HK university plans to become beacon of liberal arts light
Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) announced an ambitious strategic plan over the next 10 years to be a research-led liberal arts university of global significance. Roland T Chin, president of the university, spoke about the plan with media at the official founding ceremony of its Alumni Association of Shanghai recently.
“We aim to turn our university into a leading, research-led, liberal arts university in Asia for the world, delivering academic excellence in a caring, creative and global culture,” he said.
Chin said that HKBU, established in 1956, would continue its tradition of liberal arts, which is committed to the development of people and producing students with creative thinking, global vision and innovative impulse.
“In a rapidly changing world, liberal arts education is more capable of preparing students for the future with stronger adaptability,” he said.
Meanwhile, the university will enhance its efforts in improving research excellence over the next 10 years.
There are three priorities in the strategic plan.
The first is to enhance and enrich students’ learning both on and off campus to deliver the best student experience, emphasizing integrity, creativity, communication, employability and commitment to the common good of humankind.
Secondly, teaching and research excellence at HKBU will extend the frontiers of knowledge and tackle global challenges. Going forward, the university will concentrate on developing focused clusters of strength to maximize knowledge output and impact.
The key clusters that have been identified are creative media, health and drug discovery, as well as data analytics and artificial intelligence in applications, such as Fintech, data-journalism and digital humanities.
The third priority is capacity, which means it will continue to sustain academic excellence through appropriate investments in people, governance and facilities.
It includes the Talent100 initiative, which aims to recruit 100 new academic staff globally over the next three to five years to bolster the university’s strength in teaching and research-focused areas.
The university will also develop research collaborations with strategic partners around the world.
Chin wished the new alumni association in Shanghai could build up a communication and sharing platform to enhance relationship among its alumni and to help promote the existence of the university in the Chinese mainland.
It is estimated that there are more than 1,000 HKBU alumni working in Shanghai, including Yee Lam, the founding president of the alumni association, and Lam Chi-man, executive director and chief executive of the Bank of East Asia (China) Ltd and an honorary sponsor of the association.
The university will also promote cooperation with institutions in Shanghai in research, such as a program with the Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine about Chinese medicine.