In a joint commentary, SMU Assistant Professor of Accounting (Education) Yuanto Kusnadi and SMU Associate Dean (Undergraduate Admissions and Student Development) and Professor of Accounting (Education) Gary Pan noted the challenges and new opportunities brought by the COVID-19 pandemic to companies and universities in the year 2020. They shared how SMU's recent initiative called SMU-X Overseas (virtual) overcomes the constraint posed by the COVID-19 pandemic to continue to equip students with the relevant skillset of gaining exposure to different cultures through internships and exchanges, even when international borders are largely closed.