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HKU staff and student associations demand answers over unfilled deputy position
- The search process for the provost and deputy vice chancellor role at the University of Hong Kong has been on hold for more than two years
- Professor Paul Tam Kwong-hang has been interim provost for three years
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The uproar over the lack of progress by Hong Kong’s oldest university to properly recruit its No 2 management position has escalated with staff and student associations demanding the incumbent deputy explain his capacity in the leadership team.
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The Post reported last week that the search process for the provost and deputy vice chancellor role at the University of Hong Kong had been on hold for more than two years with sources saying the situation may not change soon.
While a search was scheduled for early 2017 – after two failed attempts in 2015 and 2016 – it never took place after former vice chancellor Peter Mathieson resigned in February that year.
The turbulent process has forced HKU to appoint Professor Paul Tam Kwong-hang, the school’s vice-president from 2003 to 2015, to serve as interim provost until a candidate is found – a role he has held for three years.
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Issuing a joint statement on Facebook on Monday, the university’s student union and academic staff association expressed concerns over Tam being referred to as “provost and deputy vice chancellor” instead of “interim provost and deputy vice chancellor” in official documents.
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