The University has already announced two senior appointments within the month. Professor Cees de Bont from the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands will assume deanship of PolyU School of Design on 1 February 2012, while Professor C.S. Agnes Cheng from Louisiana State University has taken up headship of the School of Accounting and Finance in January. (Please refer to their bio-data in the Appendix for reference)
In preparing for the change in curriculum structure, the University has launched a global recruitment exercise to recruit academics from all over the world. Since 2010, PolyU has hired 44 academics at the level of Assistant Professors or above from 10 countries and territories.
Some overseas academics are drawn to PolyU by its enriched undergraduate curriculum which puts much emphasis on all-round education, language and general education. Among the new appointees is Professor John Kieschnick, who obtained a PhD in Stanford University and used to be a researcher of Academia Sinica in Taiwan. He has recently joined the Department of Chinese Culture.
The University's English Language Centre will also strengthen its manpower for the four-year curriculum. It has already hired 11 new appointees at the level of language instructors or above during the past two years.
Overall, PolyU aims to recruit about 100 new faculty members to cope with the change in curriculum.
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PolyU offers a wide range of courses which directly meets industrial, commercial and community needs. It also provides the public and private sectors in Hong Kong with expanding range of consultancy, professional training and applied research services.
