9 8 HKUST Annual Report 2020-2021 Prof. Lionel M. NI Provost On the human capi tal s ide , enro l lment has been steadily increasing. Despite the decrease in number of undergraduate students across the UGC sector in recent years, excluding certain targeted priority areas, HKUST’s allocated number has been continuously increasing. The University’s current total number of students stands at approximately 16,000, compr ising around 10,000 undergraduates and close to 6,000 postgraduates. offered online counselling services via different platforms, as an alternative to face-to-face sessions. A number of other wellness initiatives have been launched, including Peer Counselor Training Program, Therapy Dog Program, and enhanced staff training. A wide range of adaptive, assistive or rehabilitative tools are also made available for students with special educational needs. In parallel, we have been actively recruiting faculty globally for HKUST(GZ), expecting that at least 150 will join by September 2022, and 1,000 research postgraduate students will be studying full-time there. Faculty numbers at the new campus are expected to grow to 400 by 2027 to support an enrollment of 4,000 research postgraduates and 1,500 undergraduates. Between the Clear Water Bay and Guangzhou campuses, we will foster close coordination of academic personnel, structures, and degree programs, and maximize the sharing of resources. HKUST is set to elevate our total contribution to society, both locally and globally, with minimum duplication while without overlapping of resources and programs. Realizing HKUST 2.0: Thus, as HKUST turns 30 toward the end of 2021, we can also celebrate the University’s entry into a new era of growth. In forthcoming years, our Guangzhou campus together with greatly enhanced facilities at Clear Water Bay will significantly contribute to our transformation journey. Under the Unified HKUSTComplementary Campuses framework, HKUST(GZ) will extend our resources, organizational structures, and physical settings to enable our members to pursue both curiosity-driven and mission-encouraged endeavors through our pioneering dual academic and research approach (https://strategicplan.hkust.edu.hk/) in order to broaden and deepen the University’s impact. All will invigorate the University community’s capacity to nurture, create, discover, invent, and innovate. As we stride into our fourth decade in the coming year, we look forward with exhilaration to the rapidly evolving times ahead and further remarkable achievements for a new chapter, namely, HKUST 2.0. President Prof. Wei SHYY JP UNIVERSITY MANAGEMENT Prof. Nancy Y. IP Vice-President for Research and Development Mr. Mark HODGSON Vice-President for Administration and Business Prof. WANG Yang Vice-President for Institutional Advancement Given the increasing student enrol lment and fast development in science, technology, business innovation, and societal development, HKUST has been proactively recruiting talents to join our faculty in all Schools and the Interdisciplinary Program Office. After substantial hiring of faculty in around 2010 in response to Hong Kong’s sectorwide education reform, extending undergraduate degrees from three years to four years from 2012 onwards, we have been expanding the faculty numbers. Substantiated and substantiation-track faculty have increased by more than 15% since 2015, and the growth, supported by the new facilities and space, will be kept up. The University’s annual budget has also correspondingly grown. With our success in external grants, contracts, donations, and other income, even though UGC has generously supported HKUST with an increased block grant, linked to our allocated student numbers, the share of the block grant in our total budget has reduced from 51% to 37% over the past decade. There are many other important areas that we monitor, assess, and to which we commit additional resources. For example, globally and here in Hong Kong, mental wellness is an increasingly visible challenge. At HKUST, we have doubled the number of counsellors during the past decade, and are partnering with other organizations to develop community-wide support for our students, and employees. Particularly in times of the on-going pandemic, we have Prof. Wei SHYY President
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