Goodbye Message Chair of the University Council

澳门大学校董事会主席谢志伟博士致澳大同仁之告別書

Dear colleagues and students,

I am writing to inform you that after nearly 13 years of service to the University of Macau as Chair of the University Council (UC), I will step down from that position at the end of this month. To most of you, particularly to the students, the Chair of the UC may not mean much because it is not a front line position on campus. But to me who has witnessed the development of the University from this position, the experience of the last 13 years has been nothing but exciting and satisfying.

I recalled that when I took up the UC Chairmanship from the former Chief Executive Mr. Edmund Ho, the mandate he gave me was to help the University of Macau become a modern and international university. To achieve this goal, my first task was to lead a task force for the Revision of the University Charter in 2002. Through this Charter Revision that was completed in 2006, the University was able to restructure much of its academic and administrative operation according to common international practices. It gained the very important autonomous power to develop and manage its own academic programs. The Government also made special provisions by law to allow the University to recruit senior leaders internationally at salaries above the Civil Service Ceiling, thereby enabling the University to compete in the international market for top talents. 

In the subsequent three years after the Charter revision, the UC worked closely with our SAR Government on acquiring a green field site in Hengqin from the Central Government for a new campus, while making special efforts in recruiting top talents to strengthen the University leadership at the helm. The speedy progress made by the University during those years demonstrated the positive effects of the Charter Revision, but also revealed some limiting inflexibilities that were remaining in the system. There were still public rules and regulations about financial and personnel management that were adequate for public administrative units of the Government, but not flexible enough for a university striving for academic excellence internationally. Happily another chance to revise the University Charter came when the Central Government acceded to the request of the University for land to develop a residential campus on the Hengqin Island. At the Groundbreaking Ceremony on December 20, 2009, Mr. Hu Jintao, the then President of our Country openly urged the University of Macau to pursue the goal of becoming a first rate university internationally. Taking the cue from Mr. Hu, the UC proposed, and the SAR Government agreed, to start a second major Charter Reform in 2011. This time the Charter Revision Task Force took a bold step, proposing to revamp the Governance structure of the University, allowing the UC to take over most of the governing responsibilities from the Government, so that the University would gain the necessary flexibilities in its operation, but at the same time accountable to the Community.

Two years ago, at a UM senior management retreat, I told my colleagues that I expected the Charter Revision to be completed by 2014, when the present term of the UC ended, and it would be the opportune time for me to step down and retire. I am happy to say that the Revision is now basically complete, because the main proposals of the Reform have been agreed by the SAR Government. The rest would be legal and procedural formalities. With the new Hengqin Campus formally open for the new academic year next month, indeed it is time for me to close happily this month the last chapter of my fifty years of involvement in higher education. 

Good Bye and God Bless

With best wishes

Daniel C. W. Tse
Chair of University Council
July, 2014

各位同事、各位同學︰

當了近13年澳大校董會主席後，謹向各位報告，我將於本月底從這職位上退下來。對於大部分同仁，特別是同學來說，校董會主席的職位也許沒有太大的意義，因這不是校園裡的前線職務。但對我來說，從這特殊的位置見證大學的發展，這13年的經歷還是挺有挑戰性和滿意的。

我記得，2001年我從時任行政長官何厚鏵先生接過校董會主席職位時，他給我的指示，是協助澳大冒起，成為國際化的現代大學。為達這目的，政府給我的第一項任務，就是從2002年開始，主持一個由政府官員和大學校董會成員組成的團隊，進行大學章程修改的工作。2006年修章完成後，澳大在行政和學術的架構和運作上按國際慣例作了重大的修訂。特別在學術方面，澳大在課程發展和管理上獲得了完全的自主權。政府也透過法律的規定，容許大學領導層及講座教授的薪酬超越公職人員的上限，使大學在國際市場招聘上有較佳的競爭能力。

修章完成後的三年間，校董會一方面與政府並肩合作，向中央政府爭取在橫琴島覓地建校的大計；一方面積極進行國際招聘，增強大學的領導班子。這期間大學的迅速發展證明了修章的果效，但同時也顯露了修章未夠徹底的困難。特別在財政和人事管理方面，一些公共行政程序和規條等，應用於政府公共機構是很恰當的，但應用在一所力爭國際一流的大學身上，就顯得侷促和缺乏彈性。幸好，當中央政府於2009年回應了大學在橫琴島覓地建校的訴求後，大學又再獲得一次修章機會，來爭取更有彈性的發展實力。2009年12月20日新校園奠基當日，時任國家主席胡錦濤先生公開要求澳大要向世界一流大學進軍。有了這要求為契機，並且獲得政府同意，大學於2011年開展了第二次修章工作。在校董會同仁的努力下，修章小組邁出了勇敢的一大步，建議修改大學的管治模式，由校董會接替政府對大學的管治責任，使大學面對國際競爭時在決策和行動上有適時的應變能力，同時也能認真地向社會交代。

兩年前，在一次澳大資深管理層的退思會中，我告訴同事們，估計2014年7月本屆校董會任滿時，大學的修章工作將會完成，也就是我退休的最適當時刻。現在我很高興看到修章工作已基本完成，修章的主要目標都已獲得政府當局同意，剩下的只是法律和程序上的例行工夫。隨著大學的新學年將會今年8月在新校園全面啟動，我能在這盛暑7月結束長達50年的高等教育生涯最後篇章，應該是人生一大快事吧。

再見，願天佑澳大，也天佑各位

校董會主席
謝志偉
2014年7月