HKBU to vet proposal merging arts and social sciences faculties

The Senate of the Hong Kong Baptist University will vet the proposal of merging the Faculty of Arts and the Faculty of Social Sciences this July in a meeting next Monday, as members of a concern group have been campaigning at the university’s front door since Monday, calling on students and teachers to attend the consultation session. 

The proposal would have originally been tabled to the HKBU Senate last November but was ultimately adjourned. 

At an event on Monday, university president Alexander Wai Ping-kong did not respond directly on the matter. He did stress though that interdisciplinary research is a key part in education, saying it can help student adapt to changes brought by the rapid technological advancements. 

This came after the dedicated task force sent an email yesterday to all students and teachers about the proposed changes. 

Under the proposal, the 12 departments of the two faculties are to be transformed into four divisions. As for the Language Centre under the Faculty of Arts, it will become a standalone teaching department in a separate proposal. 

HKBU stressed that the departments will keep their name and status after the merging, and the divisions will handle administrative matters and strengthen the interdisciplinary synergy among the departments. 

The merging, if approved, will be a big leap forward for the university in fostering interdisciplinary education and research, HKBU said. 

The university continued that the task force has called eight meetings and has held over 40 consultation sessions since last April to collect the opinions from students, teachers, and relevant stakeholders. 

HKBU added that the submitted proposal contains a lot of suggestions collected from different parties. 

The concern group, the Students’ Union, and the teachers' and staff union will hold a consultation session on campus Thursday evening, and called on teachers and students to attend. 

They doubt the university is rushing the proposal as plenty of details need to be settled, as it raises challenges on the transparency of the school’s official consultation. 

A member said they had prepared 500 fliers and distributed half of it as of 3.30 pm yesterday. They were also not prevented from campaigning at the front door of the university, while security guards took photos of them and teachers reminded them not to cause a nuisance to residents in the area.