The Centennial Campus has been under construction for nearly a year now, and if you have just joined us as a freshman, you will have an opportunity to experience the new campus in 2012. In this issue, we will hear from Dr Albert Chau, Dean of Student Affairs, who will explain how students will benefit from the new campus.

Q: At the moment, does a lack of space affect how well CEDARS can help students? Has this limited the Centre’s development?

A: Space is an ongoing constraint for many faculties and departments, and CEDARS is no exception. At the moment, our main focus is to integrate our programmes more closely with the formal curriculum, and facilitate the faculties as they bring in experiential learning under the new 3-3-4 curriculum. We also work with outside organizations like NGOs and corporations to provide valuable educational opportunities to our students.
Obviously, CEDARS needs a larger team when expanding its services. However, all available office space is already occupied, including some meeting rooms.

Q: At the Centennial Campus, will there be new service outlets and amenities for students? Or new types of services, say in the Learning Commons?

A: CEDARS will not have a separate office at the Centennial Campus, but there will be colleagues at the Learning Commons to provide learning support, for example, providing advice on study skills, time management, dealing with examination anxiety and improving presentation skills. CEDARS also plans to create a learning community at the Centennial Campus, so that students from the same or different faculties can organize joint projects. As for new amenities at the Centennial Campus, there will be five food and beverage outlets, a quiet room, a fitness centre and a convenience store.

Q: How will the extra space in the new campus help student development?

A: Currently, the student representatives who are on our catering committee provide advice and monitor the quality of services of our canteens. In future, students can be involved in policy-making and daily operations. For example, they can play a more significant role in running the convenience store.

Q: For years, there has also been a shortage of space for student societies. Will the Students’ Union and its members be given more space after 2012?

A: CEDARS is discussing the issue with the Students’ Union. We know that, on the one hand, the Students’ Union does need more room to grow, but on the other hand, there is only so much space to go round, even on the new campus.

Q: Many students (in particular new students) would be interested to know what will happen to the Pillar of Shame during and after the construction of the University Street.

A: We have held discussions with the Students’ Union over the last couple of years about the new location of the Pillar of Shame. A number of factors would need to be considered, including safety, accessibility and maintenance. We have proposed a number of locations and I am confident that we will reach a consensus very soon. 

Q: A new canteen is being constructed at the Haking Wong covered podium. Will it be the same as the existing Union canteen, in terms of operations and range of food on offer?

A: It will be run the same way and the choices of food and drink will be similar, but the overall size will be smaller. But eventually, we think that the range of food choices on campus should be quite wide because we are getting more and more international students.
We believe that the five small catering outlets on the Centennial Campus will attract more caterers to run them and there will be a larger degree of student involvement.

Q: The amount of open space for student activities will be reduced during the construction of the University Street. Will there be more space for them once the Centennial Campus is ready?

A: Yes. Unfortunately, most of the Haking Wong Podium will be walled-off during the construction of the University Street, but in the meantime, the 4000m2 Centennial Garden on the Centennial Campus will provide more space for student activities after 2012.

Q: How would you describe the total experience for students at HKU after the opening of the Centennial Campus?

A: I think the major difference will be the Learning Commons. The Learning Commons will operate 24 hours a day, and students will have a “home away from home” - a very comfortable space to conduct their learning activities. Besides, there will be more “soft” classroom space to facilitate student discussion.