Dear colleagues and students, The following is a summary of the viewpoints and comments made by both staff and students who attended TLC's lunchtime seminar on 17 March about the experience of Lingnan University Community College (CC) students. Those CC students present at the seminar were generally positive about their experience, and they appreciated the opportunities and facilities made available to them on campus. When they compared themselves to students of other community colleges, they agreed that they could enjoy better facilities and a fuller university life because Lingnan provided them with a campus and an environment of a university as opposed to that of a satellite teaching centre run by other community colleges. However, two students pointed out when they wanted to take advantage of some university services, they had experienced a somewhat differential treatment just because they were not Lingnan undergraduate students. Examples they gave included the more complicated identity checks for entry into hostel blocks, the not-so-forthcoming counselling services, and the quota for participation in student activities, like the Lee Shiu Summer Institute and many ILP courses. Colleagues responsible for these areas of work explained to students that the intention was not to discriminate but to avoid cross-subsidisation between UGC-funded and CC activities. Students were inevitably placed on two separate databases and had to go through a different set of procedures when using university facilities. However, promises were made by colleagues to look more into the needs and feelings of CC students and to try to avoid the unnecessary differential treatment due to technicalities and administrative convenience. It was further explained to students that sometimes the 'quota' set for CC for certain activities, like the Lee Shiu Summer Institute, was to guarantee their chance of participation where seats were limited and open to competition by all. Those CC teachers present commended students for their hard work and keen learning attitude. However, the problem of coming to classes late was raised as a concern and students were urged to improve in this respect.
One student brought up the issue of articulation for CC students and future opportunities for further studies. He said students were unclear about their future and the Community College might need to do something about it. Colleagues of CC explained that both the University and the College were working on it to provide suitable articulation programmes. And, in the future, there might be a higher chance of articulation into first and second years of LU undergraduate programmes due to the increase in student numbers for senior years from the UGC. In this connection, a student made a comment on credit transfer and exemption after articulation. There seemed to be a need for Registry and CC to make clear to students of such policies and keep them up-to-date with new developments regarding the difference between credit transfer and exemption and under what circumstances each of these would be granted to CC students after articulation. For CC students to make the most of their university learning, they were encouraged to form student societies or organisations, so that they would engage in more intellectual discourses and play a greater part in organising their own student activities. With the new CC building due for completion soon, there will be more space in the form of common rooms and discussion venues for such student activities and gatherings. Finally, the seminar ended with a positive note that both the University and CC were concerned about the well-being of AD and Pre-AD students. And both students and staff were encouraged to keep all communication channels open and voice their opinions and concerns for the improvement of learning and the experience for CC students. Dr. Maureen Tam Director Teaching and Learning Centre Lingnan University