Interview With Professor Tan Eng Chye
From APEC HRDWG Wiki
This interview was held in August 2011 in preparation for International Education Week 2011.
Could you tell us about the National University of Singapore’s goals and aims when it comes to global education?
As part of our ambitions to become a leading global university, one of our core missions is to develop innovations in education to prepare students for the globalised world. At the NUS, we have evolved the global university concept further by positioning the vision of NUS, not just as a global university, but one that has especial expertise, insights and partnerships within Asia. This is in recognition of the continuing, ascendant and profound rise of Asia. Our acute cognizance of the necessity of a global education does perhaps stem from national prerogatives. Singapore is a small country geographically, whose economic prosperity is founded on international trade and commerce. Her future rests in being a global city – one that is a focal point for enterprise, talent, cultures and ideas.
Interestingly, The Economist recently ran a Special Report on the Future of Work. The dual trends of globalisation and innovation in information technology are moving the world nearer to a single market for labour. Fortunately, economists are in agreement that globalization of the labour market is not a zero-sum game. Instead, the theory of comparative advantage holds, which suggests that free labour markets make the world better off, because everyone can concentrate on doing what they are best at.
At the same time, a global labour market will not make every individual in the world better off. The McKinsey Global Institute has classified work into 3 main types: transformational, transactional and interactional. Transformational work typically involves physical activity, such as construction, or production work. Transactional work are routine jobs in call centres or banks, often still done by people, but capable of being automated. Interactional work relies on knowledge, expertise and collaboration with others, such as investment banking or consultancy. In this globalized labour market, the former 2 work types are experiencing decline in most developed countries. On the other hand, interactional jobs are unlikely to go the same way; in fact, the best performers in interactional jobs are earning disproportionate premiums.
It is thus critical that we provide our students with an education that equips them with the skills, competencies and mindsets so that they are able to navigate the global job market, to take up jobs in interactional work, and to do well in their vocations.
How is NUS working to help its students succeed globally and find economic success? Does NUS encourage other institutions to take a more active role in preparing youth for the global marketplace?
May I also take the opportunity to qualify that the NUS defines success more broadly than in economic terms. Each of us can make positive and meaningful contributions to society, to the communities we live in, in different capacities. These days a growing number of people are doing jobs they find fulfilling because they involve things they actually like doing. Surveys consistently find that many of today’s under-30s in developed countries want to spend their working day trying to make the world a better place as well as being properly paid, and turn down jobs that do not offer such satisfaction.
The NUS is a large and comprehensive state-funded university with a large and diverse student enrolment. In 2010, we had over 26,000 undergraduate and over 10,000 graduate students enrolled across the 15 Faculties and Schools. As a state-funded university, one of our roles is to provide a high quality education to a large intake of students. Each year, we admit over 6,500 freshmen. Broadly speaking, NUS’s education philosophy is to provide multiple pathways for students to pursue, according to their passions, interests and abilities. Within these pathways, we have also established signature programs such as the Global Engineering Program and the University Scholars Program to hone our top students into exceptional graduates. Over the years, we have made fundamental changes to our delivery of education, ensuring greater breadth and flexibility to facilitate multidisciplinary learning and a rich, well-rounded student experience.
We have also developed numerous distinctive global education programs based on two key ideas. First, beyond rigour and critical thinking, our graduates should differentiate themselves by being highly effective in diverse cross-cultural settings. Second, beyond our own rigorous programs, we should create unique educational value propositions for our students through strategic collaborations with overseas partners with great complementary strengths. Examples of successful and mutually beneficial partnerships include the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School in Singapore, which has enabled NUS and Duke University to jointly pioneer innovations in medical education and to collaborate on research in diseases in Asian populations. The NUS had also partnered with The Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, to establish the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (YSTCM). Within a decade, the YSTCM has evolved to become Asia’s leading conservatory, putting NUS and Singapore on the international professional music scene. A third example is our partnership with Yale University to establish the Yale-NUS College in Singapore. The Yale-NUS College will develop a new model of multidisciplinary liberal arts education for the 21st century which brings into dialogue and interaction, the ideas and contexts of Asia and the West.
On how the NUS encourages other institutions to take a more active role in preparing youth for the global marketplace, we have been actively forging partnerships with other universities, to ink up exchange programs for our students. The opportunity to experience a stint at the NUS allows incoming students from over 100 universities to benefit from our global education and diverse campus environment.
How do joint degree programs and partnerships with international institutions of higher education benefit both students and institutions? How can these types of programs help prepare students for the 21st century global workplace?
The NUS believes in the value of such cross-learning opportunities and we have collaborated with about 40 overseas partner universities to offer over 60 double, joint or concurrent degrees. The obvious benefit to these joint programs is the opportunity to learn from academics from 2 established academic institutions, in a structured and formalized setting. But that’s not all. Through the course, students will also acquire an understanding and appreciation for different institutional policies, cultures, systems and teaching styles. Students are compelled to be productive learners in at least 2 diverse environments. In turn, their horizons are broadened, and they become more open, nimble and adaptable. These are qualities that will lend students in good stead for the 21st century global workplace.
Innovation and creativity are characteristics of a knowledge-based economy. To hone entrepreneurial savvy and instincts, the NUS offers the NUS Overseas College (NOC) Program, which is founded on a tripartite partnership between the industry, NUS and a partner university. There are currently 7 NUS Overseas Colleges, located in the most entrepreneurial hubs in the world. The first NOC started in Silicon Valley, and is focused on technology start-ups with students taking courses from Stanford University. The other NOCs are in Philadelphia with the University of Pennsylvania; in Tel Aviv with Technion Institute; in Shanghai with Fudan University; in Stockholm with the KTH Royal Institute of Technology; in Bangalore with the Indian Institute of Science; and in Beijing with Tsinghua University. Students who are selected spend one year in these hubs, working as full time interns in high-tech start-ups or innovative companies. This experience provides students with the opportunities to learn directly from the founders and entrepreneurs in these start-ups.
