The University also welcomed three community leaders to the Council: Mr Lester HUANG, Mr Leo KUNG, and the Hon SIN Chung-Kai. Mr Philip CHEN became the new Council Vice-Chairman, succeeding Dr Steven K L POON, and Mr Tim LUI took over as Treasurer from Mr Wilfred WONG.

The Council also held three plenary sessions in 2000/01. A major achievement was the appointment of Prof Paul Ching-Wu Chu as successor to founding President Chia-Wei Woo. The search committee for the new President was led by Dr Steven K L Poon.

During the year, the Council reviewed the draft of statutes and constitution of the Convocation, and gave the green light to its establishment. The Convocation will be an umbrella organization consisting of representatives from different autonomous groups within the University. It will play a purely supportive role. As stipulated in the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Ordinance, the Chairman of the Convocation will be an ex-officio member of the Council.

Also during the year, the Council's Task Force on Strategic Development established five sub-groups to review and propose recommendations on different areas: (1) the Sub-group on Resource and Land recommends priority programs of likely appeal to prospective donors; (2) the Sub-group on Talents and Leadership looks into issues that may impact the University's future competitiveness; (3) the Sub-group on Areas of Excellence highlights priority academic areas for the University; (4) the Sub-group on Local Connectivity proposes approaches for building networks with Government, business, and industry; and (5) the Sub-group on Non-local Connectivity suggests strategies for international and national networking.