As a socially responsible organization, we are keen to foster a sustainable future with our stakeholders. We have a pivotal role to play in promoting social good and sustainability for a better world.
5.1 Caring Our Staff
As a large and dynamic institution of higher education with a range of courses on offer, PolyU presents an excellent working environment and promising employment opportunities from academic and research posts to professional, administrative and support positions for its staff. PolyU values its staff members whose dedication has been vital to the University's achievements and sustainable development for the benefit of society. Besides providing comprehensive benefits and welfare to staff members, we also make it a top priority to devise a fair and safe working environment that fosters their career development and personal growth.
PolyU embraces diversity and is committed to offering opportunities to staff as they pursue their careers. In 2016/17, our team profile by employment category and gender is illustrated as below.
| Type of Staff | Total | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|---|
| Academic Staff | 1,368 | 899 | 469 |
| Research Staff | 1,307 | 785 | 522 |
| Administrative/Support Staff | 2,641 | 1,086 | 1,555 |
| Total | 5,316 | 2,770 | 2,546 |
PolyU has allocated a suitable annual training budget to support various training programs for employees and furnish a workforce competent at embracing new challenges. We continued to offer a wide range of training opportunities in 2016/17 to foster the continuous development of their full potential, covering management skills, communication skills, teaching and information technology skills, occupational health and safety, and other topics. We also provided education subsidies and leave for staff development to encourage pursuits in external job-related lifelong learning and education. A total of 15,518 hours were collectively spent on training in 2016/17.
Also, PolyU adopts award systems to motivate staff to excel in their work performance and to foster a sense of belonging among our staff. For example, “Faculty/School Awards for Outstanding Performance/Achievement”, “Outstanding Performance/Achievement Awards for Non-academic Staff” and “The President’s Awards for Excellent Performance/Achievement” have been introduced since 1996.
| Award | Award Winner(s) |
|---|---|
| Teaching (Individual) | Dr Henry Chan, Department of Computing |
| Research and Scholarly Activities (Individual) | Prof. Zhang Ming, Interdisciplinary Division of Biomedical Engineering |
| Research and Scholarly Activities (Individual) | Prof. Lu Chao, Department of Electronic and Information Engineering |
| Services (Team) |
Dr Stephen Chan, Dr K.P. Kwan and Ms Jeice Cheung, Office of Service-Learning Dr Grace Ngai, Department of Computing Prof. Daniel Shek, Department of Applied Social Sciences |
| Operational Excellence (Team) | Dr Steven Ho, Dr Howard Kwong and Ms Priscilla Pang, University Health Service |
5.2 Raising Awareness
As one of the leading universities in the development of sustainability issues, conferences, forums, carnivals, contests, workshops, and training sessions are frequent at the University. PolyU provides an effective platform to facilitate knowledge exchange with scholars, professionals, alumni, staff, and students. Some notable events held during the reporting year were shown as follows:
PolyU’s home-grown UniRe® astonishes the University community with new looksA new set of collection bins named UniRe® (University/Universal Recycling Facilities) designed by the Public Design Lab at the School of Design was introduced on campus in 2016. It draws the trash bins and collection bins for recyclables together in modules and brings about even greater convenience in waste source separation and recycling. The University held a graphic design contest for the exterior cover of UniRe® in the latter half of the year and selected five winning designs. These design works were showcased to the University community and public through an open exhibition in early May 2017 and will be all applied onto all UniRe® on campus before the new academic year.
The Members of the Advisory Committee on Recycling Fund and over 40 recycling industry professionals visited PolyU on 10 January 2017. Apart from having a tour of PolyU’s innovative laboratories and facilities, it set the scene for conducting a successful exchange of views, strategies, and practices on waste management and recycling among PolyU research experts and local recyclers. Two alumni also came and shared their experiences in running their upcycling businesses.
Entering its fifth year, the PolyU Campus Sustainability Weeks in March 2017 challenged all staff, students, and the neighboring community to spotlight sustainability for two weeks. From planning to execution, this campus-wide event delivered more than a ‘going green’ theme but produced one that was practically green and sustainable. It impressed the campus this year when it introduced the eco-friendly fabric patchwork banners as a sustainable alternative to conventional vinyl banners that became lovely cushions after the event.
‘VeggieLicious’ returned to the campus again in October 2016 that extended through more than a week. Speakers such as leaders from local green groups, registered dietitians, fitness trainers, Chinese medicine practitioners, and chefs attended and discussed on a diverse range of topics from tailoring meat-free diets to environmental awareness and benefits of green sustainable living in a festive ceremony and a series of events with a green theme.
The ‘UrbanFarming@Y6’ programme continues throughout the year and provides an opportunity for PolyU staff and students to embrace nature in a stress-free environment and incline towards a sustainable lifestyle. Planter boxes are set up in the outdoor area on 6/F of Lee Shau Kee Building (Block Y), where participants collaborate in groups to grow vegetables and herbs by themselves. Workshops are arranged to equip the participants with knowledge about eco-friendly farming methods.
PolyU launched the "Vision of Love Mobile Eye Care Project" (the Project) in January 2017. With a mobile optometric unit, the Project is reaching out to the community and bringing vision screening and eye health education to the doorsteps of people in need. It is also a platform to engage the students of PolyU's School of Optometry (SO) to working hand-in-hand with The PolyU Volunteers in serving the community through Service-Learning.
PolyU School of Optometry organized the first campaign on campus to collect usable eyeglasses from April to June 2017. Collection boxes were set up on different locations on campus. The eyeglasses collected were screened and refurbished before re-distributing to those in need.
PolyU again pledged to support the Energy Saving Charter launched by the Environment Bureau and the Electrical & Mechanical Services Department to maintain an average indoor temperature between 24-26°C at its offices from June to September in 2017. PolyU has been in support of this Charter since 2013, and this is in line with the University’s ultimate goal to establish a cross-sector partnership in fostering sustainable development.
