hkust background

HKUST is ranked 27th in the world and second in Hong Kong by QS World University Rankings 2021. It consists of four main academic schools, offering programmes in science, engineering, business and management, humanities and social science. Currently, there are 16,195 enrolled students and over 690 faculty members and teaching staff.

polyu background

PolyU is the largest public tertiary institution in terms of number of students. It offers over 160 taught programmes for more than 25,800 students every year. There are 8 faculties and schools, offering programmes covering applied science, business, construction, environment, engineering, social science, health, humanities, design, hotel and tourism management.

cityu background

CityU has a well-earned reputation as an innovative hub for research and professional education. It is ranked 48th by QS World University Rankings 2021. There are 9 main schools offering courses in business, science, engineering, liberal art, social sciences, law and Veterinary Medicine for over 21,000 students.

challenge

Due to the pandemic outbreak, it was difficult for the universities to decide whether to hold a physical graduation ceremony or make it online. A physical ceremony can surely offer a memorable day for graduates and their families to celebrate this once-in-a-lifetime occasion on campus. However, it carries some risks attending such events with more than 5,000 people.

Additionally, overseas students or their important guests cannot join the in-person congregation due to border closure and quarantine.

Even if the universities decide to hold virtual graduation ceremonies, they will face the following challenges:

1. How to collect the students’ photos for the online ceremony?
2. How to verify their identities from photos uploaded against the records in the schools’ databases?
3. How to add virtual gowns?

solution

KaChick offers tailor-made solutions based on the different needs of the schools:

1. All-In-One System
   From photo upload, facial recognition to identity verification, adding virtual gowns, resizing to adding universities’ virtual backgrounds, KaChick has built a fully-automated system to help universities collect photos faster, easier, verify their students’ identities, download all processed photos and finally compile them into ceremony videos.
   
   There is also an admin panel for the schools to monitor the progress, send email to notify students to re-upload, generate excel spreadsheets and download photos by department or faculty.


2. Flexible and Customizable Service
   From facial recognition, adding virtual gowns, interactive graduates portal to design, the school can pick from the items based on what they exactly need.
   
   We deliver on a quick turnaround time of 1,000 students a week.


3. Contingency Planning (Always Have Plan B!)
   When schools have difficulty deciding on a physical, virtual or even hybrid ceremony, KaChick provides comprehensive assessment, advice and support on what needs to be done in case a virtual event is needed.
   
   We offer suggestions on areas such as timeline and technical requirements, so that everything is in control and planned for both scenarios.


4. Reasonable Cost
   As the fee is composed of a basic charge and fee by consumption. The arrangement is fair for the schools, who would feel more assured to have their back covered.

result

From HKUST
“The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted a lot of activities and driven digital transformation across industries including the education sector. Staging a virtual graduation ceremony for the first time for our University is no easy task – we hoped to create a memorable experience for our graduates under all the technical constraints, even though we were not able to celebrate their achievements face-to-face on campus.

We were grateful to have KaChick who has offered us tremendous support in making our first-ever virtual Congregation possible.”

With the help of KaChick, all three universities completed their virtual graduation ceremonies in a perfect way in spite of the unpredictable pandemic situation. With a reasonable cost, they could still bring a commemorative virtual congregation to their students and guests. In fact, they saved on the costs associated with physical graduation ceremonies (such as catering and printing materials).

The universities are satisfied with the professional system offered by our experience and technological expertise and also found that KaChick is highly reliable and efficient.