Enrollment fiasco throws school officials under censure
Updated: 2013-01-11 07:00
By Fan Feifei(HK Edition)
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Two officials of Lingnan University have been castigated over practices and lapses which saw excessive admissions at the institution.
A report into admission practices at the schools cited the university's associate vice-president (academic quality assurance) and the former dean of Community College at Lingnan University (CCLU) and Lingnan Institute of Further Education (LIFE). The university's council added its condemnation, describing the failings of the two officials as extremely regrettable.
The report pointed out that the Associate Vice-President Chan Tsang-sing, who is responsible for overseeing operations and for making key decisions of CCLU and LIFE had failed to establish sufficient management control measures. Furthermore, he was slow to recruit additional academic and administrative staff once student enrollment exceeded capacity in late July and early August last year.
Council Chairman of the University Bernard Charnwut Chan admitted that "the council of the university had approved a student number projection for the new academic year in June, 2012; however, the council never saw any subsequent student number projections at CCLU and LIFE and therefore the new numbers were given no endorsement".
Another key person was Edward Fung Pui-wing, former dean of CCLU and LIFE, who, the report concluded, made several aggressive decisions on his own initiative without following stipulated procedures.
Fung also came under criticism from his own staff for what they called his dictatorial management style. The report also found that Fung had failed to establish well-documented administrative procedures for his subordinates to follow.
Fung submitted his resignation after the matter erupted. He will leave his post in two weeks. Chan Tsang-sing, the associate vice-president, is on vacation and could not be reached by China Daily.
The two branches of the institution - CCLU and LIFE - reportedly admitted more than 5,300 associate degree students for the new academic year, doubling the number planned before the beginning of summer. The excess enrollment resulted in inadequate classroom space, and insufficient academic staff, adversely affecting the quality of teaching and learning at the institution.
President of Lingnan University Chan Yuk-shee resigned last October when the issue came to light, citing health reasons for his decision.
The report also criticized other two university officials - the associate director and the former assistant director of CCLU.
It also made recommendations to improve the operation of the university, including reviewing the governance structure of the two branches and establishing a proper complaint handling mechanism to address and handle student and staff complaints effectively.
The students' union of the university and Concern CCLU/LIFE Action Group described the report as "generally satisfactory" but demanded that officials involved in the debacle should resign immediately.
The Education Bureau said it had received the report about the excessive admission issue. It will discuss the content and suggestion in the report in detail, and then decide on what steps to take.
fanfeifei@chinadailyhk.com
(HK Edition 01/11/2013 page1)