LCQ4: Governance and decision making of universities
9.11.2022

Following is a question by Dr the Hon Priscilla Leung and a reply by the Secretary for Education, Dr Choi Yuk-lin, in the Legislative Council today (November 9): Question: Currently, the eight universities funded by the University Grants Committee (UGC) have each established a Council that serves as the governing and decision-making body. Regarding the governance and decision making of these universities, will the Government inform this Council: (1) whether it will consider amending the ordinances and statutes governing the eight UGC-funded universities, so as to prevent the school management of these universities from circumventing their respective Councils and allowing a committee comprising the school management to decide on significant school policies, such as the recruitment of the President and Vice-President of the university; (2) whether it knows if the Councils of the eight UGC-funded universities have the authority to revoke the decisions made without their scrutiny (such as a change in the design of the university emblem); if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) as there are views pointing out that the number of external members of the Councils of some UGC-funded universities are fewer than that of the internal members, rendering the public unable to effectively monitor the governance of such universities, whether the Government has reviewed if the Councils of the eight UGC-funded universities have duly performed their role to monitor the governance of universities on behalf of the public; if it has reviewed and the outcome is in the affirmative, of the details; if the review outcome is in the negative, whether it will consider amending the ordinances and statutes governing such universities, so as to balance the proportion of internal members to external members in their Councils? Reply: President, The eight University Grants Committee (UGC)-funded universities are autonomous institutions established under their own legislation and enjoy autonomy in and are held accountable for matters such as the development of their curriculum and academic standards, the selection of staff and students, the initiation and conduct of research, and the internal deployment of resources. Each university has its own council (Note 1) as its governing and decision-making body. Generally speaking, the council is the supreme governing body of the university and has the authority to make decisions on matters such as the overall direction, strategy, personnel appointments and financial management of the university in accordance with the principle of institutional autonomy. Certain universities also have in place the Court (Note 2), which is the supreme advisory body of the university and is generally consulted by the council on important university matters, such as motions concerning overall university policy. Having regard to the unique background, history, development and operation of each university, the composition of university councils and governance structures vary from one university to another. The council may establish committees to deal with certain executive matters as it sees fit and in accordance with its own university ordinance. At present, the ordinances of certain universities also specify the establishment of specific committees and their terms of reference. For example, the Honorary Degrees Committee advises on the award of honorary degrees; the Finance Committee deals with matters relating to the finances of the university; the Administrative and Planning Committee is responsible for, among other things, assisting the university president in carrying out his or her duties and proposing development plans. These committees are required to report to the council or the Chancellor (Note 3). My reply to the questions raised by Dr the Hon Priscilla Leung is as follows: (1) and (2) As provided for in the UGC Notes on Procedures, the appointment of the universities' management teams is a matter within the autonomy of the universities. The ordinances and statutes of the universities empower the councils to appoint key personnel, and the councils make appointment decisions in accordance with the statutes prescribed by their respective governing ordinances. Where necessary, the councils may establish committees to deal with recruitment and selection matters in accordance with the powers conferred by law, with the final decision to be made by the councils. The details of the decision-making of individual universities, such as what decisions are to be made by the councils or may be delegated to their committees, and the division of powers and responsibilities between the councils, their committees and the management teams, are matters to be determined by the universities in accordance with the principle of institutional autonomy and the requirements of the relevant university ordinances. (3) In general, the councils are discharging their responsibilities under their respective university ordinances. The Government and the UGC are committed to safeguarding the academic freedom and institutional autonomy of the universities, while requiring the universities to maintain transparency and public accountability in their operations for good governance and to ensure that public funds are well spent so that the universities can operate effectively in accordance with their missions and roles in the overall interests of students and the community. Over the years, the UGC has reviewed the governance of the universities from time to time and submitted reports to the Government, the recommendations from which include the composition of the governance structure and the mechanism for delegation and reporting. The universities have also reviewed their governance structures and decision-making mechanisms with reference to the recommendations of the relevant reports to ensure that such mechanisms are conducive to good governance and meets their operational needs. Changes or updates have been proposed as necessary. If such changes are related to the provisions of an existing legislation, the universities will propose bills to amend the relevant university ordinances. In the past, most of these bills were submitted by the universities to the Legislative Council for scrutiny in the form of Private members' Bills, and were enacted after discussion and voting by the Legislative Council, during which the public and internal stakeholders were involved. In addition, to further achieve good governance among the UGC-funded universities, the UGC has entered into the University Accountability Agreements (UAAs) with the universities starting from the 2019-22 triennium, which has been updated to tie in with the implementation of the 2022-25 triennium. In addition to setting out the overall strategic directions and principles, the UAAs contain performance indicators in key activity areas such as teaching and research, including (i) quality of student experience in teaching and learning; (ii) research performance and postgraduate experience; (iii) knowledge transfer and wider engagement; (iv) increased internationalisation and engagement with the Mainland; and (v) the financial health, social responsibility and sustainability of institutions, with a view to enhancing the accountability and transparency of the universities. The operations and development of the UGC-funded universities are supported by the Government through recurrent funding from the UGC and other sources of funding from the community to nurture the talents needed for the development of the city and to promote academic excellence in Hong Kong. It is therefore essential for the universities to maintain good governance. It is also normal for the community, on this basis, to comment on the governance structures of the universities. At the same time, discussions on university governance and any proposed changes to the universities' governance structures will inevitably affect the decision-making and day-to-day operations of the universities. To ensure that the proposals do not adversely affect the operations of the universities, it is important that the various stakeholders in the community have frank communication with the universities in order to come up with a way forward that is in the best interests of all stakeholders in the universities and the community at large, thereby achieving the common goal of maintaining good governance in the universities. Thank you, President. Note 1: Except for the University of Hong Kong Ordinance (Cap. 1053) where "Council" is translated as "æ ¡åå§å¡æ", the "Council" of the other seven universities is translated as "æ ¡è£æ". It will be collectively referred to as "å¤§å­¸æ ¡è£æ" in the Chinese reply. Note 2: The "Court" in the University of Hong Kong Ordinance is translated as "æ ¡è£æ", and as "é¡§åå§å¡æ" in the relevant ordinances of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and the City University of Hong Kong. Under the relevant ordinances of the Hong Kong Baptist University and Lingnan University, the "Court" is translated as "è«®è­°æ". Such body is not established in the remaining three universities (including the Chinese University of Hong Kong). Note 3: Section 10 of the University of Hong Kong Ordinance stipulates that the Honorary Degrees Committee advises the Chancellor on matters relating to the award of degrees.