Asia University Rankings 2016: The pillars of National University of Singapore’s success
To
rise rapidly, institutions should consider a four-pronged strategy for growth
and development, says Tan Chorh Chuan
In the Confucian Temple of Literature
in Hanoi, there is a forest of stone steles, each mounted on a carved stone
tortoise and inscribed with the names of leading scholars through the ages.
They stand as enduring symbols of the central role of – and high value placed
on – education in much of Asia.
This
culture persists today, but in a higher education landscape that is much more
complex and in a state of flux.
Around
the world, universities are coming to terms with sweeping trends such as the
dramatic “massification” of tertiary education, particularly in China and
India; the profound impact of novel technology and business models on the
nature of work; the proliferation of educational
providers and new modes of delivery such as online learning; and
increased benchmarking of some aspects of their output and impact against a
global field.
There
are also rising expectations that universities should contribute more to
enhancing national growth and competitiveness, promote entrepreneurship and
innovation, and address major societal challenges.
At
the National
University of Singapore (NUS), we have reflected considerably on how
to proactively create, identify and seize new opportunities within this
shifting landscape, to excel and to add value.
Based
on NUS’ experience, I believe that there are several key factors critical to
attaining a steep trajectory of development.
1. Agility and drive are paramount
First,
in a fast-changing and complex environment, institutional agility and drive are
of paramount importance. NUS is fortunate that Singapore has a far-sighted
government that has, over the past decade, allowed the public universities high
degrees of autonomy but with enhanced accountability and continued strong
funding support, including research funding, which has to be secured almost
entirely through competition.
NUS
has taken full advantage of these to position itself strategically as a global
university based in Asia – one that has pioneered notable international
educational innovations, created distinctive global academic experiences for
students, has world-class research strengths and also deep expertise and
understanding of Asia and its opportunities and challenges.
Our
experience is consistent with literature that supports the view that to thrive,
universities require autonomy and adequate resources to pick and quickly
execute their strategies and goals. However, they must also be honed by the
need to compete for resources, which sharpens the drive for constant
improvement, and operate in a national higher education framework that promotes
global excellence.
2. Recruit and nurture top-class talent
Second,
it is absolutely essential to recruit world-class academics and provide the
infrastructure and environment to enable them, alongside home-grown scholars,
to do their best research and educational work.
For
most of our history, NUS was part of the public service sector, obliged to
follow its rather inflexible rules and procedures. But around the year 2000, we
were able to move from a seniority-based to a completely performance-based
human resource system – a change that was to prove critical in the
institution’s development. This change gave us the human resource flexibility
to compete internationally for talent, and to incentivise and reward strong
performance differentially across and within disciplines.
In
2006, when NUS became a company limited by guarantee, we had even greater
freedom to set our own goals and strategies, and to deploy resources in new
programmes. Changes to the capital funding system also enabled us to plan the
enhancement of our physical infrastructure in the long term. We have made full
use of these positive developments over the past decade to nurture and hire a
strong critical mass of highly talented academic staff in a broad range of
strategically chosen fields.
3. Innovate and differentiate
The
third key to rapid development is the need for universities to continually ask
how they can innovate in order to differentiate themselves and to create
distinctive new value.
NUS
is in a constant state of constructive dissatisfaction. I view this as a good
thing as it creates a strong impulse to excel, and to do better for our
students, alumni and the broader community.
For
example, while an NUS education is well recognised for its rigour, we have also
made our programmes global, with deep Asian perspectives. Experiential learning
was enhanced as a central thrust, with the successful piloting of new
programmes such as residential college living and learning.
We
pioneered experiential entrepreneurship education in 2001 with the NUS Overseas
Colleges (NOC), a unique programme that enables undergraduates to undertake
internships for up to a year in start-ups overseas while continuing to take
classes at a partner university at one of seven global hubs.
The
programme has been highly successful, with NOC students and alumni creating
more than 250 start-ups to date, with five alumni making it on to the Forbes 30 Under 30 (Asia) 2016
list, and one company named in Forbes
20 Startups to Watch in 2016.
In
research, our goal is to have several research areas where we are among the
leaders globally, and to facilitate the translation of our research for
economic, health and societal benefit.
4. Global partnerships are springboards
The
fourth factor to consider is that deep global partnerships are valuable
platforms for academic leapfrogging.
NUS
has successfully developed a series of deep global partnerships spanning nearly
two decades with major institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, Johns Hopkins University, Duke University and Yale University.
In
the two most recent collaborations, the Duke-NUS Medical School developed the
outstanding “TeamLEAD” (learn, engage, apply and develop) learning model; while
the Yale-NUS College is pioneering a new form of liberal arts and science
education for the future.
Moving
forward, I believe that our strategies would need to be even more adaptive and
anticipatory, given the quickening pace and unpredictability of change.
As
an amateur painter, when I start a new painting, I often don’t have a fixed
idea of the exact way it will look when finished. Instead, as one part of the
painting is completed, it creates new possibilities that shape the way I will
paint the next section, and eventually, how the completed work will appear.
In
the same vein, for universities to excel and contribute in deeper and more
enduring ways in the future, we need to increase our ability to adjust and
reinvent, to both pioneer and lead while becoming increasingly relevant to the
communities that we serve.
Tan
Chorh Chuan
President
National University of Singapore
National University of Singapore
Asia University Rankings 2016 @ Link | https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/2016/regional-ranking#!/page/0/length/25/sort_by/rank_label/sort_order/asc/cols/rank_only
Pralhad
Jadhav
Senior
Manager @ Library
Khaitan
& Co
Best
Paper Award | Received the Best Paper Award at TIFR-BOSLA National Conference on
Future Librarianship: Innovation for Excellence (NCFL 2016) on April 23,
2016. The title of the paper is “Removing
Barriers to Literacy: Marrakesh VIP Treaty”
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