Objectives

To promote equal opportunities and to provide a balanced co-curricular development for first-generation university students (i.e. their parents have not received any post-secondary or university education), the “First-Generation University Student Fund” has been established at Hong Kong Baptist University to help students who need financial assistance and guidance in expanding their participation in outside-of-classroom activities for their whole person development and future career exploration.

Research has shown that many first-generation university students, compared to their second-generation counterparts, do not engaged sufficiently in academic or social activities that are associated with success in university. Their participation in outside-of-classroom activities, which are an important integral part of the university curriculum, may be due to financial constraints and a lack of proper guidance. Therefore, the Fund is to provide financial support to eligible students, while appropriate advice and guidance on how they should plan for their co-curricular programmes and/or outside classrooms activities throughout their undergraduate years will be provided by student advisors in order to ensure that students can benefit fully from outside-of-classroom learning. 

Scope & Activities supported by the Fund

First-Generation University Student Fund supports outside-of-classroom activities offered by HKBU Departments, Offices and student bodies which fall under the scope of the Fund. Learning activities that are organized by external organization will be considered on a case-by-case basis. They can be credit or non-credit (co-curricular activities) bearing. Some activities have a maximum amount of subsidy claimable from the Fund, and the total amount of subsidy granted is subject to the year of study of applicants.

• Academic Exchange (support up to 100% of program fee/cost paid by student*)
• Field/study trip, service trip/program (support up to 100% of program fee/cost paid by student*)
• Overseas competition, conference, internship, placement or training camp (support up to 100% of program fee/cost paid by student*)
• Language courses (a maximum of $5,000 from the Fund)
• Living in Halls (a maximum of $3,000 from the Fund)
• Sports/music/arts/other skills training (a maximum of $5,000 from the Fund)
• Professional certificates/courses (a maximum of $5,000 from the Fund)
• Other co-curricular activities subject to approval

Students can use the Fund during their course of study at HKBU. They can spend it on several learning activities until the approved amount is depleted. They also have the flexibility in choosing when to use the Fund and how much to spend on each activity. However, the minimum claimed amount for each activity should be HK$1,000 or above.

Students are allowed to receive the Fund with other funding sources concurrently provided that the total funding obtained does not exceed the actual fee/cost they have paid. Students should inform SFA if the activity is funded by other sources of funding concurrently. SFA reserves the right to adjust the approved fund amount.

*The cost may include tuition/program fees, airfare, accommodation and visa fee; but exclude food and local transportation costs as well as personal expenses. Other sources of funding received by the student, such as EDB Subsidy, MES, internship salary & allowance, will be considered in the actual cost calculation.

Application Procedures and Timeline

Please see the flowchart below for the application procedures in brief:

Step 1

Apply for the Fund

• Eligible students can apply the Fund by filling in an online application form and uploading proof of TSFS full grant offer. In addition, applicants are required to state the reasons for applying and provide an initial plan of using the Fund on the online application form.
• Application results will be released to your HKBU email account normally within 2 weeks upon the application deadline.
• Each successful applicant will be randomly assigned an advisor from the Office of Student Affairs who will give advice/guidance on the learning plan and recommend activities that fulfill the student’s interests and learning goals. Advisors may invite students for a meeting when necessary. Students are obliged to meet and communicate with their advisors.
• There will be 2 rounds of application in the academic year 2017-18:
  - Round 1 from 1 September 2017  to 31 October 2017
  - Round 2 from 15 Jan 2018 (2^nd semester begins) to 31 March 2018. More details for round 2 will be announced later.
• Late applications will NOT be considered unless there are special and valid reasons.
• Please apply for the Fund via this online platform (open on 1 September).

Step 2

Use of the Fund

A) Apply funding for specific learning activity:

• Applicants who have applied for the Fund successfully can use it anytime during their course of study at HKBU.They can spend it on several learning activities until the approved amount is depleted. They also have the flexibility in choosing when to use the Fund and how much to spend on each activity.
• When applicants wish to use the Fund to finance their expenditures in a specific learning activity, they should fill in an online application form to provide the activity details and budget, normally 8 weeks prior to the commencement of the activity. 
• Separate application should be made for each activity.
• Result of the application with approved funding amount will be released to the students via email normally within 4 weeks.
• Please apply funding for a specific learning activity via the online platform (open in early November).

