Introduction
Click here for PPT about HSUHK.
The roots of The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong (HSUHK) stretch back to 1980 when Hang Seng School of Commerce (HSSC) was established, with funding from the S H Ho Foundation, the Ho Tim Charitable Foundation, Dah Chong Hong Limited, several Hang Seng Bank founding directors and Hang Seng Bank Limited. The institution was incorporated as a limited company by guarantee and has been operating independently of any other organisation. From 1980 to 2009, HSSC was a pioneering and leading provider of post-secondary programmes in business and related areas.
In response to the Chief Executive’s Policy Address in 2009 which highlighted the growing significance of quality private universities in Hong Kong, HSSC was re-structured in 2010 and became Hang Seng Management College (HSMC), a non-profit private university-level institution registered under the Post Secondary Colleges Ordinance (Cap. 320) to offer bachelor’s and above degree programmes in diversified disciplines.
After a rigorous international accreditation process, on 30 October 2018, HSMC was granted approval by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) to change its title from “Hang Seng Management College” to “The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong”.
HSUHK aspires to be a leading non-profit private liberal-arts-oriented university in the region, recognised for excellence in teaching, learning and research, and for contributions to advancing our society and the world. HSUHK has five Schools (Business, Communication, Decision Sciences, Humanities and Social Science, and Translation and Foreign Languages), with around 6,000 full-time students and over 200 full-time academic staff members at present.
HSUHK offers a wide range of 4-year bachelor’s (honours) degree programmes and master’s degree programmes. Many of these programmes are unique and the first of its kind in the region. All programmes were accredited by the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications (HKCAAVQ) and recognised by the Governments of the HKSAR, Mainland China and Taiwan.
The “Liberal + Professional” Education Model
Adopting a unique “Liberal + Professional” education model, The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong (HSUHK) places its highest priorities on quality teaching and students’ all-round development. HSUHK believes the purpose of undergraduate education is not mainly to help students acquire more knowledge and better job prospects after graduation, but also to cultivate their personal values, interests, and competencies. The transformative power of this educational model will facilitate students’ realisation of their full potential.
In our educational model, drawing inspiration from Amartya Sen’s Capability Approach, the “Liberal” education at HSUHK is committed to nurturing students’ freedom to think and thrive in the global village of the 21st century. Our aim is to empower students to pursue their aspirations by fostering core transferrable competencies such as critical thinking, creativity, interpersonal communication/collaboration, human caring attitude, moral reasoning, and social responsibility. “Liberal” also represents a broad and cross-disciplinary approach to connect knowledge domains, facilitate thinking, and solve problems, especially in the University-wide common core curriculum. This enables our students to tackle the complex challenges of their future life/work with confidence and fulfilment.
Unlike most fresh graduates of liberal arts colleges in the West who continue to pursue postgraduate studies, fresh graduates in Hong Kong mostly seek full-time jobs. “Professional” in this model represents the incorporation of professional subject elements in many of our major programmes, which equip students with transferrable professional competencies, professionalism and ethics that are required in future careers options. Additionally, subjects such as business management, sustainability and information technology are essentially seen as liberal arts disciplines, centred on human values.
In our curriculum design, there is a good balance of major studies, common core curriculum and free electives with measurable learning outcomes, with ample development opportunities and experiential activities which form students’ holistic educational experience. These opportunities and activities include residential college experience, internship, service-learning projects, leadership training, global exchange programmes and independent research, among others.
HSUHK adopts many core liberal arts education elements in its education process. Some distinctive features include:
- A primary focus on undergraduate education.
- Platinum award-winning green campus facilities with extensive bamboo features.
- Innovative degree programmes.
- A cross-disciplinary Common Core Curriculum.
- A Residential College System combining living and learning.
- Interactive small-class teaching.
- Close student-teacher relationships.
- Teachers’ guidance and mentorship for individual students in and outside classrooms.
- An Honours Academy, the first of its kind in Hong Kong, dedicated to the incubation of future public leaders.
- Extensive outreach and experiential learning opportunities.
- The “One Student One Internship” scheme, which provides every student full-time internship opportunities local or overseas.
