Dear readers,

The eventful summer break is over.  Many of us have been settled well on the vibrant campus, and some may even have confirmed their aspiration of a college life.  Is it the acquisition of a grade point average (GPA) surpassing 3.00?  Speaking at the Inauguration Ceremony for Undergraduates, our Vice-Chancellor and President offered another notion of the acronym GPA.  They are G - global perspective, P - positive mindset, and A - appreciation of life's diversity.  Will you replace your originally chosen principle with these qualities to herald the start of this academic year?

Chiefly funded by Tin Ka Ping Foundation, the I·CARE Achievers Programme is divided into two parts - "Value Exploration Series" and "Core Group Nurture".  While the former is open for all CUHK students and staff, the latter will serve 40 students a year, totally three years.

This Centre is going to organise and coordinate the following activities under the "Value Exploration Series" of the I·CARE Achievers Programme.  Participation of all students and staff are welcomed.

Hong Kong is a small place of unique culture and rich history which deserves to be savoured and explored.  However rapid the city has changed and developed, it is left with many anecdotes which hold clues to its past.  How much do you know about these Hong Kong stories?

As a freshman, you may not be familiar with the environment and facilities of CUHK.  Have you also gotten lost on campus?  Or are you still adapting to the university life?

I·CARE Salon, which is under the University Lecture on Civility, will continue in the new academic year to organise a series of seminars for participants to exchange insights on significant academic, cultural and social issues.  The forthcoming session of I·CARE Salon will be presided by Prof. Michel Bonnin* on The Rethink about the 1968 Student Revolt in France.  Other information is as follows:

In the 1st night, there comes the current "Fresh Wave" winning pieces……
In the 2nd night, the prominent director's classic "New Wave" film revives.

The 1^st session of A Walk in Community with I·CARE in this academic year will take place soon.  The participating CUHK students will visit Tin Zi Zok Wai, a community-based cooperation platform located at Tin Shui Wai, to learn about its daily operation and to collaborate with its members to produce indigo-dyed handkerchiefs and cotton bags.

The I·CARE Social Service Projects Scheme encourages students to organise and implement self-initiated social services.  This Centre now invites applications for funding to support projects in this respect.  To equip students with competence in rendering social services, this Centre will also organise training activities every round.  The upcoming one has been confirmed as a Workshop cum Sharing Session.  The relevant details are as follows:

The I·CARE NGO Internship Programme (Hong Kong) offers local internship opportunities to CUHK students to facilitate their understanding of the values and practices of the attached NGOs.  Moreover, participants will gain first-hand experience of interacting with different people of the community, so as to stimulate ideas in positive social changes.  Details of the programme for this academic year are as follows:

The "Fitness x Mentorship" Scheme associates "exercising" with "volunteering" to foster a serving heart of students and strengthen their understanding of the community.  Participants of the scheme will be trained with basic skills of a sports item and given chances to partner various members of the community in pursuing sports.  This will allow students to develop regular exercise habit and build up healthy lifestyle.  Above all, mutual understanding between students and the circle of their counterparts will be facilitated.  Details of the scheme in this academic year are as follows:

The I·CARE Community Research Scheme aims to deepen students' understanding of the deprived communities, and to foster their curiosity to explore ways of civic participation through small-scale research.  The scheme of 2018-19 is now calling for students' participation in two projects, each of which will last for approximately eight months.  Details are as follows:

CUHK Bridge to China Team is a university volunteering team formed under this Centre with the support and guidance from Wu Zhi Qiao (Bridge to China) Charitable Foundation.  Since 2009, the team has participated and organised numerous investigation trips on villages, bridge building projects and public health programmes with the help of CUHK students.

Launched by this Centre in 2015-16, the Social Enterprise Startup Scheme has been encouraging CUHK students and recent graduates to make good use of their expertise to establish or expand their social enterprises.  Participants will enrol in a mentorship programme through which valuable advice on formulating business plan and practical skills of running an enterprise will be offered by the experienced alumni.  The horizon and business network of participants are also expected to be widened.  Above all, they may receive from the CUSE Fund a maximum of HK$100,000 as seed money to start up an enterprise with social mission.

The Yunus Social Business Centre@CUHK, which is a subsidiary of this Centre, will launch a series of social innovation activities to encourage participants to advance existing services or products to meet social needs.  Through S.I. Leadership Workshops, Social Innovation Competition and Overseas Exchange, participants will gain more in-depth knowledge of the underprivileged and adopt people-oriented approach to address social challenges.  Winners of the Social Innovation Competition will receive the S.I. Leadership Award (in terms of seed money up to HK$160,000) to implement their social innovation projects.  Details of the activities are as follows:

The Student Development Portfolio (SDP) is a university-wide electronic platform for capturing and presenting students' Experiential Learning Activities (ELA) under the whole-person development framework namely I·CARE.  It provides students with an inventory of the informal learning opportunities on offer, and facilitate their planning of a fruitful university life.

Holistic Competencies refer to communication skills, teamwork, critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, time management, positive values and lifelong learning, etc.  Many eligible students already took part in the Survey on Undergraduate Students' Perception of Holistic Competencies, and successfully received the "CUHK ACTIVE CAMPUS" calendar as collectables.  Have you done so?

Please click on the image below for more information.