Singapore, 20 March 2018 (Tuesday) – In view of the strong competitive edge that its undergraduates stand to gain from global exposure, the Singapore Management University (SMU) will ramp up opportunities and support for its students, and ensure that every single one of them enters the workforce with overseas experience.

It officially announced today that beginning with the incoming cohort joining the University from August 2018, global exposure participation will be a graduation requirement.  To this end, the University will augment its existing opportunities, introduce new forms of global exposure activities, as well as enhance its support to make sure no student will miss out on global exposure opportunities due to financial difficulties.

Professor Lim Kian Guan, SMU’s Vice Provost (Undergraduate Matters), said, “Global traction and understanding underpins success in careers in today's globally connected environment.  To have global exposure from the vantage of a university education is invaluable for international networking and global vision; it also opens doors to bigger opportunities.”

“Close to 90% of our undergraduates are already leveraging at least one of SMU’s opportunities to experience the world.  Many are often so enriched that they opt to go on a second type of global exposure activity or programme.  Going forward, we want to make sure no SMU student graduates without this precious global experience,” he added.

Based on the latest statistics, 87% of the 1,775 SMU graduates from the Class of 2017 experienced at least one form of global exposure activity during the course of their university education at SMU;  55% graduated with at least two types of global exposure programmes under their belt.  More specifically, about two-thirds (64%) took up an international exchange programme; more than half (55%) went abroad for overseas community service projects; about a quarter (24%) went on study missions abroad; 14% represented the University in international CCA competitions/performances; and 6% were involved in overseas internships.

Offering more global exposure opportunities to students

International exchange is the most popular form of global exposure taken up by students.  At present, SMU collaborates with 255 universities in more than 170 cities spanning some 50 countries on a range of student mobility programmes for semester exchanges and short-term study.  The University’s International Office is continually establishing new university partnerships, with an aim to further expand the opportunities available to SMU students.

To secure more placements for overseas internships, SMU’s Dato’ Kho Hui Meng Career Centre has also intensified talks with Singapore companies that operate overseas subsidiaries, as well as with MNCs headquartered in Singapore.

Presently, SMU Schools offer modules which give students the opportunity to study the business, legal and/or socio-political aspects of a particular region or country; these Study Mission modules culminate with a study trip which allows students to gain a first-hand perspective of the issues learnt in the classroom.

“We are looking to increase the number of such study missions, particularly to Asia.  With Singapore’s ASEAN Chairmanship this year, it is especially important that our young undergraduates are given more opportunities to gain a good grasp and understanding of ASEAN, learn about the opportunities and challenges, as well as network and engage with their counterparts and with organisations in the region,” said Professor Lim.

On new initiatives, Professor Lim shared that riding on the success of the University’s SMU-X pedagogy introduced in 2015 where students work in team projects to tackle real challenges faced by organisations, SMU has expanded its partnerships to give students the opportunity to engage in SMU-X projects with companies, NGOs and partner universities outside Singapore.  These SMU-X Overseas projects will give students a realistic experience working with partners abroad, and/or managing regional and global projects in their future workplace.  In the next two years, there are plans to offer SMU-X Overseas modules in Indonesia, Laos, Taiwan, Thailand, The Philippines and Vietnam.  Each module will take in about 25 students.

The University also plans to organise cultural exchange and immersion programmes, such as overseas expedition trips by SMU student clubs, which will serve to enhance students’ global knowledge experiential learning.  Additionally, with the introduction of residential living-and-learning at Prinsep Street Residences (PSR) from August 2018, SMU will also organise overseas learning journeys for PSR residents.

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