University education reform: initatives and planning ahead

While education reform of College education in Hong Kong is rigorously underway, Universities in Hong Kong are all preparing for the new curriculum for the shift of 3 to 4 years of College Education.

When I read the letter from the President of University of Chicago addressing to the important issues of University development this morning, I couldn't stop myself to admire this group of great education administrators. They all have board horizon and mind to collect, incorporate and develop various kinds of programmes in the University development. More importantly, they laid out the most important issues to be addressed throughout the whole review process :

All considerations of what initiatives we take as a University must be put in the context of our fundamental values and the particular role that we play within the academy. The University is driven first and foremost by a culture of rigorous open inquiry and unrelenting analysis and questioning. The way the University has been organized and evolved over the years, the intensity of our intellectual culture, the resulting education that is so engaging and powerful, and the nature of the contributions the University has made to scholarship and to society are all derived from this focus. It is both a defining feature of the University and what we need to build upon as we consider our future.

The engine of our activity is our insistence on seeking the most original agenda-setting faculty and students at all levels with the capacity to benefit from and contribute to our academic environment. Each major step we embark upon must take into consideration how it will enhance our ability to attract and retain these faculty and students and foster the culture of inquiry that distinguishes the University.

Do we have mindset like this? What's the core elements in our planning while we set forth for the future development?

Prof Zimmer's letter is worth reading : http://president.uchicago.edu/reports/letter_032108.shtml

Photo : Hutchinson Hall at the University of Chicago