Hang Seng Management College acquires university title
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The Secretary for Education, Mr Kevin Yeung, congratulated the institution. He said that the development of private universities added diversity to Hong Kong's higher education system and provided a channel for all sectors of society to contribute resources and efforts for the benefit of students.
The HSMC is the first self-financing post-secondary education institution to acquire a university title since the publication of the revised roadmap of criteria for acquiring university title for post-secondary colleges registered under the Ordinance in 2015. Factors considered included the breadth of programmes offered, research capability, size and scale, governance and management, financial sustainability, academic environment and quality assurance.
To assess the readiness of the HSMC for becoming a private university, the college invited the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications (HKCAAVQ) to undertake an Institutional Review in 2017. The HKCAAVQ concluded that the HSMC met the standards expected of a private university.
The Hang Seng School of Commerce (HSSC) was founded in 1980 to provide mainly business diploma courses, however in later years it also began to offer matriculation courses and pre-associate and associate degree programmes. Established by the HSSC, the HSMC has been registered under the Ordinance since 2010. In the 2018/19 academic year, the HSMC operated 19 self-financing locally-accredited post-secondary programmes, including 17 bachelor's degree programmes and two master's degree programmes, with over 4 000 students in total.
To date, the HSMC has attained Programme Area Accreditation (PAA) status for the disciplines of business and management; languages and related studies; and mass media and communications, journalism and public relations. Despite HSMC acquiring the title of a university, the PAA status obtained will still be subject to Periodic Institutional Review by the HKCAAVQ. Moreover, the HSMC will be required to submit a progress report together with an audited financial report to the Education Bureau annually to ensure its teaching quality and financial sustainability. The Education Bureau has commissioned the HKCAAVQ to review the reports and provide independent expert advice to the Bureau.
Ends/Tuesday, October 30, 2018
Issued at HKT 16:17
Issued at HKT 16:17
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