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 2020-21.

*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

Amount of Subsidy

Basic Plan: 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 FGF 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.

Top-up Plan: To encourage and support students to attain learning experience outside Hong Kong with the Fund, the total amount of FGF subsidy granted to year two or above students will be topped up to a maximum of $15,000, on condition that they have used or will use the entitled fund to join at least one approved outside Hong Kong activity.

For example, a student who successfully applied for the Fund in Year 3 will be given $7000 FGF subsidy under the Basic Plan. However, if he/she now applies to spend his/her FGF on an approved outside Hong Kong activity (e.g. summer exchange programme), he/she may get up to $15,000 after top-up.

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 outside Hong Kong (support up to 100% of net fee/cost paid by student*)
• Short-term study or service trip, training program, competition or conference outside Hong Kong (support up to 100% of net fee/cost paid by student*)
• Internship or placement outside Hong Kong (support up to 100% of net fee/cost paid by student*)
• Language courses taken in Hong Kong (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 or other skills training/courses taken in Hong Kong (normally a maximum of $5,000 from the Fund)
• Professional certificates/examination taken in Hong Kong (a maximum of $5,000 from the Fund)
• Purchase of some categories of learning tool (the item) will be allowed with the following conditions:
  • The item is required by or closely related to the approved learning activity.
  • The funding application for purchase of the item should be made together with that of the learning activity.
  • The maximum approved amount for the purchase is normally $3,000 or 70% of the actual cost of the item, whichever is lower. 
  • Students can use the fund on purchase of more than one item within the allowed maximum total spending amount for learning tools (i.e. normally $3,000).
  • Items must be from the approved categories, including Musical Instrument, Sports equipment, Software, Apparatus, Book, Computer (desktop, notebook or tablet).
  • Official receipt(s) of purchased item(s) from registered shop(s) must be provided.
  • The recipient must be in possession of the purchased item for own use.  The Office of Student Affairs reserves the right to ask for the presentation or proof of the purchased items from recipients any time before graduation.
• Non-paid local internship endorsed by the Career Centre will be supported by FGF with the following conditions:
  • The internship is practiced locally and endorsed by HKBU Career Centre. To obtain endorsement, please contact Miss Yoyo Mak of Career Centre. 
  • The internship is non-paid with no travelling allowance.
  • Full Internship period should be at least 4 weeks; part-time internship should be at least 80 hours in total.
  • To subsidize students’ travelling and work expenses, HK$500 per week will be provided from FGF for full-time internship.  While for part-time internship, an hourly rate of HK$12.5 will be provided for each session of internship.  The minimum subsidy will be $37.5 if the session is less than 3 hours.
  • Maximum HK$3,000 FGF support can be applied. No extra support will be provided for an internship period longer than 6 weeks or more than 240 hours.
  • The period of internship must be clearly stated in the agreement between the student and the company. 
  • Students must complete the whole internship as agreed and fulfil all stipulated requirements in order to receive FGF support.
  • FGF amount will be calculated according to the actual internship period/time.  No expenditure receipt is required.
• Participants of projects endorsed by SEED Incubator will be supported by FGF with the following conditions:
  • Project must be prior registered in SEED Incubator Support Scheme;
  • Project must meet the conditions set forth by SEED Incubator;
  • Project must not be less than 6 weeks of actual working time;
  • The final support must be endorsed by SEED Incubator to make sure the project is ongoing or has achieved reasonable progress.
  • Maximum HK$3,000 FGF support can be applied; no expenditure receipt is required.
• Other co-curricular activities (and maximum amount) subject to approval
  
  *The cost may include program fees, airfare, accommodation, travel insurance (for programmes not covered by HKBU's insurance only), 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$500 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. (special arrangement for 2019/20 graduates: the activity completion deadline will be extended to 28 February 2021)

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, 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. Students will not be reimbursed any subsidy if they could not complete the approved activity/course or fail the exam/test for professional certificates.

7. 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 2020-21:
  - Round 1 from 1 September 2020 to 31 October 2020
  - Round 2 from 11 January 2021 to 31 March 2021
• Late applications will NOT be considered unless there are special and valid reasons.
• Please apply for the Fund via this online platform (2020/21 round 1 is accepting application).

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 and budget via another online form, normally at least 2 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 2020/21, they should apply before 30 November 2020; while for hall residence in the second semester or in the whole year of 2020/21, students should apply before 30 April 2021.
• 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 if the approved amount is HK$2,000 or above with an emphasis on insights, intellectual gains, learning impact and outcomes.
• The report should be submitted within two months 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.

• To measure the effectiveness and outcomes for joining the activities/programmes, recipients are required to complete the online evaluation form for each activity. Please click here to complete it.

