Media

Heads of World's Leading Universities Celebrate HKU's Internationalization

07 Nov 2005

 

Internationalization at HKU has reached new heights. We have an internationalized student population, world-class teaching and research capabilities as well as a multi-cultural educational environment on campus. There are now over 3,000 international students on campus who come from more than 50 countries around in the world. We set a target of having 20% international students in our undergraduate population within the decade.

To support international research collaboration and student mobility around the globe, HKU, as the Hong Kong member to the Universitas 21 (U21) Consortium, is glad to play host to the U21 meeting starting today at HKU and attended by Heads of these world's leading universities.

U21 is a network of leading universities from around the world that is dedicated to the internationalization of higher education. The Consortium meets regularly to discuss the development of U21 Global, the e-learning arm of the U21 Consortium, whose online MBA program has just been accredited through the Certification in E-Learning (CEL) system by the European Foundation of Management Development, and look at the further development of collaborative online courses for undergraduate and postgraduate students across the U21 Consortium.

Together with HKU Vice Chancellor Prof. Lap-Chee Tsui, University Heads of U21 opened the Global Lounge as an International Centre for Students today in the presence of major supporter of the project Ms. Serena Yang and Dr. Fong Yun-wah, student representatives, HKU Pro-Vice-Chancellor Professor Malpas, HKU Senior Advisor to Vice Chancellor Professor John Spinks, Consul-Generals as well as various prominent guests.

"The Global Lounge as an International Centre for Students is a symbol of our role as an education hub that provides support to all HKU students from around the world. This facility does not only benefit international students, we believe that through interaction our international students will also help our students in Hong Kong become truly global citizens," said HKU Vice Chancellor Professor Lap-Chee Tsui.

"Our international students give the campus a very strong multicultural feeling. One of our important goals at HKU is not just to increase these international student numbers, but to provide our local graduates with a global outlook, so that they are conversant with the critical issues facing the nations of today's world", Professor John Spinks, Senior Advisor to the Vice Chancellor at HKU added.

The International Centre for Students is a Centre with an international outlook and international activities, and at the same time the hub of student social and cultural life that offers a unique experience through interaction, informal gatherings, international events and activities such as international film, arts, exchange fairs, exhibitions and concerts. It is located on G/F Fong Shu Chuen Amenities Centre. It can comfortably seat about 100 persons and includes an outdoor cafe, a resource library with international newspapers, a gymnasium, an indoor internet café, an information office, a 60" plasma TV and twelve 26" TVs tuned to different news stations from around the world. The Centre is open to all HKU students.

For details about U21 and the meeting, please refer to the Appendix.

For media enquiries please contact Ms. Cherry Cheung, Senior Press Officer, HKU at 2859 2606.

Appendix

Meeting of Universitas 21 Presidents and Vice-Chancellors at the University of Hong Kong

The Presidents, Vice-Chancellors and senior management representatives of 16 of the world's leading research-intensive universities are in Hong Kong from 7th November 2005 to 8th November 2005, to attend meetings of the Universitas 21 (U21) consortium at The University of Hong Kong. There are altogether 17 member universities in the U21 consortium including the University of Hong Kong.

Universitas 21 members
Australia:
University of Melbourne
University of New South Wales
University of Queensland

Canada:
Univeristy of British Columbia
McGill University

China:
Fudan University
Peking University

Hong Kong:
The University of Hong Kong

New Zealand:
University of Auckland

Singapore:
National University of Singapore

South Korea:
Korea University

Sweden:
Lund University
United Kingdom:
University of Birmingham
University of Edinburgh
University of Glasgow
University of Nottingham

USA:
University of Virginia

Univesity Presidents/Vice-Chancellors attended the meeting
- Prof. Michael STERLING (Vice-Chancellor, University of Birmingham)
- Dr. Martha PIPER (President, University of British Columbia)
- Prof. Tim O'SHEA (Vice-Chancellor, University of Edinburgh)
- Prof. EUH Yoon-Dae (President, Korea University)
- Prof. Glyn Davis (Vice-Chancellor, University of Melbourne)
- Prof. Sir Colin CAMPBELL (Vice-Chancellor, University of Nottingham)
- Prof. SHIH Choon Fong (President, National University of Singapore)
- Prof. John HAY (Vice-Chancellor, University of Queensland)
- President XIE Sheng-Wu (President, Shanghai Jiao Tong University)
- Prof. John CASTEEN III (President, University of Virginia)
- Prof. TSUI Lap-Chee (Vice-Chancellor, The University of Hong Kong)

About the meeting
Members of the Universitas 21 (U21) Consortium meet at regular intervals to discuss joint developments and innovations, as well as research collaboration. The meetings allow the universities to benchmark their development and achievements against other universities with similar visions for the future. All of the U21 universities are included within the recent Times Higher Educational Supplement rankings of the worlds' top 200 universities.

The meetings will discuss the development of U21Global, the e-learning arm of the U21 Consortium, whose online MBA programme has just been accredited through the Certification in E-Learning (CEL) system by the European Foundation of Management Development, as will look at the further development of collaborative online courses for undergraduate and postgraduate students across the U21 consortium. Other items will include increased student mobility (exchange schemes) around the consortium, summer schools for undergraduates, research consortia and student research conferences.

Photo Captions:

Photo 1：Hong Kong Sea School Band
Photo 2：Prof. Lap-Chee Tsui (HKU Vice Chancellor), University Heads of U21 Consortium and HKU International Exchange Students
Photo 3：(From left to right) Inauguration Ceremony by HKU Student representative, Dr. Fong Yun-wah, Ms. Serena Yang, Prof. Lap-Chee Tsui (HKU Vice Chancellor)、Prof. John HAY (Vice-Chancellor, University of Queensland) and Prof. Sir Colin CAMPBELL (Vice-Chancellor, University of Nottingham)
Photo 4：(From left to right) Toasting by Prof. John CASTEEN III (President, University of Virginia)、HKU Student representative、Dr. Fong Yun-wah, Ms. Serena Yang, Prof. Lap-Chee Tsui (HKU Vice Chancellor), Prof. John HAY (Vice-Chancellor, University of Queensland), Prof. Glyn Davis (Vice-Chancellor, University of Melbourne) and Prof. Michael STERLING (Vice-Chancellor, University of Birmingham)
Photo 5：Prof. Lap-Chee Tsui (HKU Vice Chancellor), Dr. Fong Yun-wah and Consul-Generals taken in the Global Lounge
Photo 6：Resource Library of the Global Lounge