Collegiate Confirmation from Macau
Posted by R. J. O’Hara for the Collegiate Way
![[The University of Macau]](http://collegiateway.org/images/news/2009-macau.png "The University of Macau.")
28 June 2009 (collegiateway.org) — Christina Chan of the University of Macau kindly sent me a press release yesterday about UM’s plans for a new campus on Hengqin Island, just west of Macau proper. We reported on these plans a few weeks ago here at the Collegiate Way because a writer who endorsed them in the Macao Daily News also proposed that the new Hengqin campus be organized into a system of residential colleges.
Yesterday’s UM press release reports that final approval for the construction of the Hengqin campus has been received from the Chinese government, and UM officials have confirmed that the campus will indeed have a residential college system:
With a spacious new campus, UM will be able to pursue high quality undergraduate education and promote innovation in scientific research to the fullest extent, particularly on the following fronts: (I) Teaching: UM will increase the number of faculties from five to eight, thereby providing a more comprehensive range of academic programmes and more choices for local high school graduates. (II) Campus life: UM will introduce a residential college system. Around ten residential colleges will be set up to enrich students’ campus life and attain the objective of whole-person education. Students from different majors, backgrounds and academic levels living in the same college can experience diverse lifestyles, cultures and ways of thinking through the interaction with peers and teachers.
The English-language Macau Daily Times picked up the story today as well.
This is very encouraging news, and the Pearl River Delta looks set to become an important focal point for the collegiate way of living in Southeast Asia.
I wish everyone at the University of Macau much success in this important work, and I hope the many recommendations available here at the Collegiate Way website on residential college buildings and grounds will be helpful as their construction plans take shape.
