MESSAGE
FROM
THE VICE-CHANCELLOR
As members of the University community, you may be asked by friends about the status of the University's recruitment. In the first round (1988/89), we were recruiting to fill 22 leadership positions: 5-6 in Admini-stration, 3-5 in academic adminiAdmini-stration, and 10-12 in strictly academic positions. At that time I said that if we could fill half of those positions I would consider it a success. If we filled two-thirds of the positions, It would be a miracle. In that period, we received about 1200 applications through adver-tisements. At the same time, we relied heavily on using international academic networks. At the end of that period, we filled 16-17 of those posi-tions. More than a miracle.Extremely high standards have been set for ourselves even though we are recruiting in areas where strong candidates are difficult to come by. For example, of the unfilled positions, 3 are in Business and Management. Many of you may know that positions in that area command very high salaries. What we can offer are not always sufficiently competitive. We are working to solve that problem creatively.
One piece of good news: in the early day of recruitment, we found former Hongkongers particularly difficult to persuade. Recently we have encountered several successes - the Heads of Biochemistry and Chemical Engineering and a Professor of Biology. If the trend continues, HK UST may contribute significantly to the start of a "reverse brain drain."
During the second round (1989/90), we have to fill about 30-40 academic positions. Another 100 will follow in the third round ( 1990/91 ).
So far we are more or less on schedule, and consider ourselves very fortunate to have acquired the services of so many good people -academic and administrative alike. While I have focused on leadership positions in this message, it is imperative to point out that every person in the team is important. The supporting staff represent flesh and blood in every organisa-tion, without which the body cannot funet+on.
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Brief
1) Prof Peter Dobson, on invita-tion from the Architectural Stu-dents' Association of the Uni-versity of Hong Kong, gave a lecture entitled "Cosmic Archi~ tecture: Space, Time and Gravity" at HKU on January 19.
2) Prof Jay Chen gave a seminar entitled "Experimental Meth-ods for Structural System Iden-tification" at the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Hong Kong on February 14.
HKUSTGenesis February 1990 Vol.1 Number 3
Managing Editors: Steve Kong, Pri-scilla Chung; Production Editors: May Lai, Danny Yung. The HKUST Genesis is published monthly by the Office of Public Affairs. Contribu-tions from all staff are welcome. Deadline for submission of articles is the 6th of each month.
February 1990
STAFF
INSTRODUCTION
The Support Cast in the
Centre of Computing Services
and Telecommunications
CHAN KIN-WAH, Computer Technician, is in charge of
computer operation. Formerly with Chinese University,
he enjoys photography and travelling.
ANNA HO, Cieri<, performs general clerical duties. Her
hobbies are listening to music, bowling, drawing and
travelling. She came to HK UST from HK Polytechnic.
DONALD MAK, Assistant Computer Officer, is
respon-sible for the image processing part of office automation.
He was formerly employed by Gilman Office Machines
and Telecommunications. His hobbies are wind surfing
and squash.
KITTY SO, Personal Secretary of Dr Max Ivey, performs
secretarial duties. She enjoys reading, outing, squash
and badminton. She was previously employed by HK
Polytechnic.
WONG CHI-WAI, Computer Technician, provides
sup-ports on PC and Networi< hardware installation and
maintenance. He enjoys bridge, outing and travelling.
Previously he worked for Baptist College.
LETTY WONG, Clerk, is responsible for general clerical duties and organisation of a library of computer manuals.
Staff Movement in January
Welcome Aboard, new staff!
Office of Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Academic Affairs): Miss
Chan Shuk-yin, Emily; Admissions, ReQistratioo
&
Rec-OI.Q.5.: Miss Pang Sau-kuen, Shirley; Estates: Mr Ho
Man-sheung, William. Miss Pang Kam-wan; Finance: Mrs Lui Yu Sau-man, Milly, Mr Kwok Chi-hang, Alex, Miss Leung
May-may; Personnel: Miss Li Shui-mei, Jessica, Mrs
Leung Wong Lai-chan, Alice, Mr To Chor-ming, Miss
Chim Sau-ling, Ronney, Ms Li Wing-yee, Doris, Miss
Poon Yee-ching, Anna. Resignation:
Finance: Miss Tsang Wai-yi, Angela. Transfer:
From Finance to Personnel: Ms Ho Wai-Ian, Alice.
