Change of title of Hong Kong Shue Yan College to Hong Kong Shue Yan University
We were delighted to learn this morning that our application to change our English and Chinese titles to ¡§Hong Kong Shue Yan University¡¨ and ¡§»´ä¾ð¤¯¤j¾Ç¡¨ have been approved by the Chief Executive in Council.
This change of title was facilitated by the successful outcome of the three Programme Area Accreditation exercises and the Institutional Review conducted by the Hong Kong Council for Academic Accreditation (HKCAA) in May 2006. The international panels who visited the College found that we were ready to assume responsibility for the continued delivery of high quality honours programmes across the ten disciplines in Arts, Social Sciences and Commerce in which we offer honours degrees, and that we had the ability to meet the standards expected of a university in terms of internal governance and quality assurance structure and mechanisms. We are grateful to the HKCAA for all the help and guidance that they have given to us over the past ten years since we began our quest, first for degree granting status and then for university title.
Achieving university title as a private institution is a first for Hong Kong. We have been working towards this goal since the Education Commission Report of 2000 recommended that existing post-secondary institutions should be encouraged to upgrade to private universities. We must thank EMB for its support and understanding as we worked towards this historic moment, determined to retain the unique characteristics that differentiate Shue Yan from the publicly funded sector.
This year we celebrated the 35 th anniversary of our founding by Dr Henry HL Hu and Dr Chung Chi Yung. Their vision and fortitude in the face of changing fortunes over the last 35 years have made Shue Yan what it is today. They remain central to success of the institution as we look forward to the future as a small private liberal arts university offering exciting, innovative and relevant programmes of study to meet the needs of Hong Kong.
Today's success could not have been achieved without the wise counsel of our Board of Governors, the hard work of the staff, past and present, and the enthusiastic support of students and alumni for the upgrading effort. The name Shue Yan means the ¡§cultivation of virtue¡¨. That ethos will continue to guide our efforts as we develop our niche in the changing scene of Higher Education in Hong Kong over the years to come.