Professor Roland Chin, newly appointed President and Vice-Chancellor of Hong Kong Baptist University, visited UIC and met its staff and student representatives on 25 November. He also delivered a High Table Dinner speech on higher education.
Following communication with the UIC senior management at lunchtime, Prof Chin had a discussion with 20 teacher representatives, including the winners of President’s Award for Teaching and Service for Academic Staff Ms Chunyan Ji and Dr Milen Jissov.
Prof Chin meets teacher representatives
Afterwards, Prof Chin went to the Art Hill to see how students did in the Chinese archery and guqin courses. He then came to the Shadow Puppet Drama Pavilion, the music studio and the Learning Resource Centre in the Student Hostels and Cultural Village.
Prof Chin continued his trip by being introduced to the master plan of UIC’s new campus at its construction site. Before attending the High Table Dinner, he shared his life experience with 16 students from different programmes and different grades in the New Cultural Village.
Higher education world is flat
At his High Table Dinner speech, he highlighted the trend that everyone is going to university, adding that the higher education world is flat while universities in Asia are becoming emerging education hubs with intense competition. According to his observation, global graduates will experience 10 jobs by the age of 45 in 4 different countries on average.
He also redirected the audience’s attention to the mainland China’s higher education development and reform, before concluding that information, facts and knowledge are less important than critical-thinking, creativity and innovation.
Prof Chin receives a souvenir from UIC President Prof Ng Ching-Fai
Reporter: Chris Liu (ATS, Year 4)
Photographer: Tong Haiyan (IJ, Year 4), Tao Ruixue (IJ, Year 2), Simon Liu
Editor: Deen He
(from MPRO, with special thanks to the ELC)
