Newsletter No. 532

10 # 5 3 2 | 1 9 . 0 2 . 2 0 1 9 口 談 實 錄 / V iva V oce 這樣積極參與大學事務的緣起是怎樣的? 2007年我在杭州收到一位新亞書院師兄來電,說是時候我應做些東西回饋 母校,我一口答應,自此便一直以不同身分投入大學、書院及學院的事務。 你怎麼解釋校友對母校的感情? 校友關心母校是很自然的事。不論畢業多久,他們總有興趣知道母校當下的 發展,對母校的成就感到與有榮焉,或者仍能從母校的知識寶庫中吸取養 分。他們當然也想知道昔日同窗的近況,找機會跟他們重聚。 凝 聚 校友為甚麼重要? 中大校友超過二十萬,遍布全球每個角落。加強大學與他們的溝通,加強他 們相互之間的聯繫,加深校友對母校的認識和感情,對提升大學地位,達致 策略發展目標都很重要。 凝 聚 中大校友的挑戰有哪些? 我們面對的挑戰是如何運用手上有限資源去凝聚及服務最多校友,要盡量 照顧各方校友,包括落戶在偏遠國家及地區的。 你倡議的新策略是怎樣的? 大學一直以來出訪各地校友,可謂不遺餘力,馬不停蹄。我想如果把範式倒 轉過來,相信成本效益會更高。一面繼續外訪,一面構思締造海外校友重臨 母校的條件。譬如說舉辦國際校友日,節目包括著名教授話題演講、校友分 享、聯誼活動等。這樣子所耗資源有限,但所造成的凝聚效應卻會很大。 你如何看中大的內地校友? 中大多年來在內地辦了很多課程,加上中大(深圳)陸續有學生畢業,內地 校友的人數將會增加得很快,而且大部分都是精英,對任何大學來說都是 夢寐以求的寶貴資源。我非常有信心,這批校友將來必會對中大的發展帶 來不少正面的作用。 對比較年輕的校友層覺得有甚麼要做? 經濟環境及就業市場的變化,令到近年畢業的一些校友在事業路途上遇到 不少挑戰。校友評議會正討論應否把這批校友也納入事業發展服務的範圍 之內,大學的學生服務單位或校友會也可考慮向近年畢業的校友發放職場 資訊,甚至鼓勵本身是校友的僱主,把招聘目標首先界定在母校範圍之內。 中大需要一幢校友大樓嗎? 那將會是很理想的一件事,但香港寸金尺土,談何容易。去年8月開幕,位 於富爾敦樓地下,供開會或聯誼用的校友會會議中心是朝着這方向走的第 一步。校友會終於在校園一角生根了。 When and how did your active involvement in University affairs begin? It all began with a long-distance call, when I was in Hangzhou in 2007, from a fellow alumnus of New Asia College who told me it’s time for me to render service for our alma mater. I have since been involved in various roles and capacities in the University, the Colleges and the Faculties. How do you explain the tie between a university and its alumni? Alumni naturally take an interest in the current development of their alma mater. No matter how long ago they graduated, they would be curious to know how the university is doing, take pride in its achievements and maybe continue to draw nourishment and inspiration from its trove of cutting-edge knowledge. They would also be interested in learning how their schoolmates are doing and reuniting with some of them. Why is alumni relations important? CUHK has over 200,000 alumni, scattered throughout the globe. Keeping them in touch with the University and with each other will help strengthen their ties to the University and raise the profile of the University which would in turn impact on our standing and further development. What’s the challenge of engaging CUHK alumni? The challenge is how to engage all sectors of the alumni population with available resources. The goal should be to serve and network the greatest number of alumni on existing resources without sacrificing service to any sub-populations, particularly those in far-off places. What is the new strategy you’re championing? We have been relying on overseas visits to reach out to the alumni in the four corners of the world. It would be more cost-effective to do the reverse. While we will keep our reaching-out efforts, we may also consider organizing an international homecoming day on campus at regular intervals and invite the overseas alumni to come back. The day programme may consist of a lecture on a topic of interest by a reputable professor, followed by some sharing by alumni members and a networking activity. That would generate tremendous momentum for alumni engagement. How do you see our alumni in mainland China? CUHK has been offering academic programmes in the mainland for many years. With the recent graduates from our Shenzhen campus, the mainland alumni body will grow fast. And this is a young and distinguished alumni body, too. Such promising talent would be the dream of many universities. I’m very hopeful our mainland graduates will contribute to CUHK as a whole in many positive ways. Any thought on the younger alumni strata? Changing economic times and employment market have made it difficult for some alumni who graduated in the last decade or so. There has been discussion by the Convocation whether career development services can be extended to graduates in recent years. Maybe our student service units and the alumni associations can also lend a hand by disseminating career information to them or encouraging employers who are our alumni to look just inside the University gates. Do we need an alumni house? It would be ideal but land is always a scarce resource in Hong Kong. The Alumni Associations Centre opened last August in the John Fulton Centre on campus is the first step. Now we have a place we can call our own to hold meetings or simply meet up. T.C. 阮德添 先生 Mr. Anthony Yuen 資深校友 阮德添 先生(1977/新亞/人事管理)在商界做出一 番輝煌成績之外,亦長期擔任多項公職,1992年獲選香港十大 傑青。阮先生近年出任校友評議會及大學校董會成員服務母 校。今期他和《中大通訊》分享對凝聚校友新策略的看法。 Mr. Anthony Yuen (1977 / NA / Personnel Management), one of the Ten Outstanding Young Persons in 1992, had a distinguished career in business and various public services before returning to CUHK to serve as member of Convocation and the University Council. He talks to the CUHK Newsletter about, among other things, his view on a new strategy for alumni engagement. Photo by ISO Staff

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