Student community projects communicate professional standards

Graduating students of the Bachelor of Arts in English for Professional Communication programme at City University of Hong Kong (CityU) are showcasing their professional communication projects in the exhibition “Collaboration and Communication: Stepping Forward to Success”.

The three-day exhibition that opened on 16 April is a platform for the students to share the learning outcomes of their final-year projects with the CityU community and the public.

Students were divided into 17 groups. They proposed and executed publicity projects for local commercial and non-profit organisations such as Aids Concern Foundation Ltd, ORBIS Hong Kong and YMCA of Hong Kong.

CityU strives to develop quality graduates for society and this is an excellent example of the University’s commitment to professional education.

Dr Francis Lee Lap-fung, Assistant Professor in the Department of English and Communication and also a coordinator of the final-year project module, believed students could fully apply what they learnt on the course in a real-world context.

“Students worked in teams to provide professional services for their host organisations, as if they were one of the teams in a public relations agency,” Dr Lee said. “Each team was supervised by a teacher but it was the students’ responsibility to communicate with the clients and execute their proposals.”

Promoting on campus the equestrian events of the Olympic Games was the mission of the team led by Esther Nip Ming-wai. After careful planning with the host organisation, Equestrian Event (Hong Kong) of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad Co. Ltd, Esther’s team organised a talk show, an exhibition and a lecture series under the campaign banner, City-lympics.

Although team members had divergent opinions and different strengths, they all found the experience rewarding and now have more confidence and motivation to pursue careers in public relations.

The team of six did not have any event management experience but their perseverance and team spirit was the catalyst for their success. The Olympiad company commended the team for the impressive results of the campaign and their efficiency in organising the events in such a short period of time.

Vanessa Lai Wing-shan’s team worked with the Hong Kong Family Welfare Society to publish a book titled When Your Life Lights Up Mine, to help people form a more positive outlook on life. Not only did the students apply the skills they had learnt during coursework, the stories related by the interviewees also served as a real-life lesson in how to overcome adversity.

From conducting interviews, writing, taking and editing photos, to looking for sponsorship, arranging publication layouts and doing publicity, the team of four spent most of their available time over the past six months working on the project.

The exhibition is held at the Multi-Purpose Rooms and will close at 6pm, 18 April.