EDUCATION
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Only Memory (CD-ROM) databases is widely used by students and staff. Integrated library software has now replaced the library's in-house system.
Situated on a nine-hectare campus partly on reclaimed land in Hung Hom, Kowloon, the Hong Kong Polytechnic continues to be in the midst of an extensive building develop- ment programme on the northern half of its site.
The Phase IIIB project which was completed in August 1990 is the first major new building on the North Campus. It houses specialist and general teaching rooms, research space, staff offices, a new central store for the Finance Office and new workshops for the Estates Office. It incorporates the New Amenities Building which has a fully air- conditioned indoor sports hall suitable for examinations and large conferences, additional student and staff dining facilities and an enhanced staff club. The permanent home for the Jockey Club Rehabilitation Engineering Centre and Rehabaid Centre is also incorporated in the development.
The next major development, which is to dovetail with Phase IIIB, is the Industrial Centre/Phase IVA project which started in December 1989 and is scheduled for comple- tion early in 1992. It will house the expanded industrial training facilities for students of the Hong Kong Polytechnic and the City Polytechnic of Hong Kong and provide additional research, laboratory, teaching and office space for the Hong Kong Polytechnic. The Plastics Technology Centre and four large lecture theatres will also be incorporated in this development. Together with a proposed Phase V, these projects are all part of poly- technic's master-plan for the North Campus.
City Polytechnic of Hong Kong
The City Polytechnic of Hong Kong entered a new era with the opening of its permanent campus on January 15, 1990, six years after the institution's formal establishment in January 1984.
The polytechnic maintained its track-record in the competitive bidding for earmarked research grant support from the University and Polytechnic Grants Committee (UPGC). Of the 16 projects submitted for 1990-91 funding 11 were successful, with funds of HK$5.780 million being acquired.
The UPGC approved the introduction of the PhD degree and the first intake took place in October 1990. The MPhil research degree programme drew an application-to-place ratio of 10 to one and expanded rapidly when the UPGC approved the doubling of the student quota to 24 for 1989–90, rising to 40 for 1990–91. In order to provide financial support for research students the polytechnic set up a Research Studentship Scheme.
In May, the polytechnic and a US computer manufacturer jointly established a research and development centre at the polytechnic. The company invested $4 million to provide a product development facility utilising the computing expertise of polytechnic staff.
In July, under the aegis of its Institute for Research and Consultancy the polytechnic launched a two-way staff exchange programme with government departments, public bodies and commercial enterprises, aimed at strengthening links and making the poly- technic's resources available to these sectors.
During the year, the polytechnic made four submissions to the UPGC on its academic development proposals for the 1991-4 triennium. It proposed that the maximum size of the institution should be limited to 10000 full-time equivalent students, all of whom would be undertaking first degree level work or above. The UPGC subsequently recommended