B) Submission of Reflection Reports & other obligations

• After the approval of the use of fund and completion of the learning activity, students are required to submit a reflection report for each activity they have participated with an emphasis on insights, intellectual gains, learning impact and outcomes.
• The report should be submitted within one month upon completion of the activity. Requirements and guidelines for writing the report will be provided via email.
• The Report should be in the following format:
  1. An essay in English (500 words or more) or Chinese (800 words or more) and 2 photos (JPEG file of size below 5MB, with a caption); OR
  2. A video in English (for exchange or tours only; at least 3 minutes in duration with good quality).
• The reports may be fully or partly publicized on the website and/or other publicity materials of the Fund.
• Upon invitation, recipients are obliged to attend some experience sharing occasions, and/or meeting with donors of the Fund.

C) Reimbursement of Subsidy

• Approved amount of funding will be reimbursed to students upon completion of each activity and submission of report.
• For activities organized by HKBU Departments or Offices, the organizer will be asked to verify the participation status of students and provide receipt vouchers of student payment.
• For students attending academic exchange or activities offered by student societies or external bodies, they need to provide payment record such as the original invoice/receipt issued by the organizer, flight or train tickets, boarding pass, etc. to the Finance Office via SFA for verification.
• The approved amount will be spent according to the details described in the activity application. Any unspent amount will be retained by or returned to the Fund. 
• Students will not be reimbursed any amount spent in excess of the approved amount.

Support the Fund

The First-Generation University Student Fund at HKBU is jointly supported by the Strategic Development Fund, Schools/Faculties/Academy, as well as private donations. An Alumni Tree Naming Campaign was held in May 2017 which raised over HK$1.6 million for the Fund. The University would like to express its immense gratitude to the following alumni, organisations, groups and individuals for their generous support of the Fund.

List of Donors (listed in alphabetical order):

Make a Donation

To sustain the First-Generation University Student Fund and benefit more students, we appreciate and need the generous suppport of alumni and friends of HKBU, as well as the general public of Hong Kong Society.

Your donation, regardless of amount, will help our students to achieve their full intellectual and whole-person development, and eventually, motivate them to give back to those with fewer advantages in the future!

If you are interested in supporting the First-Generation University Student Fund, please contact the University Advancement Office at uao@hkbu.edu.hk or by completing the donation form at http://uao.hkbu.edu.hk/eng/doc/First-Generation-University-Student-Fund2017.pdf.

FAQs

Apply for the Fund

1. Am I eligible to apply if my sibling(s) is/are university students / graduates?
   As long as your parents have not received any post-secondary or university education and you fulfill all other specified criteria, you can apply for the fund.
    
2. Only students receiving full grant TSFS (Tertiary Student Finance Scheme) and all other specified criteria can apply for the fund.  What does "full grant" mean?
   A student with full grant offer receives the amount of maximum grant, you may visit the webpage below to check whether you received a full grant offer: https://sa.hkbu.edu.hk/sfa/government-grants-and-loans/ugc-funded-full-time-programmes/tsfsnlsft#maxgl_tsfsnlsft
    
2. What are the required supporting documents when applying for the fund?
   Applicants are required to upload the Letter of Notification of TSFS Result from the HKSAR Government for the current academic year (i.e. 2017-2018) when you submit the online application. 
    
3. What can I do if I lost my Letter of Notification of TSFS Result from the HKSAR Government?
   We also accept bank passbook/bank statement record showing the account holder’s name, account number and the deposit of TSFS grant. However, please note that your application may be affected if you cannot provide supporting document(s) for proving your TSFS result. 
    
4. If I am waiting for the TSFS result, can I apply for the fund?
   For students who are waiting for the TSFS result, please do NOT apply now. You may apply later before the deadline of the current round of application or in the next round of application in Jan 2018 when you get the full grant offer of TSFS.
    
5. Do I need to submit the hardcopy of the application form after submitted the application online?
   No. You do not need to submit the hard copy of the application form after you have submitted the online application.
    

6. I am a non-local student, can I apply for the fund?
   No. At this stage, the First-Generation University Student Fund is only eligible for local students meeting the criteria specified here.

6. When will the result be released after I have successfully applied for the fund?
   Application results will be released via emails to your HKBU email account normally within 2 weeks upon the application deadline.

Use of the Fund

1. When can I use the fund?
   After you have successfully applied for the fund in Step 1, you can use it anytime during your course of study at HKBU. You can spend it on several learning activities until the approved amount is depleted. 
    
2. I plan to participate in a learning activity. When should I submit the application for funding it?
   You are expected to submit the online application at least 8 weeks prior to the commencement of the activity so that we have enough time to consider your application and arrange payment to you, if any. 
    
3. Can I use one application form to apply more than one learning activities?
   No. Separate application should be made for each activity.