PolyU and the China Institute of Education Policy jointly organized the "First Summit on University Social Responsibility" from 13 to 14 November, bringing together more than 200 participants including higher education leaders and scholars at home and abroad. This event was one of the major celebration activities of PolyU 75th Anniversary.

At the Summit, PolyU President Prof. Timothy W. Tong shared his views on this increasingly important agenda: University Social Responsibility (USR), and some of the key messages were covered in this issue of Excel@PolyU.  

How do you see the roles and responsibilities of universities nowadays?

Universities nowadays have roles and responsibilities that extend far beyond the traditional teaching and research. We need to instill in our students the values and knowledge necessary to building a more sustainable future.

We need to serve as ‘think-tanks’ in order to foresee and alert society to emerging trends and crisis. We also need to create cutting-edge knowledge to deal with the global economic and environment challenges. 

What are the challenges universities encountered in managing USR?  

One of the challenges is the changing landscape in the higher education sector. For example, universities are now exposed to greater competition for the best students, for professors and for funding, and hence a shift towards a more market-driven, business-oriented model. And with the growing attention on university world ranking, more universities may set their KPIs on the number of research papers published without sufficient focus on the applicability of the research and whether or not it will be of any help to the bottom billion.

Another challenge is the evolving needs of society. A university has to be anticipatory and act fast in offering suitable programmes in order to cope with the social and economic changes in the society.

The rising expectation of the society poses yet another challenge and sometimes conflicting demand for a university.  A university may encounter criticism in case it reaps great profits for commercializing a technology, even though it is for public good.  It will also be held accountable if the resources spent on research that generates no obvious return. This has posed much contraints for universities to embark on projects which are meant to fulfill their social responsibility.

In addition, students are among the key stakeholders in the pursuit of USR. We excel in USR if we manage to nurture socially responsible graduates who can contribute to a better society.  In the current globally competitive environment, however, it seems an uphill task to persuade our students to commit to the broader goals of sustainable development, poverty reduction, peace and human rights.   

What are the opportunities available to advance USR?

Universities are increasingly aware that they have a responsibility to cater for long-term societal needs and ensure a sustainable tomorrow. And increased exchange among universities to share views and best practices and leverage on each others’ strengths can help foster USR.

We now live in an interdependent world and different sectors are more inter-connected than in the past. Universities are expected to advise the government on various social and economic issues, to work with the industry to enhance their competiveness and to provide solutions to many pressing human challenges.

Furthermore, the implementation of the four-year undergraduate education reform in Hong Kong this year has provided local universities an opportunity to restructure the curriculum. Take PolyU as an example, we have put a lot of emphasis to nurture our students into all-round global citizens, with high ethical standard and a strong sense of social responsibility.