[1 August 2000]
Singapore Management University: The first term of Asia's new university for the Millennium

SMU Launches International Exchange Programme

Classes will start tomorrow (Tuesday, August 1) for the very first academic term for pioneer students of Asia's first new university of the 21st century.

The 306 undergraduates of the Singapore Management University (SMU) will launch into the first phase of their Bachelor of Business Management curriculum modeled on the successful Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania tomorrow.

SMU's pioneer undergraduates will begin their first day of the first academic year in "smart" classrooms in a purpose-built, two-storey building on Evans Road that will serve as their campus for one year. By August 2001, students and faculty will move into adjoining, fully refurbished campus buildings at Bukit Timah campus, which are now occupied by the National Institute of Education (NIE).

With an IT-led curriculum, SMU's Evans Road building consists of state-of-the-art computerisation in seminar rooms that will serve the small classroom methods similar to group seminars conducted for MBA (Master of Business Administration) students.

SMU's International Exchange Programme launch

Concurrently with the first day of term, SMU will launch its International Exchange Programme for students by signing the first of a series of agreements with Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in Beppu City, Oita Prefecture (Kyushu Island) in Japan.

The President of Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, Dr Kazuichi Sakamoto, will fly in especially to sign the Memorandum of Understanding with SMU's President, Prof Janice Bellace, at the Evans Road campus at 11am on Tuesday, 1 August.

SMU's International Exchange Programme enables students to study in universities around the world for six-month stints. Students will be carefully matched with universities abroad based on compatibility with their subject choices and specific areas of interest, and a range of other factors. The six-month study stints are wholly credited towards completion of the BBM degree course.

Due to the small initial intake of undergraduates at SMU, we are aspiring for 100% of the pioneer intake of SMU students to benefit from exchange programmes - if they elect for them. These programmes aim at enlarging the global perspective and diverse cultural experiences for students. Many also include a community welfare dimension outside of studies. SMU is aiming for a 20% international student intake over the next few years. These students and international exchange undergraduates on campus, will add a breadth of cultural richness and working perspectives to the undergraduate experience.