The existing campus on Jinfeng Road has had a chequered yet glittering history during the last 12 years, eliciting staff and students’ fond remembrances whenever it is thought of. This coming September, an entirely new era of UIC will be launched as the new campus is about to come into use.
| New campus, 2000 Jintong Road |
| Current campus, 28 Jinfeng Road |
The date of 19 September 2017 will mark the beginning of the new campus’s history, confirmed by the UIC Senate as the first day of the 2017-2018 academic year.
With a plot of land provided by Beijing Normal University and RMB150 million provided by Hong Kong Baptist University to build teaching blocks in addition to covering start-up costs, the journey of a unique collaboration got under way in 2005 when UIC was born.
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Timeline of UIC’s endeavour to build a new campus
o In September 2011, the Zhuhai Municipal People’s Government agreed to expand UIC’s land for educational use.
o In June 2014, the Zhuhai Municipal People’s Government signed with UIC a cooperation agreement, offering 300 mu (approximately 264,000 square metres) of land to build a new campus in the Huitong Village.
o In August 2015, the land-levelling process began at the new campus construction site.
o In September 2017, all UIC staff and students will move to the new campus.
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Now UIC will return in advance the 200 mu (some 133,000 square metres) of land with 30 years of right to use to Beijing Normal University through amicable negotiation. The teaching blocks will be transferred to Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai (BNUZ), while the Student Hostels and Cultural Village, which UIC has been rented from developers since 2008, will be used by BNUZ as well.
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| Teaching blocks on the current campus |
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| UIC is bidding farewell to the Student Hostels and Cultural Village on the existing campus |
“UIC aspires to provide its students and staff with an intellectually stimulating and vigorous environment, which is conducive to teaching, learning and research,” UIC President Ng Ching-Fai writes in a letter to the UIC community. “That being said, the space constraints as experienced by all of us at the existing campus pose great challenges to the development of the College.”
Two years’ hard work has paid off. The Culture Creativity Centre, the Sports Complex, the University Hall, the Theatre, the Administration Building, the Teaching Blocks and the Student Hostels, among others, have popped up one after another at the new campus site.
The new campus will bring a completely new look. Its teaching area takes up about 195,000 square metres, which is five times larger than the teaching area of the current campus on Jinfeng Road. This new campus is able to accommodate 6,000 undergraduates and 1,000 staff members in nine teaching blocks and 15 student residence halls (with one hall to be built).
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| The New Cultural Village on the new campus |
‘Sustainable yet vibrant’
The new campus is dedicated to a student-centred concept and committed to open communication in order to fulfil the ideal of UIC’s liberal arts education.
“Enriched with a sophisticated array of state-of-the-art facilities and amenities in arboretum-like environs, the new campus will offer the UIC community a sustainable yet vibrant and physically cohesive teaching and learning environment,” says President Ng.
The Culture Creativity Centre
The Sports Complex
In June, the ninth Graduation Ceremony will be held for the first time at the University Hall on the new campus, located on 2000 Jintong Road. Over 6,000 students and staff members will settle in the new campus in September, with the freshmen embarking on their new journey at UIC on 5 September while the rest of students return on 18 and 19 September.
“For sure, there will be difficult moments with the surroundings and municipal services to be perfected, just like what happened 12 years ago when the Jinfeng Road campus came into operation,” adds President Ng.
He calls for understanding and support. “Rome was not built in a day; therefore please understand that there is still much to be done.”
Way forward
A liberal arts education encourages all UIC members to have close interactions and cooperation to inspire innovative ideas. With eminently expanded physical capacity, one of the potential challenges would be the continuity of seamless inter-disciplinary communications.
Furthermore, the future of the new campus is highly expected by the locals, which together with the historical Huitong Village will create the first university town in China. The university town will connect UIC’s educational resources with the local industries and cultural heritage, in an attempt to take a great part in Zhuhai’s economic and cultural development.
President Ng continues, “With the unstinting support of all UICers, I am utterly convinced that we have come closer to the establishment of a first-class liberal arts College.”
Reporter: Deen He
Editor: Samuel Burgess
(from MPRO)
