SMU is exploring moving beyond being a business university to a more comprehensive model with new offerings in the humanities and even applied mathematics. Chairman of the SMU Board of Trustees Ho Kwon Ping said that the university, set up in 2000 as a specialised business university modelled on the American Wharton School of Business, may be striking out in a slightly different direction. "We no longer see ourselves as a specialised business school, but one that stands out for its courses and research in the management of all fields including health care, public policy and art," he said. "Going forward, we also want to be rooted in the social, and natural sciences as well as the humanities, a comprehensive university in the European sense." Also under consideration is a short-stay residential college, or "SMU Village", for students to incubate their project ideas. SMU President Arnoud De Meyer said that the university was also ready to "embrace" its location within the city. "We don't want to be an academic island within the city. We want to be part and parcel of the city and be a change agent within it," he said, adding that the university was planning to undertake research and projects that will impact the city.