Category: General

Message from Professor Ian Holliday, Vice-President and Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Teaching and Learning)

Dear colleagues and students

The Covid-19 situation in HK remains very worrying and is affecting the entire education sector. I’m writing with updated arrangements for all UG and TPG programmes offered by HKU in S2.

1. Starting from next week, HKU will teach in online mode only.
2. For students who are unable to come to HK, online delivery is guaranteed for the rest of S2.
3. When possible, we will schedule f2f sessions for courses with laboratory, practical and studio work. Students who are not in HK will be able to complete the sessions remotely. Individual Faculties will contact students directly about these arrangements.
4. Towards the middle of S2, we will issue detailed guidelines for the main S2 assessment period in May. Students on non-clinical programmes who are not in HK will be able to undertake their assessments remotely.
5. When possible, we will maintain an open campus. This will enable students to make use of HKU Libraries, Chi Wah Learning Commons and other designated study facilities, including additional learning commons and classrooms.
6. Clinical programmes will contact their students directly with detailed S2 arrangements.

Pls drop me a line with queries – ian.holliday@hku.hk.

Best wishes for the Year of the Tiger!

Ian

Professor Ian Holliday
VP/T&L
Chair, TFID

Dear colleagues and students

We’ve been monitoring the Covid-19 situation and thinking through the implications for S2 T&L arrangements. I’m writing to brief you on our plans.

As you know, S2 opens with a period of just over two weeks up to Chinese New Year. We teach from Monday January 17 to Monday January 31. We then break for one week. We come back on Tuesday February 8.

For the initial part of S2 (January 17-31), these arrangements will apply to all UG and TPG courses:

• Large classes (enrolment 40 students and above) will switch to online mode.
• Small classes (enrolment up to 39 students) will be offered f2f.
• Special arrangements for preclinical, clinical, and laboratory courses requiring f2f teaching will be made and communicated separately by individual faculties.
• Teachers will receive from ITS a bulk email showing how they can upload to HKU Moodle a brief message about course delivery mode for the initial part of S2.
• Students will be able to check HKU Moodle from Monday morning for information about their courses.

We’re introducing these T&L arrangements to reduce the risk of Covid-19 infection on campus, on public transport, and in the community. We hope to reinstate full f2f teaching on Tuesday February 8. Closer to the time, I’ll write again.

As usual, please drop me a line with queries: ian.holliday@hku.hk.

Best wishes for S2 — Ian

Professor Ian Holliday
Vice-President (Teaching and Learning)
The University of Hong Kong

Important message from Professor Ian Holliday, Vice-President and Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Teaching and Learning)

Dear colleagues

Just a quick note about S2 T&L arrangements.

S2 will be a lot like S1. We’ll continue to offer mostly f2f teaching. We’ll again operate at 75% room capacity, with A/B weeks for a few large classes. We’ll still record lectures and upload them to HKU Moodle. If there are special reasons, individual teachers will seek approval for different arrangements and notify students about them.

In S2, though, there will be two key changes:

• We’ll no longer support remote learning on UG courses. We’ve asked all UG students to be in HK and able to attend classes by the start of S2 on Monday January 17. It looks like fewer than 100 will fail to arrive on time, mostly because of academic exchange commitments. These students should all return to HK by early February and for the first couple of weeks of S2 can be supported on a case-by-case basis.
• There will be a vaccine mandate. As I said in my previous email, further details will be provided in the next few days. If you’re planning to get vaccinated, please do so soon.

Many thanks for all you’ve done to get campus life back on track in S1 – it’s been great to feel so much energy at HKU this semester. As usual, please drop me a line with queries – ian.holliday@hku.hk.

Best wishes, Ian

Professor Ian Holliday
Vice-President (Teaching and Learning)
The University of Hong Kong

Important message from Professor Ian Holliday, Vice-President and Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Teaching and Learning)

Dear UG students

Thank you for working with us to get campus life back on track in S1 – it’s been great to feel so much energy at HKU this semester.

S2 will be a lot like S1. We’ll continue to offer f2f teaching in most courses. We’ll again operate at 75% room capacity, with A/B weeks for a few large classes (see SIS for details). We’ll still record lectures and upload them to HKU Moodle. Only if there are special reasons will individual teachers make different arrangements and notify students about them.

In S2, though, there will be two key changes:

1. We’ll no longer support remote learning. Teaching will commence on Monday 17 January 2022. We expect all students to be in HK and able to attend classes by then.
2. There will be a vaccine mandate. As I said in my previous email, further details will be provided in early December. If you’re planning to get vaccinated, please do so soon.

Because of the Government’s strict quarantine arrangements for inbound travel, we urge all UG students who are currently in HK to stay here throughout the winter break. That will be by far the best way to ensure you can attend class at the start of S2.

Good luck to all of you with S1 exams. As usual, please drop me a line with queries – ian.holliday@hku.hk.

Best wishes, Ian

Professor Ian Holliday
Vice-President (Teaching and Learning)
The University of Hong Kong