Four-year curriculum offers flexibility and holistic style

By leveraging its advantages as a young, energetic and compact university, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) will use new ideas to prepare for the four-year undergraduate curriculum in 2012.

Wei Shyy, the university's new provost, says the university will develop more cross-school offerings to prepare students for the real interdisciplinary world and enhance their employability. It has 15 minor and one dual-degree programme. With the implementation of the four-year undergraduate programme, HKUST will introduce up to five additional minors.

A comprehensive core curriculum will be introduced. It will encompass arts and humanities, analysis of society, science and technology, logical thinking, English and Chinese communication, and healthy living. A school-based admission programme will be implemented.

The four-year curriculum will provide greater flexibility to students. First-year students will not need to make a decision on their majors and minors until they have spent one year acquiring an in-depth understanding of the programmes and their interests.

The university aims to offer students unique opportunities for holistic education characterised by its breadth and depth. It is expected to equip students with the essential skills for lifelong learning.

Through a wide range of student-oriented training and development programmes, community services, internships, mentoring opportunities and overseas exchanges, HKUST encourages students to broaden their horizons and cultivate an international outlook. Shyy says the university's goal is that every student will have the opportunity to go on overseas exchanges.