A panel of three distinguished experts visited City University of Hong Kong (CityU) on 19-20 January to provide expert advice on the strategic development of its College of Business (CB).

 

During the two-day visit, the experts reviewed the strengths of the College and areas for improvement, and the distinct features and international competitiveness of its education and research programmes.

 

The panel is headed by Professor John R Birge, Jerry W and Carol Lee Levin Professor of Operations Management, Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago. The other panel members are Dr Peter Lau Kwok-kuen, Chairman and Group Chief Executive, Giordano International, and Professor Steven Salbu, Dean and Stephen P. Zelnak chairholder, College of Management, Georgia Institute of Technology.

 

The panel members were greeted by Professor Way Kuo, the President, and the University’s senior management, including Professor Richard Ho Yan-ki, Provost, Professor Roderick Wong, Vice-President (Research and Technology), and Professor Paul Lam, Vice-President (Student Affairs) and Associate Provost (Academic Planning and Undergraduate Education). The experts were then briefed on current developments at CityU and within CB.

 

Professor Kuo gave a brief introduction of CityU’s history, rankings and strategic goals, and Hong Kong’s tertiary institutions in general. He thanked the experts for sharing their valuable experiences. “We hope that, with the benefit of the advice from these experts, CityU will emerge as one of the best universities in the world,” Professor Kuo said.

 

The experts then met with the management team and academic staff of CB. Professor Wei Kwok-kee, Dean of CB, gave a presentation on the College’s structure, vision, mission, strategic goals, achievements, collaborations with overseas, mainland China and local institutions and academic programmes. In particular, he highlighted the College’s research strengths and internationalisation of its faculty and staff.

 

In the subsequent sessions, the panel members were shown CB’s teaching facilities, including the various laboratories. They also met with some CB students and alumni to learn why they had chosen to enrol in CB’s programmes, what they would expect, and what improvements they would suggest . The students and alumni praised CityU’s programmes for their international nature and the atmosphere conducive to interactive discussion and self-development.

 

At the end of the two-day visit, the experts reached a consensus and presented a detailed recommendation report to CityU on the future development of its business programmes.