Reward and Recognition Scheme — Individual Award
Ms. Shirley YEUNG
Assistant Manager
Academy of Film
Since joining HKBU in 2008, Ms. Shirley Yeung has emerged as a key contributor who is vital to the Academy of Film since its establishment. In addition to her wealth of experience in handling staff management, financial matters, grant management, curricular development, and coordination of large-scale special events, her superior people skills and a relentless commitment to excellence have proven to be invaluable assets.
Ms. Yeung has been instrumental within the Academy’s administrative team, encompassing its transition to the School of Creative Arts and the change of directorship in 2022. During this time, she championed the executive efforts to ensure a smooth changeover while facing enormous resources, budgetary, and staffing challenges.
She has made significant contributions by facilitating the establishment of a research postgraduate (RPG) programme specific to the Academy, restructuring of the popular undergraduate programme in film and television, and supporting the transfer of the flagship Master of Arts in Production for Film, Television, and New Media programme.
In line with its organisational changes, the Academy also moved to new premises. With the support of a small team of new staff members, Ms. Yeung optimised space allocations. She also took charge of the budgeting processes, staff recruitment, promotion and tenure applications, quality assurance exercises and annual assessment reports.
Furthermore, Ms. Yeung played a key role in preparing the self-evaluation report of Academy’s sub degree programme for the University Grants Committee’s (UGC) Quality Assurance Council Quality Audit on Sub-degree Operations in 2018. Since it was the first review of its kind in Hong Kong, there were no precedents to follow. She managed the team to handle this critical task meticulously, resulting in the UGC panel’s numerous commendations in recognition of the Academy’s pledge to quality education.
Ms. Yeung’s exceptional people skills are clearly demonstrated in her work. With a keen eye for identifying the strengths of each non-teaching staff member, she adopts an agile approach to adjust their duties to suit their talents. This style of management allows junior staff to recognise their ability to work independently and achieve a greater sense of fulfilment.
To enhance the overall efficiency of her team members, Ms. Yeung constantly thinks outside of the box to evaluate the workflow and to seek opportunities to spread the workload across the staff members. She meticulously considers how to place the staff members in environments, from the placement of desks and use of offices to which programme director would best suit their working styles.
Highly regarded as an incomparable communicator and a problem-solver who consistently strives for the best possible outcomes in her work, Ms. Yeung has ensured that all tasks are completed efficiently and effectively. Despite the steep learning curve during the transition period, she showcased exceptional proficiency and loyalty to her role and the Academy.
Ms. Yeung’s experience and competence in overcoming various adversities facing the Academy have exhibited her acumen as an administration professional. She has proven to be an indispensable asset to HKBU, and a laudable recipient of the Individual Award of the Reward and Recognition Scheme.