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CUHK Recognised as Caring Organisation by HKCSS for the Third Consecutive Year
With its distinguishing humanistic spirit, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has striven to serve the community, care for its employees and protect the environment. Recently, CUHK was recognised as a ‘Caring Organisation’ by the Hong Kong Council of Social Service (HKCSS) for the third consecutive year, with nomination by two organisations which are Evangelical Lutheran Church Social Service – Hong Kong and The Salvation Army this year.
CUHK cares about the community. With the establishment of the ‘CUHK • Care Service Team’ in 2013, a solid network of volunteers composed of students, staff, alumni and friends has been built. ‘CUHK • Care Service Team’ aims to promote the benevolence that CUHK values, in the hope of having a positive impact on society. The team has grown over the years with over 1,000 members. Over 200 social services have been arranged and collaborated in with different non-profit organisations, including giving CUHK mooncakes to 1,000 elderly people in Shatin and Tai Po as an annual key community care activity, and other types of visits to social minority groups.
CUHK treasures its staff by attending to their physical and mental health, respecting their familial obligations and advocating a work life balance. CUHK provides family friendly measures through its personnel policies and benefits, like adoption leave, paternity leave and the provision of nursing rooms. The University also hosts various seminars, workshops and conducts surveys to explore the working developments and family needs of the staff. CUHK is also actively engaged in building a positive workplace. The ‘CUHK Staff Thankful Day’ was held for the third consecutive year to promote positive communication and appreciation between co-workers, and create a harmonious and productive working environment. CUHK’s effort has been recognised by the public, and received three awards in the 2015/16 Family-Friendly Employers Scheme organised by the Home Affairs Bureau and the Family Council. They are ‘Distinguished Family-Friendly Employers 2015/16’, ‘Family-Friendly Employers 2015/16’ and ‘Award for Breastfeeding Support 2015/16’.
With the aim of creating a sustainable campus, CUHK implements various green policies. The new construction projects in the campus have widely adopted design elements of green buildings; for example, the Jockey Club Postgraduate Halls 2 and 3 that will come into service this year. Natural ventilation and lighting will be brought into the corridors by a vertical greening design. Various energy saving techniques will also be used to reduce the overall energy consumption level of the buildings. The project has been rated ‘Provisional Platinum’ under the BEAM Plus New Buildings [V1.2] assessment by the Hong Kong Green Building Council. CUHK also implemented various recycling and waste reduction programmes. In 2015, radio frequency identification (RFID) electronic tags were put on rubbish bins and recycle bins to trace and record the amount of rubbish so that waste audit and analysis can be done for the future evaluation of the waste management plan. In terms of energy use, CUHK has installed a variety of energy-saving and renewable energy measures in the campus and distributed to various departments the electricity consumption and carbon emissions of their buildings so that their colleagues can clearly understand their electricity consumption patterns and methods for saving electricity. Compared with the 2005/06 academic year, the per capita electricity consumption, per capita water consumption and per capita solid waste production in the 2015/16 academic year decreased by 12%, 8% and 65%, respectively. The effect was very significant. A green purchasing policy has also been set up in the University, to guide different departments in CUHK to purchase products that reduce environmental pollution. The overall environmental protection work done by CUHK has been recognised by society. It received the Hong Kong Green Organisation Certification from the Environmental Campaign Committee and the Environmental Protection Department.
The Caring Organisation Scheme
Launched by the HKCSS, the Caring Organisation Scheme aims to build a cohesive society by promoting strategic partnerships among public sectors and social service partners and inspiring corporate social responsibility through caring for the community, employees and the environment.
