The National University of Singapore (NUS) today announced the establishment of two new interdisciplinary colleges: the University Scholars Programme (USP) and the Yale-NUS College (Yale-NUS) will be combined into a single new college, and the Faculty of Engineering and the School of Design and Environment will merge to form the College of Design and Engineering.
The formation of these two colleges is the latest move in NUS’ efforts to transform the educational experience at Singapore’s flagship university, based on four key pillars – common curriculum, greater flexibility, an interdisciplinary approach and lifelong learning.
NUS President Professor Tan Eng Chye said, “A world-class university education must evolve quickly to prepare students for a world marked by ever greater volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. Graduates need to be highly curious problem-chasers and innovative problem solvers, flexible and adept at connecting the dots across diverse disciplines to succeed in a future of rapid change and unpredictability. The establishment of these two new colleges is part of our roadmap of educational innovations and curricular reforms to keep up with the needs and challenges of the global economy.”
Since 2018, NUS has been introducing educational innovations progressively with the aim of exposing students to the interface and interplay of different disciplines across Humanities, Social Sciences as well as Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
A defining characteristic of the new NUS education framework is enhancing the capability of graduates to be lifelong learners and setting them on the path to be deeply passionate, curious and innovative in solving world problems. The framework emphasises a common curriculum to provide a rigorous, broad-based intellectual foundation that expands the learning capacities of our graduates. Flexible pathways to deepen expertise in a chosen major, or learn multiple competencies through double majors, majors, and minors in other disciplines, allow students to adapt their learning pathway through the University. Interdisciplinary approaches in teaching and learning enhance complex problem-solving, which is reinforced by experiential learning.
