Choice of provost for University of Hong Kong ‘likely to be clearer’ by end of month
The choice of a new University of Hong Kong provost will probably be submitted to its governing council by the end of this month, the council’s chairman and a member say.
The choice of a new University of Hong Kong provost will probably be submitted to its governing council by the end of this month, the council’s chairman and a member say amid heated debate the unfilled post is being used as an excuse to delay another key managerial appointment.
Both chairman Dr Leong Che-hung and his council colleague, Professor Arthur Li Kwok-cheung, today dismissed allegations the deferred naming of a new pro-vice-chancellor was deliberate.
Leong stressed it was reasonable to wait for the new provost to be appointed before deciding on the post of pro-vice-chancellor since the two people would have to work closely together.
Echoing Leong’s views, Li said: “It is a way of showing respect to the provost. We are not asking him or her to make a decision on whether to hire Professor Johannes Chan Man-mun or not. We are only seeking [the provost’s] opinions.”
He said the pro-vice-chancellor would be a deputy to the provost, so seeking the provost’s advice was a matter of courtesy.
Chan, a former law dean and a liberal scholar, is said to be the HKU search committee’s recommended candidate for the pro-vice-chancellor job.
