding. 2 前任的教務長皆是學者，以行政人員身分任教務 長，你的角色可有不同？ How do you see your new role as the Registrar, particularly when the previous incumbents were academics? 不同的大學有不同的管理架構及模式，但都是由學者主 導的，即領導層主要由具教學或研究經驗的成員組成。然 而，這並不表示他們要肩負所有行政工作，因為專業的行 政人員可充當互補的角色。在大學管理及運作上，行政人 員必須與學術領導並肩作戰，以他們的專識，輔助管理高 層推行各項政策，並締造合適的環境，讓大學的使命得以 落實。 While different universities may have different organizational structures or management models, they are all academic-led. That is to say, the leadership comprises officers who are mostly senior academic staff. This does not mean that they have to take up all the administrative duties. There is a complementary role that career administrators can play in the management of a university and its operations. Administrators must partner with the academic leaders, offering their professional expertise, facilitating the top management in the implementation of strategies, and creating the necessary conditions for achieving the university’s missions. 3 新學制課程的準備工作進展如何？ How is the progress of the preparations for the new four-year curriculum? 四年學制對中大來說並不陌生，通識教育在中大亦已發展 成熟。新學制兼重專業與通用技能，所以我們在這方面的 策劃和推行肯定佔優；當然，我們不會掉以輕心，現階段我 們正在敲定新學制的具體細節。從行政角度來說，最大挑 戰在於新舊學制學生同期入讀大學一年級課程的運作。在 2012年，學生人數將因此驟增三千人，對課室分配、交通 運輸、課程註冊及考試安排等，造成很大壓力。不過，我們 已準備就緒，現時各方面的工作都進展良好。 The four-year curriculum is one that CUHK is familiar with. General education is also well-developed at CUHK. Therefore, we are confident that we have an edge in planning and implementing the new curriculum which will focus on both disciplinary knowledge and generic skills. However, nothing will be taken for granted, and we are at the stage of finalizing the details. From an administrator’s point of view, the biggest challenge is the logistics in the first year where two cohorts of students will commence their first year undergraduate studies at the same time. The student population will therefore increase by about 3,000 in 2012 which will put a lot of pressure on classroom allocation, transportation, course registration, examinations, etc. But we are well prepared and are making good progress on all fronts. 4 你對質素保證局（質保局）的《質素核證報告》有何 看法？ What do you think of the audit report by the Quality Assurance Council (QAC)? 質素核證是一個難得的機會，大學可藉此自我檢視現時豐 富學生學習經歷、提升學習水平的情況，也可向公眾展示 我們的優良範例。質保局對此讚揚有加，也肯定了我們不 少質素保證措施。事實上，在質保局進行質素核證之前， 中大已作了一次自我核證，並制訂了行動方案。質保局所 提的建議，大部分均與行動方案的內容相若。現時各項計 劃均如期執行，我們將於2010年3月向質保局提交進度報 告。 I must say that the QAC audit was a good opportunity for the University to take stock of what we are doing to enhance students’ educational experience and quality, and showcase some of our best practices. For that we received many commendations from the QAC which also affirmed many of our quality-assurance measures. In fact, CUHK had conducted a self-review and came up with an action plan before the audit exercise. What the QAC recommended overlapped to a large extent with what we had planned to implement anyway. We are making good progress with the action plan and will submit a progress report to the QAC in March 2010. 5 你曾於英國不同的院校工作，與本地的大學相比， 兩地大學有何不同？ You have worked at various universities in the UK. Are there differences when compared with Hong Kong universities? 香港的大學多以英國地方院校作為楷模，因此在管治、管 理和架構上很接近。由於高等教育界的全球競爭漸趨劇 烈，英國部分大學近年採用了企業管治的理念，仿效私人 機構的管理模式。企業管理模式利弊互見，而本地院校傳 統採用的同僚模式，則有較大空間容許較多大學成員參與 決策過程。至於孰優孰劣，很難一概而論，得視乎大學的 策略、風尚及文化而定。 Historically universities in Hong Kong were mostly modeled on the civic universities in Britain. Hence, there are great similarities in governance, management and structure. But some UK universities have in recent years adopted a more corporate approach by implementing management practices from the private sector. This is no doubt in response to the new global competitiveness in higher education. The corporate approach has its pros and cons, and the traditionally collegial approach prevalent in Hong Kong allows greater scope for the wider university community to participate in the decision-making process. It is not possible to say which model is better; a university’s strategies, ethos and culture will determine which model is fit for its purposes. 6 過往的經驗，如何助你踏上大學的高級行政人員之 路？ In what ways has your previous experience paved your way to becoming a senior administrator in the University? 我先後在兩所英國大學、兩所本地大學和大學教育資助 委員會工作了二十年，過去的經驗和涉獵對現時的工作 很有幫助。各項教務功能，我幾乎都曾參與，接觸面較 廣，讓我有信心帶領同事處理日常工作及面對新挑戰。我 也是一個國際性大學行政人員專業團體的成員，建立了 廣闊的人脈網絡，也可為同事提供持續專業發展的資訊 和機會。 Eric S.P. Ng 吳樹培 吳樹培教務長，興趣廣博，愛好水上活動，是足球迷，也是手不釋卷的愛 書人，且聽他道出上任教務長九個月的工作情況，以及如何將興趣應用於 工作上。 Mr. Eric S.P. Ng, University Registrar, is a man of wide interests. He is an aquatic sports enthusiast, a football fan and an avid reader. He will share with us his first nine months of being the Registrar and how his interests have facilitated his work.