Rationale

The tradition of full residence and communal dining goes back to the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge. You will make friends with students from different backgrounds and in different disciplines, and also with your teachers.  With students living in the hostel and dining together frequently, an intimate atmosphere and close community are established.

Participating in College dining is an important element of college life, and it contributes to the building of a close community. It is part-and-parcel of Full Residence. Administratively, it is regarded as a part of College General Education.

Special Note for Term 1,  2020–21:

Due to the outbreak of COVID-19 and social distancing policy implemented at the CUHK campus, CW Chu College will follow the direction of the University to close our hostel in Term 1, 2020–21 until further notice. Communal dinners and High Table Dinners will also be cancelled at least during the period when classes are conducted only online. Details of the arrangement for full residence and College communal dinners mentioned in the paragraphs below are only applicable when the College hostel is re-opened and our meal plan is launched again.

Hostel Residence

As a student of CW Chu College (whether local or non-local), you will be offered hostel residence for the first four years (eight academic terms) during your normative study period. In return, you will be obliged to take up residence and take part in communal dining in order to be part of the College community of shared learning and growth.  Please refer to the Dining Arrangements and the related fees below.

College Dinners

The College will organize communal dining (CD) and High Table dinners (HTD) during term time. Guest speakers or fellow students will be invited to share their experiences on different topics during/ after dinners occasionally. There will be no regular College Assemblies.

Communal dining will be arranged three times a week on every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday during term time.  High Table dinners will be arranged four times a year.  Please refer to the attendance and the related fees below.

Detailed arrangements for Hostel Residence

CW Chu College is committed to offer hostel residence for the first four years during regular school terms to every student (whether local or non-local) disregard of his/her accommodation need or home distance from the University, according to the specifications below.

• By the first four years, it means to count 8 academic terms starting from your first admission to CUHK as an undergraduate.  Hostel accommodation during summer terms is treated separately.
• The student is still in the normative study period of his/her major programme. If you are admitted with Advanced Standing or via Senior year admission channel, your normative study period, and thus our hostel offer, may be less than four years / eight academic terms.
• Any gap period of residence due to exceptions is also counted towards the four-year offer. Exceptions include student participation in outbound exchange/ internship programmes, disciplinary or public health issues, or the closure of the hostel as a result of epidemic, disaster, safety concern, or social unrest.
• The student is paying the full meal fee for College Dinners of the term.  In very special cases, a student may only need to pay a partial meal fee approved by the College.
• Students may apply for hostel residence beyond the fourth year for various reasons, including longer normative study period or approved leave/ suspension of study.  The application shall be reviewed by the Student Affairs Committee only if spare hostel places are available.
• For students in the MBChB programme, hostels will usually be provided by the University in the Prince of Wales Hospital in the last two years of clinical studies.

Hostel Fees and Related Financial Support

The College hostel is a self-financing operation; thus the hostel fee will reflect the actual cost of running the hostel, including a contribution to a reserve for maintenance. The hostel fee per student for academic year 2020–21 is as follows:

Electricity Fee: A basic usage level (140 kWh per room*) is provided within the hostel fee. Usage above this level (especially for air-conditioning) will be separately charged to each room based on individual metering on a monthly basis.

*4.65 kWh per room per day ~ 140 kWh per room x 12 months / 365 days

Financial Assistance: All CWC students of Hong Kong citizenship with genuine financial needs may apply for Bursary to offset part of the hostel fee together with the meal fee.

Additional Hostel Accommodation

When there are extra hostel places in the College, the College may accept application for hostel accommodation in addition to the above Fully Residential offer.  Students looking for such accommodation are required to submit a special application to the Student Affairs Committee in advance for approval.  Besides the concern of need, the student’s previous engagement in and contribution to College life are essential consideration.  Some valid cases are listed below as examples.

• In the event of approved leave or suspension, the College may provide residence beyond the fourth year, provided that the normative period of the student concerned has also been extended by the University.
• Students in programmes with normative periods of more than four years may need continuing residence beyond the fourth year. This normally does not apply to students in the MBChB programme, who will usually have hostels provided in the Prince of Wales Hospital in the last two years of clinical studies.
• For students beyond their normative periods, residence will rarely be provided.

Hostel places in the College during term time are allocated based on the guidelines approved by the Assembly of Fellows. For details, please refer to the pdf file “Guidelines on the Allocation of Hostel Places”.

Attendance for College Dinners

College dining attendance is a crucial requirement of passing (PP grade) the non-credit bearing courses (GECW 1000/ 2000/ 3000/ 4000) in College General Education. It is a mandatory activity for all students enjoying the four-year full residence.

The minimum attendance rates strike a balance between building the college community and the occasional needs of individual students to engage in essential activities during those hours. The general expectation is described below, and students should consult the respective course pages in Blackboard for the definitive requirements including possible exemptions for special circumstances and prior notification of absence.

The attendance requirement is briefly described below.  Please refer to the pages about Attendance Requirement and Dining Arrangements for details.

• High Table Dinners (HTD): 60% for the whole academic year; or 50% for students registered for only one term.
• Communal Dinners (CD): Generally, 60% in each year (for students registered for GECW1000 or GECW2000), reduced to 50% for students in upper years (registered for GECW3000 or GE4000)

Students who are not in residence or who are residing beyond four years are encouraged to participate in some college dinners on a voluntary basis with separate payments.

Dining Fee

The cost of dining will be based on what the caterer charges. The dining fees for the academic year 2020–21 will be as follows: