ABSTRACT
The new residential college (RC) system of the University of Macau is aimed at integrating students’ in-class and out-of-class experiences so as to foster their whole-person development. The RC partnered with local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to organize a “Community Walk” series: The first part was a community walk, including simulation tasks, and visits to various disadvantaged groups of people (e.g. elderly, single-parent family, migrant workers and homeless people) in Macau. The second part was inviting these disadvantaged groups in the local community to the University and the RC. This ‘Community Walk’ series was attempted to allow students to explore the meaning and causes of poverty, and discuss the relationship between poverty and every one of us. It was also attempted to raise students’ social and service awareness. This chapter details how the RC and the NGOs came together to coordinate this program. It explains how the RC is attempting to integrate such voluntary, non-credit bearing activities of co-curricular nature into the RC system, particularly as an extension of students’ formal learning experiences. Key lessons about partnerships with NGOs which are vital to whole-person development programs of RCs are also discussed.
