Bulletin Summer 1976

of knowledge or instruction in a subject or subjects ("subject-orientated" teaching) and assisting in the process of self-discovery by each participant or of enabling the individual t o develop, to the fullest level of his capacity, his distinctive talents, his judgment and his intellectual independence (“student- orientated" teaching). It recommends (i) that The Chinese University of Hong Kong should adopt an arrangement which offers the students a balanced diet of each of these two types of teaching; and (ii) that the "student-orientated " teaching should be nourished into ful l vitality by being implanted in the Colleges. "Subject-orientated" Teaching In the Commission's opinion, formal structured, "subject-orientated" teaching is the province of the University. The Senate and its subordinate academic units would be responsible for ensuring that all the various cours e syllabuses necessary to prepare students for university examinations are suitably covered by lectures, seminars, laboratory teaching. It would also be the University's dut y to ensure that an adequate supply of teachers is deployed upon the task. "Student-orientated" Teaching The Commission believes tha t small-group "student-orientated" teachin g is more securely based and more likely to flourish to the benefit of the students when it is institutionalised. "Student- orientated" teaching consists of personal exchanges between students, singly or in groups, and their teachers. The natural home of "student-orientated " teaching is the College. Th e Colleges thus have the complementary responsibilit y for organizing and conducting small-group , "student-orientated'‘ teaching for all students within their membership, and it would be their duty to ensure that their teaching strength is adequate for the purpose. Future Structure and Organization of the University The Commission strongly advises the retention and consolidation of the federal principle, believing that its influence in an academic community will be to encourage a fruitful interplay of ideas relevant to a world of continuing rapid change an d a timulating diversity of patterns of social ideals and behaviour. The University All powers and functions except those explicitly given to the Boards of Trustees of the Colleges should be vested in the University. In particular the University should b e responsible for academic and development policy, financial management , the matriculation of students, the appointment of staff, the determination of the curriculum, the conduct of examinations and the award of degrees. The Council and the Senate should continu e to have all its present power s and functions except in so far as the changes in College organization necessitate consequential amendments. The Administrative and Planning Committee should be continued with the same range of functions as at present. The Pro-Vice-Chancellor will need to devote a substantial part of his time to undertaking some of the Vice-Chancellor's dutie s and his tenure of office should not be limited to two years as at present. The academic staff should be appointed by the University and be assigned to a College by th e Senate. Students should be admitted to the University and allocated to Colleges on the combined criteria of order of merit in academic performanc e and of placement preferred. The administration of all library services should be centralized and responsibilit y should rest with the University Librarian. As for administrative organization, there should be a single administration to manage the affairs of the University as a whole in accordance with the directions of the Council and Senate. The Colleges Existing Boards of Governors, or Board of Trustees in the case of the United College, should be discontinued and so should the existing College Councils. There should, however, be a Board of Trustees for each College with duties confined specifically to responsibility for such property as the existing Boards brought with them into The Chinese University of Hong Kong at its formation and still retain.