Desired Graduate Attributes (iGPS)
The University aims to nurture students possessing the following ‘desired graduate attributes: iGPS’:
- Intellectual Competence (i) : a solid foundation in relevant academic disciplines, and the ability to think critically, to solve problems analytically and proactively, and to engage in lifelong learning.
- Generic Skills (G) : mastery of skills in:
- languages in both English and Chinese (Cantonese and Putonghua);
- the use of information technology and data analysis tools;
- interpersonal communication;
- teamwork and leadership.
- Personal Development (P) : development of self-awareness, ethical values, emotion management, personal effectiveness, work attitude and character.
- Social Engagement (S) : willingness to serve the community and a commitment to acting for the betterment of society.
The acronym iGPS also carries the symbolic meaning of ‘I’ and the ‘GPS’; with ‘I’ referring to the individual student and ‘GPS’ taking on the metaphor of ‘Global Positioning System’, which can guide the development of the student through the diverse educational experience at HSUHK.
Recognitions and Awards
With the concerted efforts of the University community, HSUHK has achieved a number of important accomplishments.
HSUHK obtained the ISO 9001 Certification in Quality Management System (QMS) on its degree programmes, as well as a full score of 5.0 in the CSR Index assessment on the University, both issued by the Hong Kong Quality Assurance Agency.
HSUHK was the first higher education institution in Hong Kong to receive the highest BEAM Plus Platinum recognition from the Hong Kong Green Building Council, with all of its four new buildings having received such recognition, which affirmed the University’s commitment to environmental protection and campus sustainability. With its extensive bamboo planting and use of bamboo building materials and furniture, the University is known as ‘Junzi University’, reflecting its aspiration to realise the virtues that bamboo personifies: integrity, humility, grace and resilience.
The HSUHK campus is among the 55 buildings in Hong Kong to receive the ‘GBA Low Carbon Buildings TOP 100 Award’ in 2022, showing the University’s effort in promoting low-carbon development in the region.
From 2014 to 2022, HSUHK has secured HK$310.78 million for implementing 230 projects from different external funding schemes or bodies. In the nine-year cumulative period since 2014/15, HSUHK received the highest funding amount and recorded the highest number of awarded research projects under the Research Grants Council’s ‘Competitive Research Funding Schemes for the Local Self-financing Degree Sector’.
HSMC/HSUHK is also the first and the only local higher education institution having received the “Outstanding School Social Responsibility Award” (university category) 2018 and 2019 from the Mirror Post, and the “Asia Excellence Brand Award 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023” from Yazhou Zhoukan.
HSUHK was listed among the top 200 universities globally for ‘Quality Education’ and ‘Decent Work and Economic Growth’ in the 2021 Times Higher Education Impact Rankings, which reflected that the University was recognised as a pioneer in responsible management and sustainability education in the region.
HSUHK is listed the 7th (overall) in the ASEAN+ region, the 1st in the Greater China region, and the 1st in Employability as per the 2023 AppliedHE ASEAN+ private university assessment by the Singapore-based AppliedHE.
Additionally, HSUHK is also listed 18th in the ‘Best Business and Management Universities in China 2023’ assessment, as announced by Research.com, a leading academic research portal.
About HSUHK (for media use)
The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong (HSUHK) is a non-profit private liberal-arts-oriented university with five Schools (Business, Communication, Decision Sciences, Humanities and Social Science, and Translation and Foreign Languages) and over 6,000 full-time students. Adopting the unique “Liberal + Professional” education model, HSUHK aims to nurture young talents with critical thinking, innovative minds, caring attitudes, moral values and social responsibility.
Aspiring to be a leading private university in the region, HSUHK features a primary focus on undergraduate education, top-quality faculty members, award-winning green campus facilities, innovative degree programmes, unique residential college system combining living and learning, interactive small class teaching, very close student-teacher relationship, RGC-funded impactful research, and excellent student development/support services. HSUHK is listed the 7th (overall) in the ASEAN+ region, the 1st in the Greater China region, and the 1st in Employability as per the 2023 AppliedHE ASEAN+ private university assessment by the Singapore-based AppliedHE. It is also listed among the top 200 worldwide on “Quality Education” and “Decent Work and Economic Growth” in Times Higher Education University Impact Rankings 2021.