Hong Kong Polytechnic University

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (Abbreviated:PolyU or HKPU ) is located in Hung Hom, Hong Kong, right next to the Hung Hom KCR station and the Kowloon side of the Cross-Harbour Tunnel. It is the largest tertiary institution funded by the Hong Kong SAR government in terms of student population. There are about 1,000 full-time academic staff and about 16,500 students. PolyU covers an area of about 93,000 m². This education institution had a long proud history before it was granted full university status in 1994.

It offers various unique programs to Hong Kong students and provides cutting edge education of an international standard to outstanding young persons every year.

The current Vice-Chancellor of the University is Prof. Chung-Kwong Poon.

History and rankings
History

It was founded in 1937 as the Government Trade School in Wanchai. After World War II, in 1947, it became the Hong Kong Technical College and in 1957, the College moved to its new campus at its current site.

August 1,1972, the Hong Kong Polytechnic was established with the campus and staff of the College transferred to it. The Polytechnic offered Higher Diploma and Diploma courses for secondary school graduates. These professional courses provided alternative choice for students other than getting into universities at that time.

November 25,1994, the institution was granted full university status. However, it continued to offer Higher Diploma and Diploma for suitable students.

July 1999, The School of Professional Education and Executive Development, SPEED was established to provide further professional courses for adults.

August 2000, Hong Kong CyberU was established. This is the first cyber U in Hong Kong which provides online study courses.

2002, The Hong Kong Community College, HKCC was established to offer Associate Degrees. On October 2, 11,273 PolyU staff, students and alumni came together and broke the Guinness World Records of a audience wave rainbow at that time. This was not only to cerebrate the 65th anniversary of the University, but also to raise charity funds for The Childhood Cancer Foundation and The Hong Kong Society for the Aged. However, on 2004, a new Human Rainbow record was made by the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.

January 2004, the construction of Phase seven and Phase eight commenced. 2004 also saw the introduction of the 2004 HRM model for staff appointed after this date. The new employment contract, introduced in response to anticipated funding cuts which have actually not happened, has led to lower salaries and a sharp reduction in annual leave for staff joining after 2004, so making the university a less attractive place for academics to consider a career.

2005, the Institute of Textiles and Clothing (ITC) of the University worked with the Government's Innovation and Technology Fund to establish the Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel to undertake industry-related researches.

September 2005, Y core started to serve students and the Phase seven campus completed.

April 2006, the Y core was named after Dr Lee Shau Kee who was a major donor to the University research fund.

December 1, 2006, the dedicated Vice-Chancellor Prof. Poon was again making use of the graduation ceremony to voice out directly to the Chief Executive, Mr. Donald Tsang, the urgency of funding for expanding student accommodation facilities to cope with shortage of rooms for students.

The University admits some 200 Chinese mainland and overseas students into its undergraduate programs every year. Graduates may continue their postgraduate programs at PolyU or other universities or work in their professional careers.

Since its establishment in 1937, the University educates substantial number of graduates who contribute to the development of Hong Kong. In the past 16 years, Prof. Poon leads the evolution of PolyU into a university undertaking applied research in various areas of focus.

Rankings

August 2005, the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research rated the School of Hotel and Tourism Management of the University number four in the World by research. The School is also one of the certified Education and Training Network Centres registered with the United Nations World Tourism Organization.

November 2005, the Pacific-Basin Finance Journal ranked the Faculty of Business of the University number two in the Asia-Pacific region by research in finance. The ranking was prepared based on publications in 21 finance journals during 1990 to 2004.

August 2006, according to a survey conducted by Thomson Scientific, an independent authority in compiling Science Citation Index, the University was ranked number one in the World for publication of papers in international journals in civil engineering field during the years from 2003 to 2005. The Civil and Structural Engineering Department of the University was also ranked second in the World in terms of citations in 2005.

October 2006, the Business Week magazine included the School of Design of the University in the list of Top 60 global design schools.

February 2007, the University of Texas at Dallas included the Faculty of Business of the University in the list of 100 business schools by research in the World. The table was compiled according to publications in 24 business journals during 2002 to 2006.

List of faculties and schools

 * Faculty of Applied Science and Textiles
 * Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology
 * Department of Applied Mathematics
 * Department of Applied Physics
 * Institute of Textiles and Clothing
 * Faculty of Business
 * Graduate School of Business
 * School of Accounting and Finance
 * Department of Logistics
 * Department of Management and Marketing
 * Faculty of Communication
 * Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies
 * (incorporating Chinese Language Centre)
 * Department of English
 * School of Design
 * English Language Centre
 * General Education Centre
 * Faculty of Construction and Land Use
 * Department of Building and Real Estate
 * Department of Building Services Engineering
 * Department of Civil and Structural Engineering
 * Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics
 * Faculty of Engineering
 * Department of Computing
 * Department of Electrical Engineering
 * Department of Electronic and Information Engineering
 * Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
 * Department of Mechanical Engineering
 * Faculty of Health and Social Sciences
 * Department of Applied Social Sciences
 * Department of Health Technology and Informatics
 * Department of Rehabilitation Sciences
 * School of Nursing
 * School of Optometry
 * School of Nursing
 * School of Design
 * School of Hotel and Tourism Management
 * School of Professional Education and Executive Development (SPEED)
 * Hong Kong Community College (HKCC)
 * Hong Kong CyberU (HKCyberU)

SPEED, HKCC & HKCyberU provides self-financed education programmes.

Big Mouth Corner
The Big Mouth Corner (BMC) is a weekly English conversation forum organized by the English Club of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU). Local students and young native English speakers (who serve as English facilitators) participate in the BMC which was first started in 2002 following the success of its predecessor, the Chat Point. As of May 2005, over 1000 PolyU students have joined this activity.

PolyU International Film Society (PIFS)
PIFS is a student society run by the English Language Centre. It screens up to 5 movies each semester with an objective to show a range of movies from around the World. Recent movies shown had included 'The Motorcycle Diaries' when the Hong Kong Legislative Councillor Leung Kwok Hung was a guest speaker. PIFS has also started its own blog.