[Singapore, 16 August 2013 (Friday)] – Singapore Management University (SMU) welcomed its 14^th cohort of 1,938 freshmen at its Convocation Ceremony held at Suntec Convention Centre today.  Starting 19 August, the new cohort will pursue degree programmes in accountancy, business management, economics, information systems management, law and social science.  They will also have the opportunity to take up new offerings which are introduced for the first time in the forthcoming academic year.  These include an Analytics Second Major offered by the School of Information Systems, three new Accountancy Tracks offered by the School of Accountancy, as well as a Maritime Economics Concentration offered by the School of Economics and the International Trading Institute@SMU.

At the Convocation Ceremony, SMU Chairman, Mr Ho Kwon Ping, spoke about the time Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam, then Deputy Prime Minister, now President of Singapore, approached him to spearhead the SMU project.  “Perhaps he thought that I could connect more easily with youths who might want an alternative approach to education, having attended three undergraduates universities in three countries myself,” said Mr Ho.

“When we launched, we presented ourselves as a “challenger”.  We wanted to appeal to students who dared to be different and that led to us positioning ourselves as “A Different U”. That’s what made us different, and still sets us apart today.  It also sends a strong signal about what is expected of you. At SMU, you are expected to stand up for yourself, to be different, to be your own unique selves,” Mr Ho told the incoming SMU freshmen.

Indeed, SMU’s holistic admission criteria ensure that its annual intake of freshmen is made up of individuals who posses diverse skills, talents and demonstrate aptitude as well as leadership quality, in addition to academic excellence.  At the same time, SMU aims to provide equal opportunity for every student to take up a global exposure programme so that they can expand their horizons and immerse themselves in different environments.  Some 84% of students who graduated this year had been involved in internships, exchanges, study missions, and community service outside Singapore.

Such perspective-broadening experiences complement SMU's interactive teaching pedagogy and broad-based curriculum, which include fulfilling a compulsory 10-week internship and an 80-hour community service requirement.

Professor Arnoud De Meyer, President of SMU, shared that more and more SMU students are taking up opportunities to study abroad for a semester at one of its 222 partner universities.  “In the last academic year we increased the number of outgoing students by 12.2% to 858, and incoming international university students by 4.7% to 834.  There is a greater variety of international experiences available too.  For example, we have signed an agreement with the University of Oregon; a partner that will offer our students added opportunities to take up specialised courses in sports management and marketing.  We are also venturing more and more into Asia and other roads less travelled.  Notable new collaborative agreements with Chinese partner universities include Tsinghua, Fudan, Shanghai Jiao Tong and Shanghai University of Finance and Economics.”

SMU practises a ‘needs-blind’ admission policy where no deserving student will be deprived of an education because of financial hardship.  To help place students on the road to financial freedom so that they can focus on their studies and enjoy a fulfilling university life without worry, we have a comprehensive range of financial schemes in the form of grants, bursaries, loans, scholarships.  To help students, SMU will set aside a total of $1.54 million in financial aid this year through the SMU Financial Grant, SMU Bursary and Work Study Grant, an increase of 24% over FY2012.  Including donor-supported bursaries available to SMU students, the total financial aid available to needy students this year amounts to nearly $1.85 million.  There are also more than 150 bond-free scholarships which freshman can apply for.  On the average, one in 12 freshmen of the new intake in this month will stand a chance to be awarded a scholarship by the University.

Even ahead of the academic year, SMU freshmen have already participated in a series of community service projects during the orientation period in July 2013.  Projects include starringSMU, where freshmen, together with their seniors, carried out a charity carwash, helped the elderly to clean and paint their homes, visited households in Buona Vista to raise awareness of dengue prevention and organised various activities to engage children, elderly and adults with disabilities from various non-profit organisations.  Through the charity carwash, the freshmen helped to raise more than S$35,800 for ‘My Buona Vista Place’, a one-stop centre for social welfare programmes reaching out to over 20,000 residents.  In another initiative, Kidleidoscope 2013, the freshmen worked hand in hand with CARE Singapore to help instill confidence in children and youths by nurturing their talents and creativity through paper crafts, tie dye and silk screen printing programmes. The project culminated with a fashion show at Cathay, where the artwork and T-shirts done by the beneficiaries were showcased to raise awareness of the beneficiary.

The holistic undergraduate experience at SMU is aimed at shaping undergraduates into leaders and entrepreneurs who possess cross-cultural understanding, are compassionate towards society, civic-minded, and who are also equipped with highly relevant industry and out-of-classroom experiences.  As part of the SMU tradition, all freshmen attend 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, the university's clarion call for newcomers.

Enclosures:

• Annex 1 – Fact Sheet: on new Analytics Second Major
• Annex 2 – Fact Sheet on three new Accountancy Tracks
• Annex 3 – Fact Sheet on new Maritime Economics Concentration
• Speech by Mr Ho Kwon Ping, Chairman, SMU Board of Trustees
• Speech by Professor Arnoud De Meyer, President, SMU