[11 August 2010]
SMU President Howard Hunter passes the baton to President-designate Arnoud De Meyer
Singapore, 11 August 2010 – Singapore Management University (SMU) President, Professor Howard Hunter, marked his handover symbolically with the presentation of the Presidential Chain of Office to the President-designate, Professor Arnoud De Meyer, at the SMU Convocation Ceremony today.
Professor Hunter, who is SMU's third President will step down at the end of this month. “I shall be moving from administration back to the classroom as a professor of law. It was the opportunity to teach and to explore ideas that drew me into academic life some 34 years ago, and it is time to return to that first love after many years in the United States and here in Singapore as a senior academic administrator, although I have taught from time to time,” he says. He will return in January on a half-yearly basis to teach at the SMU School of Law.
The incoming President, Professor De Meyer, who is Director of the Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge, takes office on 1st September. “Professor Hunter has taken the University to new heights in his six years at the helm. I am fortunate that I will be able to build upon his legacy,” says Professor De Meyer.
“Over the last ten years, the SMU team has built a highly focussed and successful university aligned with business needs, delivering excellence in education. In building this University, we have learnt a lot from other world-class institutions, including the Wharton School of Business of the University of Pennsylvania, which we were modelled upon,” says Professor De Meyer. “We still have a lot to learn but now we are in a situation where we should have the ambition to develop leadership – our model of what a university should be. We should become an example to others. From being a good apprentice, we should become a leader in the academic world,” he adds.
Convocation is an occasion to welcome the freshman class. SMU's 11th batch of undergraduates of over 1,700 students will pursue existing undergraduate degree programmes in business management, accountancy, economics, social sciences, information systems management and law.
SMU's holistic admissions criteria ensure an annual intake of freshmen who display not only academic excellence but are also multi-talented with a wide range of skills and leadership qualities. Many amongst the present intake are national sporting talents, accomplished artists, young entrepreneurs and passionate community service volunteers. This attests to the growing popularity of SMU as a university of choice among well-rounded students.
Outstanding incoming students can tap on more than 200 scholarships in SMU, including the new University Scholars Programme where students can graduate with a bachelor's and a master's degree, along with being exposed to a range of academic disciplines beyond their chosen areas of specialisation.
With the strong support from external private donors and the university community, including alumni, students and faculty, 1 in 8 freshmen continue to be awarded scholarships. This is a very high rate of scholarships available for freshmen in a local university.
Besides merit-based awards, in line with SMU's needs-blind admissions approach where no qualified student will be turned away just because he or she cannot afford tuition fees here, SMU has a wide range of bursaries, grants and subsidies in place. One of SMU's most attractive bursaries is the SMU Financial Grant, which is available to freshmen who have already tapped on all available loan schemes or subsidies. SMU has set aside S$500,000 this year for this Grant alone, providing up to S$2,000 per student from low income families. The grant is readily available as long as applicants meet the minimum eligibility criteria. The SMU Financial Grant is available to 1 in 6 freshmen.
A hallmark of a global-oriented education at SMU, all local and international students will also have the chance to receive global exposure through programmes such as overseas university exchanges, Business Study Missions, overseas internships and community involvement projects, summer study, overseas conferences and work and travel programmes. The global exposure complements SMU's American-style interactive teaching pedagogy and broad-based curriculum that emphasises compulsory internships and community service.
Even before they started school, some 700 SMU freshmen have already participated in a series of community service projects during the orientation period in July and August: starringSMU 2010, Project Ballooning Bliss, Inspirar SMU City Trail 2010 and Rolling Good Times 2010, reaching out to beneficiaries in 16 voluntary welfare organisations. Participants in three projects raised over S$70,000 in total through a charity car wash, an exhibition of balloon sculptures, a walk-run challenge and a carnival. The well-rounded undergraduate experience at SMU is aimed at shaping undergraduates into visionary business leaders who possess cross-cultural understanding, are compassionate and selfless towards society and who are also equipped with highly relevant industry and out-of-classroom experiences.
In SMU tradition, all freshmen attended the university's unique team building camp in July and August. The camp is led by senior student facilitators with the objective of introducing freshmen to SMU's collegial environment and inculcating the important SMU ‘CIRCLE' values of Commitment, Integrity, Responsibility, Collegiality, Leadership and Excellence.