Recommendations come after critical report on composition of the governing bodies of the city’s eight publicly funded institutions
PHILA.SIU@SCMP.COM
UPDATED : Friday, 22 April, 2016, 8:17pm
Professor Malcolm Grant is currently chancellor of the University of York and chairman of NHS England. Photo: Felix Wong
Two former University Grants Committee members and a retired High Court judge have been recommended to form a panel to review the structure of the University of Hong Kong’s controversial governing council, a source with knowledge of the situation says.
Former UGC member Professor Malcolm Grant has been suggested as chairman of the panel, with another former member, Professor William Kirby, serving as a panel member. Retired High Court judge Peter Nguyen was also recommended as a member.
The source said the recommendations were made by HKU vice chancellor Peter Mathieson and council chairman Professor Arthur Li Kwok-cheung. It is unclear if both endorsed all three candidates.
Council members will meet on Tuesday in HKU’s teaching venue in the Admiralty Centre to discuss the recommendations.
Education sector lawmaker Ip Kin-yuen, who heads an HKU alumni concern group, hoped the three would review the council’s structures in an impartial manner.
“I have limited knowledge about them and so I think we will need some more time to see how things turn out. I hope that they will prove to be an impartial combination,” Ip said.
A spokeswoman said the university would make announcements on the composition of the panel after the council had made a decision.
Former HKU law dean Professor Johannes Chan was at the centre of an appointment saga. Photo: Sam Tsang
HKU’s governing council came under the public spotlight last year after it rejected a recommendation that former law dean Professor Johannes Chan Man-mun be appointed pro-vice-chancellor. Students and alumni suspected this was because of Chan’s background as a liberal scholar.
There has been intense debate over the independence of governing councils, with students storming or laying siege to council meetings, demanding that Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying be stripped of his power to appoint members. They have accused Leung and his allies of political interference in academic matters.
Last month a critical report on the composition of the governing councils of the city’s eight publicly funded institutions was released by UGC member Howard Newby, a former vice chancellor of the University of Liverpool.
HKU’s council promised to set up a review panel after the Newby report was published.
Grant is currently chancellor of the University of York in Britain and chairman of NHS England, a body that oversees the government’s health care investments.
Kirby is an academic at Harvard Business School. He also serves as chairman of the Harvard China Fund, the university’s academic venture fund for China.
Nguyen worked as a private barrister from 1974 before being appointed director of public prosecutions.
Meanwhile, a committee set up to review the structure of Chinese University’s council proposed during a consultation with students on Thursday that the number of council members appointed by the chief executive be slashed from six to four. The total number of council members would be cut from 55 to 25.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1937806/three-frame-panel-will-review-structure
