Source: My UM
How well do you know UM? Did you know that the university’s management, including the rector, vice rectors, faculty deans, college masters, dean of students, and professors, meet with the students on a regular basis to help them keep abreast of the latest developments of the university, answer their questions about life and study, and listen to their suggestions for improvement? Read on to learn how you can avail yourself of the various channels of communication.
Lunch with the Rector
Rector Wei Zhao meets with students on a monthly basis, and earlier this month, on 7 January, he had a lunch meeting with some postgraduate students from the Faculty of Law (FLL), along with Vice Rector (Student Affairs) Haydn Chen, FLL Dean John Shijian Mo, and Dean of Students Peter Yu. Participating students raised all kinds of suggestions, such as more variety in the foods offered in the canteens, allowing students to cook in their rooms, helping mainland students find jobs in Macao, offering more elective courses in foreign languages, increasing books in the library, providing more guidance at the faculty level, creating more opportunities for students to interact with their supervisors, and having the supervisors arrange more projects for the students to do.
Spend Time on Studies
After listening to the students’ suggestions, Rector Zhao replied, “As graduate students, you have relatively more free time at your disposal, so you should be more active in pursing research. You should not depend on the university or your faculty to arrange for you to do research. You should be self-motivated. Moreover, actively looking for advice from faculty members is part of our education here.” He also shared his experience studying in the United States. “When I first went to the US for graduate studies, I had enough money to rent a decent apartment, but I decided to save money and so I ended up living in an apartment with six roommates, pinching one penny here and one penny there,” he said. “In the end, I did save some money, but in retrospect, I really can’t say that money had made much of a difference.” He encouraged the students to concentrate on research and study. “Your goal here is to do your best to increase your competitiveness,” he said. “Time is your most precious resource and so you should spend it studying or doing research instead of wasting it on other things.”
Students’ Comments
Meng Lu, a postgraduate student from the Faculty of Law (FLL), said, “I came to the lunch meeting with a list of questions I always wanted to ask, and they got answered instantaneously. It was much more efficient than asking questions via email. The rector also explained the university’s strategies for student training, and also taught us how to manage time more effectively to produce better research outcomes. His advice is really useful to us students.”
William Vargas Castrhos, a Brazilian postgraduate student from the FLL, said, “I’ve never had a meeting or dinner with a rector before. Rector Zhao is very friendly and is willing to take time out of his busy schedule to meet with the students. It really provides a good opportunity for us to express our opinions and give suggestions.”
Undergraduate Zuo Wenqi from the Faculty of Business Administration (FBA) has participated in the afternoon tea meetings with her college master. She believes such meetings can enhance communication between students and their colleges. “We asked the college master if the college could organise more interactive activities. They accepted our suggestion, and now the college is organising a workshop on simulation game. We are very looking forward to it,” said Zuo.
Kwok Chun Ting from the Department of Communication has attended several Town Hall Meetings. He thinks the Town Hall Meeting provides an opportunity for students to communicate with the university’s management face-to-face. “The majority of the staff are willing to respond to our questions very nicely and patiently,” Kwok said. “And if there is room for improvement in their work or on the campus, they are willing to admit it and promise to make improvements. But I feel there wasn’t enough time for the Q&A session at the recent Town Hall Meetings, and I hope there will be more time for the Q&A session to attract more students.”
As the president of the Sports Association, undergraduate student Chow Kai Yeung from the FBA suggested at one meeting with the rector and the director of the Office of Sports Affairs that the number of such meetings be increased. He added, “I hope the university can step up efforts to follow up on the students’ suggestions to let the students know that their voices are heard and acted upon. I think the university has always tried to satisfy the students’ needs, but maybe there is still room for improvement.”
