On 10 October 2026, Prof Chen Zhi, President of Beijing Normal-Hong Kong Baptist University (BNBU), attended the 11th Forum on Modern Residential College Education in Higher Education Institutions Across the Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. He shared BNBU’s experience in delivering liberal arts education through its residential hall system.
BNBU President Prof Chen Zhi introduces audience to the University's residence hall system
Themed “Residential Hall Education in the Age of Artificial Intelligence”, the forum brought together representatives from more than 50 universities to discuss how residential colleges can uphold their educational mission while adapting to technological change.
In his keynote address, Prof Chen argued that as AI lowers barriers to accessing knowledge, higher education must go beyond knowledge transmission to nurture well-rounded individuals with broad intellectual horizons, deep disciplinary expertise, humanistic values and ethical responsibility. “The more intelligent our world becomes, the more education must return to the human person,” he said.
Prof Chen highlighted BNBU’s residential hall system, introduced in 2011, as a platform for interdisciplinary learning and community building. The University’s 12 residential halls bring together students from different years and programmes, fostering interaction and shared learning through collaboration among faculty, senior student mentors and student committees. Each hall has also developed its own culture and characteristics.
BNBU's resident halls
He noted that the halls help students develop social skills, a sense of community and an appreciation of human values — qualities that remain essential in an AI-driven world. “The ultimate goal of education is not to produce people who merely operate technology, but to support the full development of the person and the pursuit of meaning in life,” he said.
Prof Chen with media
From MPRO
Photographer: Owen Li
Editor: Cecilia Yu
