Dear Fellow Students,
December, being the last month of the year, may embrace both exhaustion and joyfulness for a student. You are probably sweating to meet the assessment deadline and making arduous efforts for the examination preparation. Meanwhile, we know you could not help counting the days when the time comes to reward yourself with the Christmas celebration! As 2024 draws to a close, it is a pleasure to share some updates on the College operation in this last message of the year.
Graduation Ceremony
In the afternoon of 30 November 2024, around 500 attendees gathered at St Andrew's Church to celebrate the Graduation Ceremony of the College to confer 58 bachelor's degrees, 60 higher diplomas and 28 professional diplomas upon the graduating class of 2024. The Most Revd Andrew Chan Au-ming, Archbishop and Primate of Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui, was invited as the distinguished Guest of Honour at the ceremony. Parents, staff, Governors, College Council members and guests attending the ceremony shared the wonderful moment of witnessing the achievements and joy of our graduates altogether. New arrangements like the choir performance and the group photo-taking session helped make the occasion a more memorable event for the attendees.
College Assemblies
All four College Assemblies were held smoothly in the 1st semester with the sharing sessions featuring the theme “Journeying Together in Our Sunny Lives”. Speakers invited included the President of the College, Prof Simon Ching Lam of Tung Wah College, and Mr Johnny Leung of Our Hands Green Association. The 4th Assembly held in December was a special one with Rev David Lee hosting a brief sharing, followed by a singing performance for X’mas celebration.
Government Scholarships
It is encouraging that many students of the College were commended the honour of the Self-financing Post-secondary Scholarship Scheme (SPSS) for their academic merits or achievements in non-academic areas in recent years. The Student Development Office is arranging interviews for different categories of the SPSS 202425 as rolled out earlier. The Reaching Out Award is still open for application until 9 January 2025. Don’t miss the valuable opportunity to participate in outreach programmes or events conducted outside Hong Kong.
Student Welfare
Despite the spatial constraints of our building, we are most willing to explore initiatives and solutions to enhance the campus environment and provide more student welfare. You may have noticed that an additional fridge has been installed in the Student Common Room and improvement work has been made on the patio.
Academic Development
Since its establishment, GCC has been tapping into different funding opportunities provided by the Government. The Research Matching Grant (RMG) is particularly a major funding source supporting various research projects of the College in recent years. To enhance the academic development of faculty staff, GCC will continue to apply for the next round of the RMG to be launched in May 2025.
Before we end this message, we would like to convey our best wishes to you all. May the year ahead be a fruitful and prosperous one for you!
College Management