TNAG-1072-FCO40-1322-Policy-of-the-Government-of-Hong-Kong-on-education-1981 — Page 54

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4.8

4.9

recommendations to the College Council, and thus tended to direct the Academic Board away from a concern with the quality of the courses. The Dean of Academic Affairs also did a certain amount of course monitoring in his executive capacity.

Advisory Committees were clearly very new in the life of the College in providing an industrial/commercial input. Only two such Committees had been set up, and one of these had yet to hold its first meeting.

CNAA enquired as to the extent to which the Academic Board had involved itself with matters of teaching practice, and learned that it had done little in that area to date. There was an induction programme for new members of the academic staff, but this seemed largely to be confined to basic instruction in the use of the College's Educational Technology facilities. The impression was gained that the Educational Technology facilities, while generally useful, and having particular relevance for certain courses, were seen by most staff as peripheral to their teaching arrangements.

4.10 Seeking further examples of the effective discussion of

policy by the Academic Board, CNAA questioned the senior staff as to whether any real thought had been given to the entry routes to year 3 of the re-structured courses from the College's own year 2 as against "A" level candidates recruited externally. It was learned that internal students could expect some preferential treatment, but it was difficult to pin down the locus of such a policy decison as that of the Academic Board, or to feel as much confidence as members had hoped in consistency of application.

4.11

CNAA members holding discussions in the departments had expressed concern at staff isolation, and it emerged in the overall appraisal of the institution that staff of Baptist College are not as readily welcomed as CNAA would have expected in either of the Hong Kong universities or the Polytechnic, and that links with those institutions are sometimes forged only with members of Baptist College feeling to be "second class citizens". Stronger links, e.g. participation by staff in seminars, would provide valuable staff development opportunities, particularly for junior staff, and the college is encouraged to do everything possible to improve the climate for such informal contact with staff in the other colleges. appreciates that there are exceptions to this poor climate in that senior and well-established staff have ready access to their colleagues in the other institutions, but more needs to be done to reduce the

CNAA