Dear Colleagues and Students,

As you may be aware, Senate resolved today to postpone deliberations on Associate Degree (AD) programmes to its next scheduled meeting. With this decision, concerned College colleagues will have more time to articulate their plan on the programmes affected by the withdrawal of UGC funding and other Senate members, to familiarize themselves with the issues involved.

As Chairman of Senate, I am gratified that members, in fully discharging their duties as academic leaders, have found a way for us to move ahead, despite the complexity of the issues on hand and volatility of the discussions involved. I believe a dual voice has spoken among staff. In the end, Senate's decision-making process has prevailed. From now on, it is incumbent upon this same group of academic leaders to articulate a vision for the University, and above all, to rally staff and students to find the best possible way forward for not only the AD programmes in question but also all our academic offerings under a challenging funding environment. In this respect, I look upon the guidance from Council's Working Group. The Group, soon to be set up, will help us define the parameters for the provision of educationally sound and financially viable AD programmes.

Finally, I believe you'll all agree with me that a united house is strong and a divided house is weak. Despite differences in opinions, which are natural in a community as diverse and large as ours, let's work together calmly and steadily towards the best solution for us all.

Thank you.

 

H K Chang
President and University Professor