Education | UM finds residential colleges ‘satisfactory’

The University of Macau’s (UM) residential college system has achieved “satisfactory results,” according to a two-year performance assessment conducted by the university itself.
A statement from UM outlined that the results demonstrate that students who have lived in the residential colleges, which were created by the university two years ago after it relocated to its new campus, tend to outperform those who have not.
More than 1700 students were surveyed, showing a positive correlation between living in the residential colleges and performing better in academic results, sports, art appreciation, cultural engagement, leadership skills and peer relationships.
The assessment took into consideration five criteria: healthy living, interpersonal relations and teamwork, leadership and service, cultural engagement, and citizenship with global perspective and patriotism.
A forum was held last week to share the assessment results with some 300 education experts, scholars, faculty members, and students of UM. The theme of the forum was “student development in a residential college and the shaping of its educational character.”
The event was hosted by UM and organized by an alliance of Chinese educational institutions that use the residential college system. The previous two events were hosted by Beihang University in Beijing.