Reimbursement of Subsidy

• Subsidy reimbursement via the Finance Office will be arranged upon students' submission of report, photos, participation proof, expenditure proofs, if applicable, as well as completion of the online evaluation form. Students may receive the subsidy normally in around 8 - 12 weeks (subject to Finance Office's approval) on condition that the documents they submitted have fulfilled the requirements and they submitted before the designated deadline. 
• 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. 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 https://foundation.hkbu.edu.hk/sites/default/files/smallBanners/02_FGUSFund_191024.pdf​.

Sharing of Recipients

Sharing videos:

During the pandemic when most overseas activities are cancelled or postponed, many FGF students turned to use the fund on learning languages, developing their interests, enhancing a particular skill or attaining some professional qualifications which are beneficial to their career development. 

1. Five Arts students used FGF on attending different language courses.

2. A Visual Arts student continued her Guzheng learning with the support of FGF.

3. Three Social Work students simultaneously attained the Pastel Nagomi Art Associate Instructor qualification. ​

Sharing articles:

 

 

Liu Man Nok (China Studies – Economics, Year 3)
Activity Joined: Change-Makers Programme 2019-20

“The selected global issue of the Change-Makers Programme this year is “Animal Welfare”.  We explored this issue by involving in several experiential learning activities in three stages, including the preparation workshops and talks, the overseas service trip in Malaysia and the advocacy activities in Hong Kong.  In Malaysia, we served in the Noah’s Ark Natural Animal Shelter in Johor Bahru, and did several things to help the animals there, like feeding and combing the horses, bathing the dogs, painting the railings and caring the cats and monkeys.  I felt very grateful and fruitful during these eight days.  I was delighted to learn the animal welfare issue in a country with a very different background from Hong Kong.”

 

 

Cheung Hoi Lam (BBA Human Resources Management, Year 3)
Activity Joined: Light A Refugee Dream: Refugee Deserves Quality Education

“I learned a lot in the 6 weeks’ global volunteer journey in Malaysia.  Through volunteering in a refugee centre and communicating with the refugee kids there, I got to know more about the refugee issues in Malaysia.  Everyone including the refugee kids deserve to have quality education.  This global volunteer experience had raised my concern on the education problem in the world.  On the personal aspect, my self-awareness was raised through knowing more about my strengths and weaknesses during the journey, I am now able to find ways to improve myself.  At the same time, by exploring a place that I have never visited before, I learned to be independent and mature in order to deal with different challenges.”

 

 

TSE Hau Yi (European Studies, Year 3)
Activity Joined: AIESEC: SDG 5- Gender Equality | Global Project 

“I was teaching in Class 1 to 9 in Asha English Boarding School in Nepal for 6 days a week (Nepal has 6 official working days, what a tragedy).  Most of the students speak good English and we could understand each other well, which is a reason we all could have fun together.  Every time when I recalled my memories, when the children beamed happily and ran to me, yelled Maam (teacher in Nepali), my heart melted again.  I could never forget the moment when I prepared to leave.  The children kept asking me if I would be back and held my hands tight, but did not look into my eyes.  At the end, I saw their rosy and watery eyes and we hit our fists to say goodbye.  There are many people walked into my life, but then left.  I could however always remember the memories of us.  Now I am writing letters to them regularly.  Maybe one day we will see each other again.”

 

 

Lee Tin Wai (Physical Education and Recreation Management, Year 2)
Activity Joined: Playground Builder 7.0

“Our target was to build a playground for the children in a poor village in Chiang Mai, Thailand.  Besides, we also had some planned activities with students in the school.  The activity which I was responsible for was dodgebee.  This new sport is indeed quite easy for children or even elderly to handle.  However, I was quite nervous as I didn’t have any experience for teaching so many students.  It was a good training for me since I would like to be a physical teacher in the future.  In this trip, I learned how to use limited resources to build a playground and I also had a great memory for living with the host family.   Although we had language barrier, we tried to communicate with the help of Google translate.  I got to understand more about their culture and living habits.”

 

 

Chow Lok Laam (English Language & Literature and English Language Teaching, Year 2)
Activity Joined: Colour Your Dream: Service Trip in Bali

“When we arrived in Bali, we went to a homestay near the primary school that we were going to teach.  The students were so obedient and patient when we were explaining.  I really appreciate their politeness and how they respected us.  I remembered one lesson when we were teaching them to make the traditional Indonesian house, they were full of creativity.  They used the bamboo sticks to sew the leaves together as the cover of the house.  They really inspired me a lot because I would not think of this normally.  From the eyes of the children, I see what pure happiness is, as well as hope.  We are a part of them, and vice versa.  It was an unforgettable and life-changing lesson for me.  I would never regret joining this service trip, teaching those cuties and meeting my teammates.”

