While many Departments have increased their efforts in this area, an overall institutional response is still in its early stages of development.

As a new institution, HKUST has had relatively few alumni, but we are now beginning to develop mechanisms to communicate with them and obtain feedback. The University Development Office, reporting to the President, has been working with alumni to set up an umbrella HKUST Alumni Association. Several School alumni groups have also been formed, and are in the process of affiliating with the University-wide group.

The new procedures for undergraduate course and program administration require Departments to consult sources such as alumni and employers when considering the introduction of new programs. The Committee on Undergraduate Studies will not only look at whether such input was obtained, but at the ways in which was incorporated into program design.

Finally, the Committee on Teaching and Learning Quality will review annual reports from the Schools on their teaching and learning quality assurance. As the TLQPR Report will, for some time to come, serve as an important reference to all of our quality assurance activities, the issue of Departmental collection and use of external feedback will be among the matters to be examined in this process.