The ceremony was led by Prof. Eric CHUI, Chair Professor and Head of APSS, and Prof. Melissa BEGG, Dean of Social Work at the Columbia School of Social Work. Distinguished guests were in attendance to witness the signing.
Prof. Eric CHUI delivered a speech on the significance of this partnership as a milestone in PolyU-Columbia University initiatives and in elevating our research and service to the underprivileged and the marginalised. Dean Melissa BEGG also expressed her excitement about the opportunity to work closely with APSS, highlighting our shared commitment to advancing social work education and practice through this partnership. The ceremony marks the beginning of an extensive collaboration encompassing initiatives, such as research projects, postgraduate student exchanges, undergraduate dual degree programmes, and accelerated undergraduate-to-graduate programmes.
Issues of inequality, climate change, and social exclusion are proving to be the grand challenges of our era and rapidly expanding across borders. We firmly believe that our response in tackling these challenges must also be united without borders. We are thrilled that this MoU takes a significant step towards this objective by placing future generations of scholars into contact with fellow scholars and stakeholders from diverse racial, gender, and class backgrounds.