CUHK Council To Downsize And Boost External Members

The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) Council has announced plans to downsize and modify its composition after reviewing a report submitted by a special task force.

The task force led by the former Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Norman Chan, was established last December in response to a proposed bill to reform the university’s governing body from three lawmakers who sit on it.

The proposal followed the reappointment of Rocky Tuan as president of the university.

Approval of a new three-year term for Tuan last April drew criticism from legislators and others, with some complaining it amounted to rewarding him for his performance during the 2019 social unrest, when he showed sympathy towards protesting students.

The CUHK Council held a special meeting on Monday to discuss the task force report.

The report recommended the council reduce its membership from 54 to between 25 and 34 - and lower the ratio of internal to external members from half-half to between 1:1.6 and more than 1:2.

CUHK staff with salary and students are classified as internal members.

Chan said it was inevitable that a larger proportion of internal members would be removed from the council to achieve an appropriate balance of power.

“As the highest authority and governing body of CUHK, the council is responsible for making decisions on various issues related to resources and organisation. It is important to have an appropriate balance of power, with a greater number of external members on the council compared to internal management, in order to ensure effective governance,” he said.

The task force also recommended that Hong Kong's Chief Executive should appoint the council’s chair, vice-chair, and treasurer, and that the president and provost of CUHK should receive approval by a majority vote of between two-thirds and three quarters of the council members.

Two more college heads will be accepted into the council, which will have two student representatives, one from CUHK's undergraduates and the other from its postgraduate body.

The task force also suggested that the number of Legislative Council members on the university council should be reduced from the current three.