The International Symposium for the Construction of Modern University System: Theories and Practice of University Governance officially opened at Macao Polytechnic Institute on October 30^th. The Symposium aims to facilitate in-depth discussions regarding higher education governance theories and practical experiences, and to exchange pioneer research results about the construction of modern University system, thereby allowing Macau’s local tertiary institutes to gain motivations and experiences for their progress, and further improving Macau’s tertiary system. The Symposium gathered experts and scholars on higher education from the United Kingdom, the United States, Netherland, Singapore, mainland China as well as Hong Kong and Macau, actively promoting the advancement of Macau’s higher education sector.

City University of Macau’s Vice-Rector Prof. Xing Wenxiang and City U Faculty of Management’s Professor Chow Kwok-keung attended the Symposium and spoke respectively on the topics of “Study on Professionalization of University Presidents” and "Study on Tertiary Institutes’ Management of Internal Governing Structure”.

Through the logical relations from occupation, professional, talent, professionalization of talent to professionalization of University Presidents, Professor Xing discussed the academic prerequisites, the external conditions, the practical process and the path of realizing professionalization of University Presidents. In his speech, Prof. Xing pointed out that the professionalization of University Presidents means to build University Presidency as a profession instead of a position. The core meaning of professionalization is that once appointed, the President’s principal occupation is to fulfill the duties of being a University President; the President should be completely involved in the management of the University, and this should become his/her profession. Elaborating from this conceptual definition, he further remarked on the difference between the professionalization of University President and professional University President: the former means the discussion of theories and concepts, as well as the professionalization process, and the latter is the path of practice and realization, and the actual state of being a professional. Combining with the reality of mainland China’s development in higher education, Prof. Xing also explained the reasons for the professionalization of University Presidents in China. Prof. Xing ended his speech by detailing the six aspects of realizing professionalization of University Presidents: changing standard from power-based to ability-based; changing the way of thinking from occupational thinking to professional thinking; establishing specialized and systematic training for professional University Presidents; developing clear standards, diverse sources and regulated process for selection; having scientific evaluation methods and strong oversight; and building a steady system for incentives and exiting. The speech garnered strong interests from the attending experts. Prof. Xing later exchanged opinions extensively with scholars from Hong Kong, Singapore and the mainland.

Using the example of City University of Macau, Professor Chow Kwok-keung spoke of the issues encountered in tertiary institutes’ management of their internal governing structure in his speech. Based on relevant management theories such as managerial capitalism and structuralism, Prof. Chow pointed to the changes in thinking regarding tertiary institutes governance studies by drawing on his experiences in management from the University of Hong Kong. He then detailed City University of Macau’s internal governance issues due to its historical developments and current situation of “renaming, restructuring, transforming and upgrading” – such as organizational structure, establishment of divisions and separation of duties, stating that it is now a most pressing priority for City U to establish a relatively complete set of regulations and a comprehensive structure. Prof. Chow also stressed that in order to comply with the University’s motto and developmental ideal, the philosophy of respecting and serving knowledge should be further promoted in the University’s management activities. Prof. Chow's speech enhanced the attending scholars’ understanding of Macau’s higher education sector, especially of City University of Macau’s past and present, thereby improving the University’s influen