Pastoral Care for Students

The United College Shum Choi Sang Mentorship Programme, jointly organised by the College and the College Alumni Association since 2000, offers pastoral care to our students. The main purpose of the Programme is to establish mentoring relations between the alumni mentors and undergraduate mentees at the College over a period of one year. Through this mentoring, it is anticipated that students will be able to build up self-confidence, develop good ethics and communication skills, and enhance their knowledge beyond book learning. An overseas mentorship programme was established in 2003, with students going on exchange programmes paired up with mentors in the countries of their visits. In view of the increasing number of UC students going on overseas exchanges and in line with other developments on the exchange front of the University and the College, the Programme added to its overseas section a new sector named e-Mentorship in 2011-2012. E-mentors mainly provide guidance and support to students studying abroad through e-communications.

To encourage resident students to actively participate in College activities while studying, the College established the "Yau Ying Sum Hostel Residence Grants" in 2007-08 to provide subsidies for students with financial difficulty to meet hostel fees. In 2009-10, the "Jacinto Tong Hostel Residence Grants" also came into operation and made the number of grants doubled to more than 400. Furthermore, the College is planning to set up "Off-campus Residence Grant" to provide financial support for students in need to pay for the rental outside campus.

The College Task Force on Health Promotion in conjunction with relevant University units organises a series of health-related activities. These activities include health screening, health talks, 'Campus Health Ambassadors' programme, and marathon activites, all of which aim at raising health awareness of students and staff members.