Why the scuffle? Hong Kong University’s appointment controversy explained in 6 points

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HKU Student Union and Alumni concern group hand over a petition letter to the Council Chairman Dr Leong Che-hung before the HKU Council meeting. Photo: Dickson Lee

Published: 2:30pm, 29 Jul 2015Updated: 6:19pm, 29 Jul 2015

A council meeting at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) last night ended with students storming a room, and one person collapsing on the ground and being sent to hospital. What’s going on? If you haven’t been following, get up to speed here.

1. It’s about a job

The University of Hong Kong’s governing council decided to continue delaying the decision on whether or not a professor should become one of the university’s pro-vice-chancellors, part of the team that helps the vice-chancellor. The university started looking for someone to take the job in March 2014. One professor was supposed to get the job, but pro-Beijing newspapers criticised him and he still hasn’t been appointed yet.

Bonus Point:
The pro vice chancellor is the person who is one step below the deputy vice chancellor (or provost) in the university’s chain of command. There are five pro-vice-chancellors in the HKU structure. As of now, HKU has three pro vice chancellors who deal with research, teaching and learning, and how the university liaises with other groups like alumni, donors, and the rest of Hong Kong. The one position that Johannes Chan is recommended for is in charge of academic staffing and resources.

If for whatever reason, the University has no vice chancellor or deputy vice chancellor, then the pro-vice-chancellors call the shots. Like the vice chancellor and deputy vice chancellor, the pro vice chancellors serve on the university’s court, which can write or change statutes (laws) at the university; and senate, which is responsible for all academic matters and welfare of students.

2. It’s about an important institution

That may sound like an internal squabble, but people care because of where and why it’s happening. The University of Hong Kong is the oldest tertiary institution in the city, and a place where academic freedom is taken seriously. Some people are afraid that this delayed appointment is because of politics. The professor who has been widely tipped for the pro-vice-chancellor position is former law dean Johannes Chan Man-mun.