QA of Existing Programmes

Advisory Committees

An advisory committee may be established for each Faculty/School/Academy of Visual Arts (AVA), or programme/department as appropriate.  An advisory  committee  shall  consist  of external  members  from  the  community  and hence act as an interface between  the  community  and  the  academic  unit concerned. The Membership Composition and Terms of Reference are set out below:

a.   Membership Composition

1. Each advisory committee shall normally consist of 7 to 15 members, and shall have the following composition:
   
    

   Chairman:	A member from the community;
   Convener:	The appropriate Programme Director, Head of Department/Programme or Faculty/School Dean/Academy Director;
   Members:	Members from the University academic staff, whose number shall not exceed one-third of the total committee membership; Members from the community – commercial, government and professional sectors.

    
2. The Chairman of each advisory committee shall be formally appointed by the President and Vice-Chancellor. Other members shall be jointly nominated by the Chairman and the Programme Director, Head of Department/Programme or Faculty/School Dean/Academy Director and appointed by the President and Vice-Chancellor. The terms of all members (excluding the Chairman) shall be either one year or two years, on the recommendation of the faculty/school/academy/department/programme concerned. The Chairman shall be appointed for a two-year term. Members may be eligible for reappointment. A normal renewal would be permitted for the second term. Only under specific circumstances of need could a further extension beyond the second appointment be made for selected members.
3. External members should, as much as possible, be recruited from the employment sector; academics from other institutions should therefore be in the minority.
4. The servicing arrangements for each advisory committee shall be the responsibility of the relevant department/programme or faculty/school/academy.
   
   Note: The role of internal members in the Committee is to serve as resource persons and to receive advice from external members. The advice received will then be reported back to the faculty/school/academy/department/programme.

b.  Terms of Reference

1. Each advisory committee shall act as an interface between industry/commerce/government and the community at large and the faculty/school/academy/department/programme concerned.
2. Each advisory committee shall meet at least once a year. To assist planning and reviewing the following aspects of the relevant faculty/school/academy/department/programme in relation to community needs and future developments, advisory committees shall have regard to:
   • the objectives, structure, and the content of the programme offered by the faculty/school/academy/department;
   • the research and consultancy activities associated with the faculty/school/academy/department/programme;
   • market demand and placement of graduates;
   • the resources in support of the faculty/school/academy/department/programme;
   • other aspects of concern as requested by the President and Vice-Chancellor.

    iii.  Each advisory committee shall send minutes of its meetings to the President and Vice-Chancellor.