 

 

CHAN Hiu Kwan (BBA Accounting, Year 4)
Activity Joined: Metropolitan Attachment Programme 2019

"I was assigned to work in “Grace Christian School (GCS)”, which is a Day Nursery School in Toronto.  The duties of my post were to take part in pre-school students’ classes, and to help my supervisors in their daily works routines.  Since my supervisors allowed me to participate in every detail and believed in my ability, I gained a lot during this internship and I was really impressed by their enthusiasm.  For instance, I understood the basic and daily routine of a Day Nursery School, I learned how to know the kids’ needs and wants by observing their behaviors and interacting with them, and I had a deeper understanding on what kids need at different ages and stages.”

 

 

吳天恩 (工商管理 - 資訊系統與電子商貿學專修，三年級)
參與活動： 學術交流

"在2019至2020學年的第一個學期，我去了法國里爾的IESEG School of Management進行學術交流。令我頗為印象深刻的是課堂的分組項目，這是我首次與外國人共同合作做事，才知道我們的思考和解決問題的方式有多不同。正因如此，我更懂得接納其他人不同的意見和更能從多角度出發去解決問題。另外，我在當地修讀了法文課程，現在已有法文初學者一級的學歷，這算是我整個交流中比較實際和能即時應用到的收穫吧！除了學習，我亦遊歷了十個歐洲國家，每個國家都各有特色。這次的交流讓我獲益良多，不但擴闊了我的眼界，還讓我能更深入地了解不同地方的文化。"

 

 

 

 

勞偉賢 (中國研究 - 經濟專修，四年級)
參與活動：捷克承古啟新 x 一帶一路10天文化交流團

"在交流團的行程中，我參觀了不少在捷克內的名勝古蹟，例如舊城區、庫倫洛夫和布拉格城堡，當中布拉格城堡使我印象最為深刻。布拉格城堡為世界上最大的古堡，其依山而建，距今已有過千年歷史，走進布拉格城堡區，就像正閱讀著一本歷史書，細說著捷克多年來的故事。我更參觀了比爾森啤酒廠，認識了啤酒的釀製過程，了解捷克人對啤酒的喜愛和這項歷史悠久的工業，更有幸能嘗試新鮮從筒內提取的啤酒。我們亦參觀捷克的初創企業孵化器，了解到捷克初創企業所掌握的技術，例如農業科技，更了解到捷克政府對初創企業的支持，政府甚至提出不少優惠鼓勵世界各地的專才來捷克大展拳腳，更重要的是，我們能了解到初創企業如何能從「一帶一路」中尋求機會。"

 

 

李麗華 (工商管理 - 會計學專修 ，二年級)
參與活動：世界公民-烏克蘭文化服務團

"烏克蘭文化服務團是由大學青年會（香港浸會大學）世界公民小組的學生幹事籌備，而我是其中一員。我們選擇了「切爾諾貝爾核事故」作主題，是為了增加我們對環境可持續發展的關注及對核能的認識，由此提高我們對世界公民的身分認同，並且懂得關心生命。與此同時，我們也包含了與當地青少年交流的環節，希望能夠在過程中了解當地人對切爾諾貝爾核事故的看法。在烏克蘭文化服務團裏，我了解更多核能的知識，希望能將在烏克蘭所見所聞與更多人分享，從個人做起節約能源，並提升大家對能源使用的警覺性，不想再有類似的悲劇發生。這個團帶給我的不只是關於核能和文化，還令我成長了不少。我學會把事情想得深入些和仔細些，學會管理好自己的情緒和與人溝通合作，學會準備更多後備方案以應付突發事件。"

 

 

張梓淇 (中藥學，二年級)
參與活動：「北京大學藥學院」交流團

"在這次「北京大學藥學院」交流團中，北京大學藥學院的學生和老師帶領我們參觀北京大學的中醫科醫院和藥房。當中，老師介紹了很多藥房會用的分藥、配藥機器，可以免卻很多人手，將資源留給直接應對病人的工作，更能提高配藥效率。參觀中醫科醫院時，醫師跟我們介紹了不少中醫理論和各種治療的用途和方法，例如針灸、拔罐、推拿等等。我們團中一位正在生病的同學，更被醫師邀請來試針和拔罐，即席示範醫師的功架。轉瞬間，醫師已迅速地完成了下針的步驟，令人大開眼界。治療完成後，同學的病情更有不少起色，療效之快令人為之驚嘆，一反以往我認為中醫藥療法是一種慢性治療的概念。”

FAQs

FORM I: Confirmation of Eligibility

FORM II: Funding Application for Specific Learning Activity