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 engage 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. 

Eligibility

Eligible applicants should be:

1. local students studying in full‐time UGC‐funded undergraduate programmes at HKBU;
2. first-generation university students (i.e. your parents have not received any post-secondary or university education); and
3. receiving full grant under the Tertiary Student Finance Scheme – Publicly-funded Programmes (TSFS) of the HKSAR Government in 2018-19.

• a student with full grant offer receives the amount of maximum grant, you may visit the webpage below to check whether you are receiving a full grant offer: https://sa.hkbu.edu.hk/sfa/government-grants-and-loans/ugc-funded-full-time-programmes/tsfsnlsft#maxgl_tsfsnlsft
• Up to HK$15,000 subsidy will be given to each Year 1 successful applicant and the amount will be pro-rata for applicants of senior years as shown below. Eligible students are encouraged to plan for their learning and development, and apply for the Fund as early as possible in order to get a higher subsidy amount as well as a longer period to use the entitled fund for approved activities.

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. They can be credit or non-credit (co-curricular activities) bearing. Learning activities that are organized by external organization will be considered on a case-by-case basis, and are subject to the approval of the Office of Student Affairs. 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 net fee/cost paid by student*)
• Field/study trip, service trip/program (support up to 100% of net fee/cost paid by student*)
• Overseas competition, conference, internship, placement or training camp (support up to 100% of net fee/cost paid by student*)
• Language courses (a maximum of $5,000 from the Fund. Students are recommended to take foreign languages courses offered by our Language Centre)
• 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 (and maximum amount) subject to approval
  
  *The cost may include program fees, airfare, accommodation, travel insurance, visa and other mandatory fees; but exclude food and local transportation costs as well as personal expenses.

Notes:

1. The Fund is not a bursary which subsidizes students' study or daily expenses. Students can only use it to support their participation in one or several co‐curricular programmes and/or outside classroom learning activities until the approved amount is depleted. They 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.

2. Students can use the Fund during their course of study at HKBU. For final year students, the learning activity must be completed by 31 August of their graduation year. 

3. Students should join the activities/courses via an organization which can provide official proofs and receipts for the cost/fee paid, i.e. personal trips and private instructors are not allowed. Students are recommended to participate in experiential programmes offered by the Office of Student Affairs.

4.  The Fund does not subsidize honours project, research, graduation‐tied trips which receive additional support from the Government as well as profit‐making activities.

5. Students are allowed to receive the Fund with other funding sources (e.g. EDB Exchange Subsidy, University Exchange Sponsorship, MES, Government Hall Subsidy, Reaching Out Award, scholarships, internship salary & allowance, etc.) concurrently provided that the total funding support obtained does not exceed the net fees/cost they have paid. Students should inform SFA if the activity is funded by other sources of funding concurrently.

6. The Office of Student Affairs reserves the right to make final decision on each activity application, and to adjust the approved fund amount if deem appropriate.

Application Procedures and Timeline

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

FORM I: Confirmation of Eligibility

Applicants should first complete Form I to confirm their eligibility before proceeding to apply funding for specific activity(Form II).

• Eligible students should first fill in an online application form (Form I) to confirm their eligibility. In addition to personal particulars, they need to state their reasons of application and provide an initial plan of using the fund.
• Application results of Form I will be released to your HKBU email account normally within 2 weeks upon the application deadline, i.e. mid‐Nov and mid‐April of each year.
• 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 2018-19:
  - Round 1 from 1 September 2018  to 31 October 2018
  - Round 2 from 14 January 2019 to 31 March 2019
• Late applications will NOT be considered unless there are special and valid reasons.
• Please apply for the Fund via this online platform (to be launched on 1 September 2018).

FORM II: Funding Application for Specific Learning Activity

Applicants should have submitted “FORM I: Confirmation of Eligibility” and received our approval email before filling out this FORM II for funding application.

