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The following is issued on behalf of the University Grants Committee:
The University Grants Committee (UGC) held its presentation ceremony for the inaugural UGC Teaching Award 2011 today (September 8) to honour academics in the UGC-funded institutions for their teaching performance and achievements, as well as their leadership in and scholarly contribution to teaching and learning within and across institutions. The presentation ceremony was well attended by the UGC Members, Council Chairmen and Heads of the UGC-funded institutions and their senior management responsible for teaching quality, those nominated for the Award and some 50 outstanding academics.
The two recipients, in alphabetical order, are:
- Mr Richard A Glofcheski, Associate Professor, Department of Law, the University of Hong Kong
- Professor Poon Wai-yin, Professor, Department of Statistics, and Associate Dean (Education), Faculty of Science, the Chinese University of Hong Kong
The Award citations are at Annex A.
The UGC Chairman, Mrs Laura Cha, said at the dinner, "The UGC is gratified to see so many enthusiastic academics in the UGC sector who are passionate about the learning of their students, and are ready to make a real and sustained impact in promoting teaching excellence in their institutions and the entire sector.
"Indeed, teaching is the core mission of all UGC-funded institutions. The UGC Teaching Award is an important step to articulate the great importance that the UGC attaches to quality teaching, as outlined in the 'Aspirations for the Higher Education System in Hong Kong' report."
Professor William Kirby, Chairman of the Award's Selection Panel, said, "The two recipients of the Award were selected from among 16 outstanding nominees through a rigorous process. The Selection Panel was greatly impressed by all the nominees' extraordinary commitment to quality teaching and vision of nurturing thoughtful, self-reliant and globally competitive students for the benefit of our society. They are all gems in the UGC sector. The panel was gratified by their success in advancing good teaching methods in their own disciplines and institutions. Collectively, they can make even more significant contributions to enhancing learning and teaching in the entire sector."
Professor Brian Coppola, independent expert on the Selection Panel, said, "As an individual who is completely external to the Hong Kong context, I was thrilled to see the level of innovation and imagination on display across such a wide range of institutions and disciplines. I have reviewed the teaching work of many outstanding professors from the United States, and all of the nominees for the UGC Teaching Award could easily compete with their peers anywhere in the world."
The selection of the recipients of the UGC Teaching Award was undertaken by a Selection Panel convened by Professor Kirby. Members of the panel comprised Mrs Pamela Chan, Professor Edmond Ko and Sir Colin Lucas, as well as Professor Brian Coppola, who is a national winner of the 2009 US Professors of the Year Award. The panel selected the recipients based on four criteria, which represented the important aspects of teaching, including the adoption of learner-centred approaches, curriculum design, scholarly activities in learning and teaching and scholarly contribution to the development of effective teaching practice. Each recipient will be awarded a grant of $500,000 for, inter alia, undertaking learning and teaching initiatives for the benefit of their own institutions and the entire sector.
Mrs Cha said, "We are thankful to the institutions for their support, without which the Award Scheme would not have been such a success. We look forward to working with institutions in ensuring quality education for the students through this Award Scheme and other initiatives to promote quality teaching."
A fact sheet on the selection criteria of the Award and the composition of the Selection Panel is at Annex B.
Ends/Thursday, September 8, 2011
Issued at HKT 19:45
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