What percentage of NUS graduates directly enter international business or diplomacy after graduation?
Most of our graduates are working in organizations that have cross-border operations or dealings, and many will have to work with non-Singapore colleagues. It relates to Singapore’s economic structure. We are a small and open economy, our labour force is substantially augmented with foreign talent, and our local businesses are sourcing their supplies internationally.
While a high percentage of NUS students have had prior international exposure through study abroad, what does NUS do for students that have not had this exposure?
The NUS has created as many opportunities for students to gain an overseas experience. Over half of our undergraduates will go through at least one overseas exposure stint; and a quarter of our undergraduates will spend at least a semester (i.e., about 6 months) abroad. We have also expanded the range of international learning experiences, from student exchange programs with universities all around the world, to entrepreneurial work stints with an NUS Overseas College. There are also a range of programs of shorter durations, such as internships, summer programs and research attachment programs. Many students have found these learning experiences enriching and eye-opening.
However, not every student, for various reasons, is able to partake in overseas learning. The NUS is thus working in tandem to leverage on the diversity of the NUS campus environment, for the learning benefit of our students. In a sense, we attempt to ‘bring the world to NUS’.
We see the NUS as a microcosm of the global environment. Every year, we welcome over 1,200 students from across the world to our campus. Faculty members join us from across the world. Thus, our faculty and student body come from over 100 countries, and is reflective of a cosmopolitan global environment and outlook. There is richness in diversity, and the potential for mutual learning is immense, whether through formal settings such as the classroom, or immersive social settings such as residential halls. In the classrooms, we encourage students to engage with and collaborate with each other. We support social activities that promote intercultural understanding and bonding, and we try to ensure diversity in our residential halls. In short, we try to create as many opportunities for cross-cultural interactions to flourish formally and serendipitously.
How is NUS making use of technology and internet tools? How important do you think the use of these technologies will prepare students for futures in multinational businesses?
The internet and innovations in information technology has and is revolutionizing the global working world. Not every one of us has to be at the technical frontiers of technology. However, given the ubiquity of communications tools, it is necessary to be a current end user, and to continually leverage on technological developments to forge innovations in our respective vocations that will enhance our personal and organizational productivities.
The use of IT at universities worldwide has grown and changed substantially over the decade. Information technology is an integrated framework of computers, software applications, multimedia content, the web, web-based applications, learning management systems and other tools used to enhance the teaching and learning process.
At the NUS, we support the adoption of new technologies and the integration of IT into the curriculums by ensuring that our hardware and infrastructure are up to date. Lecturers have access to the range of novel technologies such as course management platforms such as the Integrated Virtual Learning Environment (IVLE), discussion forums, online chats, web conferencing, bulletin boards and the latest tools and software. Some lecturers have launched modules on the Second Life platform. Apart from the state of the art facilities, we also provide training in systems and applications. We regularly monitor the level of IT usage and attitudes towards the use of IT in teaching and learning among staff and students through surveys, to better assess the IT needs of the university community.
NUS’s new University Town (UTown) represents a bold approach we have taken to promote innovative learning technologies and creating teaching pedagogies. Within UTown, the Education Resource Centre (ERC) has been designed to encourage an open exchange of ideas with technology-infused seminar rooms, numerous clusters of study areas, IT Commons, a multimedia hub and a learning café. The range of technologies which will be adopted into some of the other teaching spaces within the ERC include lecture capture facilities, interactive whiteboards, portable video conferencing units, wireless networking, work walls and mobile phone voting devices. There are also rooms that are equipped with multiple cameras and wireless microphones to facilitate remote teaching; some have dual-projection systems installed for high definition conferencing.
Incidentally, NUS was also the first university in South Asia to join iTunes U, which is a dedicated area within the iTunes Store that offers a powerful way to share and distribute video, audio and podcast contents to students, faculty, staff and visitors. Interesting content such as videos of public lectures by distinguished speakers, videos of forums, research achievements and publications, and student life are made available for free to the university community and the world at large. This is in line with NUS’s commitment to create a dynamic environment without boundaries for the delivery of high quality educational content.
How is the global curriculum infused into all academic areas of the university? What advantage do NUS students have over other university students as a result of the global curriculum upon graduation?
The NUS offers a curriculum that is globally benchmarked against those of top universities. Our academic departments regularly invite visiting committees to study, critique and refine the curriculum.
Healthy intellectual habits of curiosity, creativity and critical thinking are essential foundations to lifelong learning in a globalized world. To inculcate these traits in our graduates, our undergraduates are required to read a set of modules, imposed as University Level requirements that are beyond their majors, many of which are offered by disciplines outside of their home Faculty or School. These modules serve to broaden mindsets and to inject curricular breadth.
The phased opening of NUS’ new University Town in 2011 and 2012 will also provide a transformational boost to enhancing global education. University Town is a major complex with state-of-the-art residential, learning, arts, cultural, sports and social facilities and spaces. Residential College learning will enable the 2,400 undergraduates living in the four Colleges there to study in small classes which make full use of the diverse backgrounds of each group to gain a deeper understanding of global issues along with their Asian perspectives.
NUS graduates are generally sought after by many employers. Over 80% of our graduates are able to secure jobs within 6 months of graduation; many graduates receive multiple job offers and average starting salaries of our graduates have been rising as well. These findings are in part due to Singapore’s strong economic performance. But they are also testament to the employability of our graduates. Notwithstanding, the NUS will continue to innovate and evolve new educational models to ensure that our graduates are able and ready to live and work in this interconnected interdependent world.
