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isolation of the staff as a whole. It was also evident that, while there was some awareness of this problem, Heads of Department and Deans could, within existing constraints, do more in a variety of ways than they do at the moment to foster the development of their staff.
4.12 Throughout the discussion of academic standards and
related matters, CNAA members became aware that Deans of Faculty and the Dean of Academic Affairs and his two Assistant Deans seemed not to exercise to any great extent the powers which they were deemed to have; academic actions of the Deans collectively in the Personnel Committee seemed sometimes to be stretching the terms of reference of that Committee. Also, the channel of reporting through the Departmental Committees and the Faculty Boards to the Academic Board seemed very tenuous.
4.13 Although the responses revealed gaps which indicated that
standards are not as well underpinned as is desirable, questions put by CNAA were always answered directly and with understanding of the issues, and there was much about the debate that was positive. The need to keep a tight rein on resources, when seen against the high staff turnover, seemed to underlie the lack of participation and the weaknesses of the structure for setting policies and monitoring effectiveness.
5.
CONTROL OF RESOURCES
5.1
CNAA commended the President and his senior colleagues on the extensive capital programmes which had been completed and the further programmes in which the college was currently engaged. It was, however, a matter of concern to the CNAA in the comparability exercise that the College was in a much more difficult position in the matter of recurrent funding; inadequacies in the staffing budget, and in the remuneration of staff which followed, clearly contributed to excessive staff turnover. A major consequence was a lack of stability in the teaching, while in science and engineering the education of students was also impoverished because of poor laboratory accommodation and equipment. In the light of the difficulties which the College faced, the decision of the College to offer courses in these expensive fields was questioned. The President defended the continuation of courses in Science and Engineering on the grounds of the need in Hong Kong for these skills. The College admitted that the high staff turnover was disturbing, but government support for the re-structured programmes was expected to lead to some relative improvement in staff salaries. While the College welcomed government funding of post-A level students, staff questioned government estimates that teaching at