• 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 students wish to use the fund to support a specific learning activity, they should apply for funding by providing the activity details, supporting documents (e.g. admission/offer letter) and budget via another online form, normally at least 4 weeks prior to the commencement of the activity.
• For students who plan to use their approved fund on hall residence in the first semester of 2018/19, they should apply before 30 November 2018; while for hall residence in the second semester or in the whole year of 2018/19, students should apply before 30 April 2019.

• Separate application for funding 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 this online platform.

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. Please see the table below for the requirements and guidelines for submitting a report.

• Upon invitation, recipients are obliged to attend some experience sharing occasions, and/or meeting with donors of the Fund.

Reimbursement of Subsidy

• Approved amount of funding will be reimbursed to students in around 8 weeks upon their completion of activity and submission of report and expenditure proofs if applicable. 
• For activities organized by HKBU Departments or Offices, the organizer will be asked to verify the participation status of students and provide the cost code 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.
• Students can check their funding disbursement record via BUniport.

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.

Sharing of Recipients

 

 

 

Au Ka Hang (Physical Education & Recreation Management)
Activity: Taipei Marathon 2017

“Taipei Marathon 2017 was a very great activity for us to broaden our horizon. I experienced a lot from the day we arrived at the city. In these few days, I experienced the traditional culture of the Taiwan people by talking with them, understanding the sport culture and how the organization organized the event from the promotion in advance of the race, setting up the race track, distributing the bids to the runners, setting up the venue and how to run the race. I got more than what I expected before the start of the trip. The experience I got from this trip would be beneficial for me to learn how to organize and manage events, which I am going to study for our core course in the upcoming semester. In addition, as I am going to be involved in the sporting industry, holding sporting events will be my main focus in my future career. As a result, this valuable and unforgettable experience excels our skills and knowledge in event management.”



 

 

Chan Ka Po (Music)
Activity: 2017 Rome Grand Prize Virtuoso

“This was my first time to play the piano in front of audiences outside Hong Kong and been to Europe. It was very impressive and memorable. I enjoyed playing on the stage to share my music and enjoyed watching other winners’ playing as well. They came from all around the world, from China to Japan, Germany to New York City. All of us have been learning in different environments and grown up in different atmospheres, which affect how we learn and make us adapt to different teaching styles. It was an incredible occasion and a great chance for me to learn from people around the world with different backgrounds, and not just limited myself in Hong Kong and university. I was also very glad to be chosen as the first prize winner which gave me a sense of self-achievement and recognition.” 



 

 

Lai Pui Tai (International Journalism)
Activity: Geneva International Model United Nations (MUN) Conference

“The conference is the ideal platform for practising public speaking and impromptu speeches. I overcome stage fright during the conference. Moreover, the conference gathered people who shared similar mentality and values to the world which makes it the best platform for making friends around the world. Throughout the conference, it was more than just discussions on the assigned topics, but also a brilliant way for mind exchange. In my opinion, the mind exchange among the delegates from diverse educational, cultural and profession background is the new best way of solving world issues.”
 

 

 

Lam Tsz Yuen (BBA Accounting)
Activity: University YMCA Joint 16 University Study & Cultural Tour in Romania and Bulgaria

“Before this trip, Romania and Bulgaria were only countries that I read from history. But now, I have a deep understanding of the lifestyles, historical and cultural background of these cities. The most meaningful activity to me was the orphan visit in Romania. My teammates and I visited a house with six orphans living there. Although the visit only lasted for 40 minutes, it was really heartbreaking and reminded me how much we owned. These orphans are cheerful instead of quiet as what we originally expected. They smiled truely when they received gifts from us. Compared to the kids in Hong Kong, things that make them happy are simple.”



 

 

Lui Hiu Wai (Applied Biology-Environmental Science) 
Activity: Colour Your Dream: Thailand Service Trip

“Through staying with a host family, I learnt to communicate and get along with Thai people. They were really nice and treated us as friends, with joy and love. We shared photos and experiences in our hometowns. We even danced together. This good time was short but remarkable. Sometimes we might encounter language barrier, but we managed to communicate using body language and Google translate. Thus, we maintained a great relationship with the local people.”

 

FAQs

FORM I: Confirmation of Eligibility

FORM II: Funding Application for Specific Learning Activity