PAST AND PRESENT
The University of Hong Kong is the oldest tertiary education institution in Hong Kong. It was founded in 1911, and opened in 1912 with teaching programmes in medicine, engineering and arts. Since then, the University has grown substantially, and now embraces a very wide range of teaching and research programmes. In 2016-17, the student population of the University (including postgraduate students) was approximately 28,200 headcounts and the professoriate staff population was around 1,230 headcounts. There are ten faculties: Architecture, Arts, Business and Economics, Dentistry, Education, Engineering, Law, Medicine, Science and Social Sciences. Each faculty has a faculty office. Students needing advice on their studies and other academic matters should contact their home faculty office in the first instance.
THE HKU CAMPUSES
The total land holding of the University is about 55 hectares which cover some 45 hectares of land in the campuses that stretch along the north-western slopes of Hong Kong Island, and 10 hectares in the New Territories for the Kadoorie Centre. The University has a total gross floor area of about 715,000 square metres for teaching, research, office accommodation, amenities and residential purposes.
The Main Campus of the University situates in the Bonham Road and Pokfulam area and accommodates five of the ten faculties, namely Architecture, Business and Economics, Education, Engineering and Science, as well as the Main Library. A major building programme which began in the 1970s has seen the construction of many modern buildings on the Main Campus. These buildings stand adjacent to several retained older buildings (including the Main Building which dates from 1912) that have been preserved because of their historic and architectural merits.
In 2012, the University completed a major extension immediately to the west of the Main Campus – the Centennial Campus. The new campus, located against an attractive backdrop of tree-clad hillsides, is served by a Mass Transit Railway station and provides academic buildings, recreational facilities and other modern amenities. It houses the Faculties of Arts, Law and Social Sciences, with a state-of-the-art Learning Commons, a Grand Hall, and teaching and learning spaces.
The Sassoon Road Campus situated 3 kilometres to the southwest of Main Campus mainly houses the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine in two buildings, namely the William M.W. Mong Block and the Laboratory Block, providing facilities for pre-clinical teaching, clinical research and library services. Clinical teaching facilities are based in the Queen Mary Hospital which is one of the University’s teaching hospitals. Other teaching and research facilities in the Sassoon Road area include the School of Chinese Medicine, the School of Public Health, the Jockey Club Building for Interdisciplinary Research, as well as the premises for Laboratory Animal Unit and other supporting facilities.
The Faculty of Dentistry has its clinical teaching facilities and library in the Prince Philip Dental Hospital in Sai Ying Pun, a short distance to the north of the Main Campus.
Student residential accommodation is provided in a limited form on the Main Campus while the bulk of the accommodation is situated further south along Pokfulam Road, on Sassoon Road and Lung Wah Street.
Sports facilities are provided at Flora Ho and Lindsay Ride Sports Centres, mainly indoors, with the University's major sports fields being located in the Stanley Ho Sports Centre on Sha Wan Drive in the Sandy Bay area with provisions for athletics, softball, soccer, hockey and lacrosse, together with a 50-metre outdoor swimming pool and tennis courts.
Other parts of the University's estates include the Kadoorie Centre which occupies about 10 hectares of land in the New Territories, and the Swire Institute of Marine Sciences located on the south coast of Hong Kong Island.
The University is a smoke-free campus. There is a total smoking ban, both indoors and outdoors.
GOVERNANCE OF THE UNIVERSITY
The University of Hong Kong is incorporated under the University of Hong Kong Ordinance (Chapter 1053 of 1964). The Ordinance defines the University's powers, duties, privileges and constitution. The Ordinance provides for the making of Statutes which set out important constitutional and procedural matters. It also empowers the University's Council and Senate to make regulations ordering the conduct of the University's day-to-day affairs.
The Ordinance and Statutes also define the responsibilities of the University's Court, Council, Senate and Boards of Faculties. All of these bodies may form committees and delegate their powers as they see fit.
The Court is the University's supreme advisory body, and comprises representatives of the University and other stakeholders. The Court offers a means whereby the wider interests served by the University can be associated with the University, and it provides a public forum where members of the Court can raise any matters about the University.
The Council is the supreme governing body and is responsible for the University's finances and investments, the management of estate and buildings, staff appointments and terms and conditions of service, and drafting of Statutes. The Council comprises University members (both staff and students) and lay members (i.e. persons who are not employees or students of the University), and the membership is specified in the Statutes by category of appointment. The Council has a lay majority and one of the lay members assumes the position of Chairman.
The Senate is the principal academic authority of the University. The President & Vice-Chancellor chairs the Senate which comprises mainly academic staff and students. Decisions of the Senate on academic matters which have financial or resource implications are subject to approval by the Council. Conversely, decisions by the Council which have academic implications are subject to consultation with the Senate, which is normally the initiating body in such matters.
The Boards of Faculties are responsible to the Senate for teaching and other work of the Faculties. There are currently ten Boards, supported by their own committees which exercise powers and perform duties delegated to them by the Boards.
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