University Review
Engaging the Community
Empowering graduates on their career path
Foreseeing the challenges encountered by graduates during the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, HKBU launched Project SEED (Student Engagement, Enrichment and Development) in early 2020. SEED helps students to better prepare for employment and unleash their career potential by engaging the support of HKBU alumni and supporters. It is a multi-faceted project with four key components:
| (1) SEED Mentorship | : Helps our students with their personal and career development. |
| (2) SEED Jobs | : Provides references and connects students with career opportunities. |
| (3) SEED Internship | : Provides part-time jobs, internships and job attachment prospects. |
(4) SEED Incubator
| : Supports student start-up companies.
|
Apart from SEED Talks, which provides a sharing platform for distinguished alumni and eminent community leaders to share their insights and experience, an online platform called BUhub was developed to help alumni, employers, faculty staff and students connect with each other for job-matching, mentorships, internships and start-up incubation opportunities.
Helping youth pursue their life and career goals
The CLAP for Youth@JC (CLAP) project launched in 2015 came to a close in August 2020. The project helped young people, especially out-of-school youth not in employment or training, to pursue their life and career goals. It helped to define young people's working experiences more comprehensively and expanded their notion of work. One featured invention of the project has been CV360®, which enabled youth to discover who they are through their values, attitudes, skills and knowledge as articulated in their work and life experience.
Art on the go
Professor Leung Mee-ping and Assistant Professor Mr Kingsley Ng of the Academy of Visual Arts were commissioned to take part in the Art in MTR initiative, which set out to create a more vibrant and vivid travelling experience.
Created over four years, Home, the permanent artwork at To Kwa Wan station, is composed of 27 sets of photographs assembled by Professor Leung from photos of local residents’ ordinary objects, and is accompanied by written testimonials from the residents. The artwork aims to give residents of the district a sense of coming home, and also showcases the visual culture of the community to other passengers.
Created by Mr Ng, the artwork Horizon in Time at Kai Tak station is a sculptural interpretation of the old runway based on the proportions and orientation of the former site. Extending out from the entrance of the station, the timeless horizon continues to unfold along the passage, inviting passengers to contemplate the memories and emotions associated with the Kai Tak airport.
Facilitating social inclusion
To facilitate social inclusion and empower students with special educational needs and disabilities, HKBU co-organised with The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology a Joint University Barrier Free Discovery Tour to Taipei from 7 to 10 January 2020. Participants had the chance to learn more about social and educational policies relevant to protecting the rights of people with disabilities, and they took part in experiential learning opportunities. They also met with local undergraduate and postgraduate students with diverse needs during a visit to the National Taiwan Normal University. Inspired by their experiences, the participants worked together to produce a barrier-free travel guide for public use.
Saving the environment
As part of the Jockey Club Responsible Consumption Programme, which is a three-year community project initiated in 2018, the Department of Marketing launched the public education TV programme Act NOW! Plastic FREE! in December 2019 on Hong Kong Open TV and Cable TV. With the theme of reducing the consumption of shopping bags and packaging materials, the programme featured pop singers and students from the School of Business taking up different plastic-free challenges. They also visited environmental groups so as to introduce the environmental impacts of plastic waste and ways of creating a plastic-free society.
Solar power is a pollution-free renewable energy source. To promote the use of solar energy in the community and support related research, Dr Kevin Lo, Dr Daphne Mah and Professor Zhou Qiming of the Department of Geography, and Ms Rebekah Wong of the HKBU Library, collaborated with WWF Hong Kong and Greenpeace to launch the Hong Kong Solar Map website. This website is a precedent-setting resource in the Greater China region and allows users to estimate the amount of solar energy generated from solar panels installed on rooftops in areas selected by the users.
Gauging sustainability performance
The Campus Environmental Sustainability Index (CESI), a holistic tool integrating cultural and facilities elements pioneered by HKBU to gauge the University's sustainability performance, has been successfully implemented since its launch in 2017. It was recognised by the other University Grants Committee-funded universities and they will take part in the Index from 2020-21 in order to collect a bigger data set that can continuously track the environmental sustainability performance of the local higher education sector.
Creatively upcycling textile waste
The University has initiated the Retired Uniform Upcycling Programme in collaboration with Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company Limited (HAECO) to educate the wider community about minimising waste and maximising resources. As a key component of the Programme, an Upcycling’s Got Talent Design Competition was held and students and members of the public were invited to transform the retired uniforms provided by HAECO into travel accessories. More than 100 entries were received from entrants aged between 12 and 81. Much talent and creativity were displayed in the wide variety of upcycled products, ranging from eye masks, luggage tags and luggage covers to portable baby bassinets and convertible travel bags. The winning products were replicated and produced by people with intellectual disabilities and women from low-income families for charity sales.
Connecting with the HKBU community
HKBU has nurtured more than 120,000 alumni who are passionate and supportive of their alma mater's development. During the year, the HKBU Alumni Association of Beijing and the HKBU Alumni Association of the Greater Bay Area were established to strengthen the bond with the University and enhance the positive impact of the alumni community in the area.
To encourage alumni and members of the public to donate to HKBU to assist it in providing the best student experience on campus and also equal learning opportunities for needy students, the V-Care Campaign was launched in July 2019. In appreciation of the alumni community's support, a room in V-Care (Village Creative Arena for Residential Education) will be named after donors who donate HK$200,000 or HK$300,000. As of 30 June 2020, a total of HK$6.705 million had been raised.
To encourage alumni and members of the public to donate to HKBU to assist it in providing the best student experience on campus and also equal learning opportunities for needy students, the V-Care Campaign was launched in July 2019. In appreciation of the alumni community's support, a room in V-Care (Village Creative Arena for Residential Education) will be named after donors who donate HK$200,000 or HK$300,000. As of 30 June 2020, a total of HK$6.705 million had been raised.
Community support
Apart from the alumni community, support from donors is equally essential, especially following the roll-out of the Eighth Matching Grant Scheme (EMGS) and the Research Matching Grant Scheme (RMGS) by the Government in 2019. As of June 2020, the University had successfully raised HK$634 million in donations and secured HK$288 million and HK$56 million in matching grants from the EMGS and RMGS respectively, bringing in a record-breaking total of HK$978 million.
The University is deeply grateful to the following supporters who made a gift of HK$100 million or more in the year 2019-20: The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, Hung Hin Shiu Charitable Foundation Limited, Shiu Pong Enterprises Limited and the Hung family, Lee Shau Kee Foundation Limited, the late Mr Lo Siu Tong and the Lo family, and the Shun Hing Education and Charity Fund Limited.
Other major supporters include: Mr Cheng Chak- kuen, Mr Kam Yuen, Dr Liu Chak-wan and Madam Lei Ioc Heng, Professor Dickson Shang, Dr Stanley Yim, Cathay Photonics Limited, Cheung On Tak Charity Foundation, Chi Tao Charitable Foundation Limited, Hang Seng Bank Limited, The Hongkong Bank Foundation, the Kwok Chung Bo Fun Charitable Fund, New Life Medicine Technology Company Limited, The Estate of Cheung Ching Lan Diana, the Simon Suen Foundation, the Tan Siu Lin Foundation, Time Medical Limited, the Tin Ka Ping Foundation, the Vincent and Lily Woo Foundation, and Wu Jieh Yee Charitable Foundation Limited.