Lingnan University celebrates the Chinese New Year with the media

8 Feb 2017

President Leonard K Cheng (middle) and members of the senior management showed the University's new tagline “Liberal Arts Education. Transformation for Life”.

President Leonard K Cheng (middle) and members of the senior management showed the University's new tagline “Liberal Arts Education. Transformation for Life”.

Lingnan University organized the Chinese New Year Media Reception 2017 today (8 February), during which President Leonard K Cheng and other representatives of the University met with and greeted friends from the media at the beginning of the Year of the Rooster.

 

In his address, President Cheng pointed out that 2016 was a fruitful year for Lingnan University. “During the year we achieved a significant leap of 33 places in our QS Rankings in Asia from 142 to 109. Our commitment to fostering whole-person development of students through a liberal arts education was also commended by the Quality Assurance Council in its Report of a Quality Audit of Lingnan University published in October 2016. While we are greatly encouraged by the QAC report’s affirmations, we are taking concrete steps to further consolidate our strengths, and implement measures in response to the recommendations of the Report. In November 2016, we announced the University’s Strategic Plan for 2016-2022 which was formulated with the goals of steering Lingnan to the next level of excellence and addressing the education needs of the new generations,” said President Cheng.

 

Lingnan University also made significant advancement in the areas of research and postgraduate education. Lingnan participated in the Centre for Global Higher Education, the largest research centre in the world specifically focused on higher education that was launched in February 2016, and co-launched the Inter-university Research Consortium for Higher Education in October 2016 with other international partners. In April this year, Lingnan will organise a symposium jointly with King’s College London and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology on the theme “Smart Cities, Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Asia: Challenges and Opportunities”.

 

Last year, a number of new master programmes offered jointly with international partners were launched or in the pipeline, such as the double-master degree programme in International Banking and Finance with the University of Leicester in the UK, the International Master of Social Sciences in Comparative Social Policy with the University of York in the UK, the double-master degree programme in Work and Organisational Psychology with the Beijing Normal University, and the master programme in International Higher Education and Management which is under development. As one of the major strategic initiatives laid down in the new Strategic Plan, more new master programmes will be launched in the coming years. Furthermore, Lingnan has just confirmed with the University of Oxford in the UK to co-host a three-week International Postgraduate Summer School programme this summer, with the aim of enriching the learning experience of our postgraduate students through collaboration with top universities in the world.

 

President Cheng mentioned that 2017 will be a year for Lingnan University to capitalise on its past success and strive for new heights, as Lingnan is going to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Lingnan’s re-establishment in Hong Kong. To celebrate this important milestone, Lingnan will organise a series of activities to enrich the public’s understanding of Lingnan, a Hong Kong story that lasts for half a century. These will also allow generations of teachers, students, alumni and friends of Lingnan to get together and review the development and achievements of the University since its inauguration, strengthen the bonding among Lingnanians and carry on the Lingnan Spirit. The year-long celebration is expected to start in the last quarter of 2017. Signature events will include a kick-off ceremony, a gala dinner, a lecture series by distinguished leaders, a Conference for Alliance of Asian Liberal Arts Universities, and a finale concert. Among these activities, the Conference for Alliance of Asian Liberal Arts Universities will mark the establishment of the Alliance of Asian Liberal Arts Universities jointly advocated by Lingnan University and other partner institutions.

 

The year 2017 also marks the beginning of another Golden Jubilee for Lingnan during which it will continue to scale new heights. Lingnan’s short and medium term target is to launch and implement the initiatives listed in the 2016-2022 Strategic Plan, with the aim of enhancing the University’s standards in teaching, research and service. At the same time the University will strive to strengthen the brand of Lingnan. The University has conducted a brand audit earlier and based on the audit result, a brand positioning statement has been developed, which reads “Lingnan University prepares students for future success and transforms them into global citizens in a rapidly changing world through its unique liberal arts education, distinguished by an interdisciplinary curriculum, small classes, a vibrant campus life and rich international exposure.” A new tagline “Liberal Arts Education. Transformation For Life” has also been adopted to reflect the University’s brand essence. Lingnan will roll out a series of brand promotion activities on the new tagline from around March onwards.