From left to right: (front row) Letty Wong, Anna Ho, Kitty So; (back row) Steven Wong, Chan Kin-wah, Donald Mak, Wong Chi-wai.
She enjoys travelling, cooking and knitting and was
formerly employed by the HK Catholic Marriage Advisory
Council.
STEVEN WONG, Computer Officer, is in charge of
telephone set-up and system programming. His hobbies
are reading, listening to music, racket sports, cycling and photography. He came to HK UST from the University of Hong Kong.
OOPS!
' - ,I"
In the Staff Introduction section of the January
Issue of Genesis:
1) The title "System Programmer" has been
changed to "Senior Computer Officer."
2) Miss Sylvia Lau graduated with honours
from the Imperial College of Science and Technology, University of London.
Graphically Speaking:
This month: Making of a President by Ah BonON THE
LIGHT SIDE
M - 1 - C - K - E - YFebruary 1990
·
There was some interesting discussion during the academic meeting last month about "Mickey Mouse
courses." Those unfamiliar with the technical jargon of.~:fic
American Ed-Biz may be confused by this terminology. It does not, for example, refer to courses in the Biology Department on the genetic mutations responsible for
producing four-fingered rodents. Nor will such courses
be offered by the General Education Centre as an intro-duction to the History and Geography of Disneyland.
The derivation of the term Is not well documented, but it probably refers back to the time when cheap watches decorated with a picture of America's rodent superstar were a popular gift for children. Of course, the surviving original Mickey Mouse watches are now col-lector's items and worth a great deal. Nevertheless, the
use of "Mickey Mouse" as a modifier to Indicate
some-thing that might serve as a child's Imitation of an adult's possession is kept alive by the availability on the market of cheap imitations of the original cheap watches.
In the same spirit, a "Mickey Mouse" course is one offered by Department X for students primarily drawn from other departments. These students, In the opinion of Department X, are not really interested in "serious" X,
and prQbably couldri'c understand it it ti1ey were. Thus,
a simplified version, perhaps adorned with a few gaudy decorations to make it more palatable, is offered for non-X students in order to shed a little of non-X's pure light into the otherwise dark corners of their brains. Oddly enough, the academics In the other departments seldom resent this attitude-- they generally regard "serious" X as some-thing no sane person would want to devote much time to anyway. After all, when they were students, they got all the X they needed, and then some, from Mickey Mouse. Perhaps we should form a Mickey Mouse Club of all
teachers who are assigned this duty. It could act as a
watchdog (watchmouse?) to make sure the standards are as high for these courses as all others. Then, at the end of each term, the Club would gather to sing its theme song:
"M -- I -- C [See you next semester ... ]
K --E -- Y [Why? Because we flunked you!]
February 1990
Update on the
Soc
i
a
l
C
l
ub
Initial response to the Social Club's membership drive indicates a genuine support for the Club. As of 15 February 1990, 84 membership applications (70% of the current total of 120 University staff) have been received. Colleagues who are interested in joining the Club but have not submitted their applications are invited tci do so as soon as possible by contacting the General Administration and Committees Office.
The ad hoc Management Committee held its fourth meeting on 13 February 1990 and decided to hold the first Annual
General Meeting (AGM) of the Social Club on Wednesday, 28 March 1990, tentatively scheduled at 4:30 PM in the 12/F
Conference Room. The Committee also agreeo on the following time table for election of the first Management Committee:
1)
2) 3)
4)
5)
Distribution of nomination forms: Return of nomination forms: Ballots sent to members: Deadline for returning ballots: Announcement of results of election:
Wednesday, 28 February 1990 Saturday, 10 March 1990
Wednesday, 14 March 1990 Wednesday, 21 March 1990
Wednesday, 28 March 1990 at the AGM
