Attendance Requirement
Rationale
College Dining is an integral and required part of students’ college life at CW Chu College. It aims to
- enhance interaction among students and with teachers
- enable students to benefit from the wisdom and experience of speakers from various walks of life
There are two types of College dinners, namely Communal Dining (CD) and High Table Dinners (HTD).
College Dining is included as one of the non-credit bearing parts of the College General Education Programme (through pre-assignment of the courses GECW 1000/ 2000/ 3000/ 4000). There is a minimum attendance requirement in order to receive a passing grade of each of the courses. Upon assignment to the College, students are automatically enrolled onto a meal plan, which includes communal dinners three times per week during term time and HTD a few times per year.
Students who are enjoying the hostel residence for the first four years must join the meal plan. There is no reduction or refund of meal plan payment.
Attendance Requirements for GECW1000/ 2000/ 3000/ 4000
| Regular meal plan participates | (1) To fulfil an attendance rate of 50% for CDs; AND
(2) To participate in 3 activities accepted by the College in Term 2 |
| Students granted CD exemption for specific dates | (1) To fulfil the attendance rate for CDs as specified in the individual approval email issued by the College; AND
(2) To participate in 3 activities accepted by the College in Term 2 |
| Students granted CD exemption for the full duration of Term 2 | (1) To participate in 7 activities accepted by the College in Term 2 |
I) High Table Dinners (HTD):
Attendance to HTDs will NOT be counted as meal attendance or activity participation.
II) Communal Dinners (CD):
Students assigned to GECW1000 / 2000/ 3000/ 4000 are required to fulfill an attendance rate of 50% for CDs during the term.
- Students should take initiative to take attendance. An attendance taking machine will be placed at the registration counter near the main entrance of the Chong Kin Wo Hall for attendance taking (starting from 6:45 pm).
- Students’ attendance will NOT be counted if they leave the Chong Kin Wo Hall right after attendance taking without having the dinner.
- Students are expected to inform the College staff on the spot if they have to leave the dining venue soon after dinner begins due to urgent business/ feeling unwell.
III) Participation in College Organized Activities/ Cultural Activities:
To fulfill the requirement of 3 or 7 activities, any physical or virtual activities chosen from the following list are considered acceptable:
| Category | Description | Attendance Record |
| (i) | Any activities organized by the official student bodies of CWC (e.g. Student Honour Code Committee) and/or new student clubs recognized by the College. Activity organization also counts.*
* Note: As a matter of principle, service should be completely voluntary without any other motives. Therefore, activities organized by the CWC Service Team (whether joining as Service Team Members or general participants) will not be counted.
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Students’ attendance under categories (i), (ii) and (iii) are recorded by our electronic attendance taking machines/ hard copy signing sheets/ Zoom records, so there is NO need for participants to provide attendance proof. The College Office will upload the attendance record of all these activities to the Registration and Attendance System (RAS) within two weeks upon completion of each activity.
CWC students may login to RAS for checking your own attendance record.
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| (ii) | Any planned or upcoming activities organized by the College Office and Resident Tutors (RTs) formally announced via the College mass email and other promotional channels.
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| (iii) | Any sports activities arranged by the College or jointly organized with other official units.
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| (iv) | Activities not organized by the College:
Participation, as an audience/ performer/ participant etc., in face-to-face or virtual cultural activities (broadly defined) organized by any other units within or outside the University (including other CUHK units/ Faculties/ Departments/ Programmes/ outside organizations). These activities include but not limited to concerts, plays, dramas, films, operas, cultural tours, art fairs, museum tours, talks, workshops, conferences etc.
In meeting the attendance requirement, the College is also pleased to introduce the “Self and The Significant Others” Programme which is an alternative of participating in standard College activities. This initiative is a recent addition for CWC students beginning from the academic year 2023–24, strives to promote communication and cultural exchange among our students and their important companions. Students engaging in this programme and submitting the online form by the deadline, will have their attendance records doubled (i.e., 1 activity = 2 attendance records) after review. For details, please refer to Appendix 2 attached.
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Submission Deadline: 23 April 2025 (Wednesday, 5:00 pm)
Students are required to complete the relevant online form(s) to document their participation, event details, a 200-word written reflection (in either English or Chinese), proof of participation, and any financial requirements (only for Self and The Significant Others programme). The reflection must be authentic and not produced by AI models or copied from external sources. Students caught plagiarizing will face disciplinary action. These submissions will undergo review by the Dean of Students (DoS) before being included in your attendance record. For virtual events, the event duration must be a minimum of 45 minutes. In the case of very brief videos, students may combine multiple presentations to constitute one activity (e.g., three 15-minute videos can count as one activity). Online record form for Cultural Activities (broadly defined) (here) Online record form for Self and The Significant Others programme (here)
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Application for Dinner Exemption
Since each meal plan participant is only required to fulfill an attendance rate of 50% for CDs (e.g. 40 CDs x 50% = 20 CDs) for receiving a PP grade, students are given flexibilities in handling other personal matters (e.g. private tutorials/ family gatherings/ birthday celebration with friends/ participation in extra-curricular activities etc.) on some Tue/ Wed/ Thu evenings even they have time clash with CDs. They may simply use the 50% leeway for attending these evening activities. There is NO need for students to apply for CD exemption under these circumstances.
Only under the 3 scenarios below should meal plan participants apply for CD exemption:
- Time clash with compulsory major courses (not alternatives nor elective courses)/ tutorials/ lab sessions/ examinations with supporting proof(s) e.g. course syllabus, CUSIS timetable, formal email issued by course teacher
- Representing CUHK/ HK/ Home country in sports or other activities with supporting proof(s) e.g. confirmation from coach/ training record/ competition schedule
- Medical / health reasons with medical evidence
Application if needed (except College Sports Teams): Written applications and supporting documents must be sent to Ms Rosanna So, Executive Officer (rosannaso@cuhk.edu.hk) by 16 April 2025 (Wednesday, 5:00 pm) for review and consideration by the DoS.
Under the existing College communal dining policy and guidelines, College Sports Team Members with scheduling conflicts schedules during communal dinners (6:45-7:45 pm) due to official tryouts, training, or competitions will be granted CD exemption on the dates concerned automatically. Attendance records from PE coordinators, team captains, and coaches will be used for verification before final grades (PP/FF) for GECW1000-4000 are submitted for approval at the end of the term. College Sports Team Members do not need to submit individual CD exemption requests. College staff will contact them directly if any clarifications on their training or competition records are needed.
Important Points to Note:
- The above exemption scheme does NOT apply to High Table Dinners.
- Students are reminded to keep track of their own attendance rate via the Registration and Attendance System (RAS) and use the allowance for absence wisely.
- Students who are unable to join any CDs are welcome to designate another meal plan participant to pack excess food for him/ her at or after 7:30 pm.
- There will be NO refund of the meal charge. Needy students may apply for College Bursary to defray part of their hostel and dining fees, details of the application will be announced via a mass email by the College Office.
College Office
G/F, CW Chu College
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong SAR
