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3 LOOKING BACK, LOOKING FORWARD
UMP 大學廣場
MAR 2013
Work, Students and School:
An Interview with Prof. Dennis Ng
Student reporter: Ng Yan Kin
T he University Dean of Students (UDean) plays a vital
role in the enhancement of student-related matters.
In this issue of UMP, the UDean, Prof. Dennis Ng, shares
with us his work and its challenges.
The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has always
striven to develop a better learning environment for its
students. This requires collaborative efforts of many units.
Many of the activities/services concerning students such
as orientation programmes, the academic advisory system,
student development portfolio, promotion of mental health
and disability services are centrally coordinated by the
UDean. “My work is to ensure how these activities could
be done in a better manner,” says Professor Ng, as he
speaks about how effective coordination is conducive
to more effective organization of student activities and
services. In addition, strengthening students’ experiential
learning on the non-academic side is the other focus of his
work.
Professor Ng says that more challenges come along with
the increased intake number of students. The needs of
the 3,000 plus younger students of the new curriculum,
the adjustment of many non-local students, as well as the
growing number of student associations all make his work
more challenging as the UDean.
CUHK students have always generated positive
impression in Professor Ng’s mind – they are all-round,
down-to-earth, and socially conscious. Being a warden,
a chemistry professor and the UDean, Professor Ng has
many opportunities to interact with students of different
backgrounds. He notes that CUHK students, whether of
the past years or nowadays, excel in academic pursuits
and actively participate in a wide range of extra-curricular
activities. He thinks one of the most distinguishable
differences between students of different generations
probably is that students now can enjoy much more
opportunities to go on overseas exchange or internship.
In the year of the 50th anniversary of CUHK, Professor
Ng hopes all students can enjoy and participate in the
celebratory events. “To encourage students’ involvement,
funding is made available to student societies for them
to organize anniversary programmes and activities.”
Professor Ng reminds students that the anniversary is a
grand occasion for all CUHK people. Students can make
good use of the funding and their innovation to make their
engagement more fun and memorable.