General Education plays a vital role in the University's mission to provide a balanced undergraduate education for all students. It equips students with the intellectual capacity for understanding critical issues, ideas, and values of humanity in modern society. It nurtures students to be educated persons capable of making informed judgment and meeting the challenges of the ever-changing world. Providing a firm foundation for the well-rounded intellectual development of students, it prepares them to be lifelong learners and engaged citizens with a global awareness.

More specifically, GE of CUHK is designed to:

1. furnish students with a broad intellectual perspective for dealing with unfamiliar questions;
2. engage students in active reflections on perennial issues, prompting them to make connections between intellectual pursuits and life at work, at home and in the community;
3. promote an understanding of Chinese cultural heritage and of other cultural traditions;
4. develop the attitudes and skills that are conducive to critical thinking, self-expression and communication with the others;
5. extend students' curiosity, promote a habit of reading widely, and develop attitudes and competence as independent learners and team players.

The Senate Committee on General Education, assisted by its Standing Committee, the Office of University General Education and the College General Education Offices, has introduced a package of quality assurance measures to ensure effective management and to maintain a high standard of teaching and learning.  These measures include:

• Rigorous course approval process to upkeep academic standard and GE objectives
• Assessment Panel to review and approve course assessment to ensure that students are fairly graded according to the university course assessment guidelines
• Student course and teaching evaluation at the end of each course offering to collect feedbacks
• Regular internal course review to monitor implementation quality of the approved courses
• Comprehensive programme review by the University with inputs from external expert

Apart from the formal quality assurance measure, Office of University General Education also seeks to facilitate exchange and communication among students, teachers and administrators through various channels, including freshmen and graduate surveys, focus groups, seminars, workshops and informal meetings.  We believe that two-way communication with front-line staff and students plays an important role in the quality assurance mechanism.

General Education policy decisions rest with the Senate Committee on General Education, operating under the CUHK Senate. The Senate Committee, assisted by its Standing Committee, is responsible for keeping the General Education Programme under constant review and supervision and ensuring that close coordination exists between the University and the College GE Programmes.

Membership of the Senate Committee on General Education includes representatives from all faculties and Colleges, Director and Associate Director of University General Education, Registrar and ad-personam members appointed by the Vice Chancellor. Student representatives are invited as observers to the meetings of the Senate Committee.

University General Education courses are provided by over 40 teaching departments. The Office of University General Education, being the executive arm of the Senate Committee, implements its policy, coordinates various teaching departments in the delivery of courses, and promotes the ideals of general education both within the campus community and to the general public. The College General Education Programmes, comprised of College GE courses and student-oriented courses and informal activities, are administered by the College General Education Offices under the leadership of the respective Deans of College General Education.

General Education in The Chinese University of Hong Kong: Mission and Implementation-- Leung Mei Yee

2012 | 1990-2010 | 1980-1990 | 1970-1980 | 1960-1970

  2012

2012 General Education Foundation Programme

In 2012, undergraduate education has been changed to 4-year curriculum. Intented to provide students a common-learning experience and a platform for interaction, CUHK has introduced a brand new General Education Foundation Programme to all first year students at CUHK. Students will be required to read a series of classics. With the guidiance of teachers, students will be able to discuss critical issues with their peers in class. The Programme consists of two parts, which takes students on an expedition to the world of science and knowledge, and on a quest for the ideal life and society:

• UGFH 1000 In Dialogue with Humanity
• UGFN 1000 In Dialogue with Nature

  1990-2010

2004 Programme review and the "Four Areas"

• Scope of the review:
  • Clarified goals and needs of the GE in CUHK
  • Restructured the curriculum. All GE courses were categorized under Four Areas
  • Introduced effective management and Quality Assurance Mechanism. Courses would be assessed by internal committees and external specialists

1991-2003 Flexible Credit Unit System and GE Programme Revamp

• In 1991, a flexible credit unit system, which permits students to complete the required number of units and graduate in three years, was introduced. Required GE units were reduced to 15.
• Only Chinese Culture remained compulsory. This increased students' room for course selection.
• The one-line budget was introduced in 1995. Funding of departments was correlated to the number of students taught. Number of GE courses was unprecedentedly increased.

  1980-1990

1986-1991 University GE Programme with "Seven Areas"

• GE entered a new phase in 1986
  • Compared with previous stages, the revamped GE was significantly increased to 15% (18 units) of an undergraduates course load
  • The new curriculum still had provision for colleges to design GE courses for their students for a maximum of 6 units
  • The rest of the GE was a university-wide programme, provided by the academic departments and coordinated by the Director of General Education
• GE programme was divided into seven areas at this stage.

1984 Review of the Undergraduate curriculum

• The GE programme was strengthened and its curriculum was restructured. Goals of GE were clearly defined and standards of courses were raised.
• A Director of General Education was appointed to implement a university-wide GE programme.

  1970-1980

1976-1986 College GE under a Unitary University Administration

• College departments were integrated into departments under the governance of the central administration, responsible for "subject-orientated" teaching; the Colleges were responsible for "student-orientated" teaching, with GE continued to be entrusted to the Colleges
• With the shift of teaching resources management to departments, the Colleges encountered increasing difficulties to organize and coordinate GE courses

  1960-1970

1963 - 1976 Colleges, Cultural Ideals and GE

• Each college designed its GE programme in accordance with its traditional ideals and curriculum.

1963 CUHK was established

• Inherited the educational goals of the constituent colleges, the University had decided its establishment missions of the balanced development of liberal arts and specialized education; as well as equal emphasis on training professional expertise and nurturing leadership qualities.
• Since the establishment of the Univeristy, GE programme compulsory to all undergraduates was included in the curriculum.

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