The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill welcomed a delegation from the National University of Singapore (NUS) for a series of events and meetings on September 23 and 24 to discuss student exchanges and the UNC-NUS Joint Degree Program (JDP), as well as to explore other opportunities for collaboration. The visitors from NUS, one of Carolina’s six strategic partners, consisted of administrators from two schools within the university, the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, both of which have strong links with UNC.
Faculty of Arts and Social Science visitors included Robbie Goh, vice dean for international relations and special duties, and Paulin Straughan, vice dean of undergraduate studies. They met with representatives from UNC departments from the College of Arts and Sciences that are part of the UNC-NUS Joint Degree Program, including economics, geography, history, political science and English and comparative literature. They also continued discussions on student exchanges and potential opportunities in global studies.
Visiting administrators from the Faculty of Science included Eric Chan, vice dean of undergraduate programs, and Li Ling Koh, associate director of undergraduate programs. As biology was recently added to the Joint Degree Program, Chan and Koh met with UNC biology faculty to discuss student recruitment and other program details. They also had preliminary discussions with faculty in chemistry, mathematics and environmental studies about possibilities for student exchange and faculty collaboration.
Administrators from both schools at NUS also met with staff from the College’s Study Abroad Office, made presentations to UNC students during information sessions and also met with NUS exchange students at UNC. Currently, UNC undergraduates can study at NUS through a number of different semester exchanges in both schools at NUS, as well as through a summer science lab exchange and the Carolina Southeast Asia Summer Program.
NUS and UNC began a strategic partnership in 2003, a partnership that was solidified in 2007 with the establishment of the UNC-NUS Joint Degree Program. Since 2003, an abundance of student exchanges and relationships have flourished between NUS and UNC’s College of Arts and Sciences, the Kenan-Flagler Business School and the Eshelman School of Pharmacy.
The relationship with NUS is just one example of how partner institutions can mutually support one another. Students at each university are able to take advantage of partner strengths to expand their studies outside of their home university courses. Close to 400 UNC students have studied at NUS since 2004 – about 100 on exchange programs and almost 300 through the Carolina Southeast Asia Summer Program. Beginning in summer 2014, UNC students can also enroll in FASStrack Asia, the new international summer school in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at NUS.
“The partnership between our two universities has brought much value to our students through exchanges and joint degree programs,” said Bob Miles, associate dean for study abroad and international exchanges in UNC’s College of Arts and Sciences. “We are proud of our long-standing relationship with the NUS Faculty of Arts and Sciences and enthusiastic about our more recent but growing engagement with the NUS Faculty of Science. We appreciate their time and commitment in visiting UNC and share their desire to continue to develop and strengthen our partnership.”
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