Singapore Program Will Be University at Buffalo's First Undergraduate Program Operated Entirely Overseas

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The University at Buffalo has established a program at the Singapore Institute of Management (SIM) that will lead to a bachelor's degree in business administration from UB. Beginning in June 2004, it will be the first UB undergraduate degree program to be delivered entirely overseas.

Stephen C. Dunnett, UB vice provost for international education, and John M. Thomas, dean of the UB School of Management, signed the agreement with SIM in Singapore on Nov. 5. Joseph J. Hindrawan, UB assistant vice provost for international education, who had a major role in developing the program, also was in attendance.

The signing ceremony took place at the U.S. Embassy in Singapore and was witnessed by the U.S. Ambassador, Franklin Lavin, as well as various Singaporean dignitaries, distinguished UB alumni and other guests.

The SIM program will be comparable in all respects to the UB undergraduate program in business administration offered in Buffalo. Admission, course requirements, curriculum and instructional format, faculty qualifications and academic standards at SIM will be fully consistent with those of the university. Lead UB faculty will teach courses, as will SIM-appointed faculty.

Dunnett said the Singapore program will involve full-time instruction year-round so that students can complete their degrees in three, instead of four, years. The program is expected to attract students from Singapore and other countries in Southeast Asia who want to earn an American degree without moving to the U.S.

Ronald Tan, chief executive officer and executive director of SIM, said a unique feature of the SIM-UB curriculum will be "the incorporation of Asian-business case studies to analyze problems, solutions and strategies common to the Asian business environment."

UB has instituted measures to ensure that the academic standards and rigor of the program at SIM are equivalent to those of the program in Buffalo.

"The program will meet all the accreditation standards established for branch campuses by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)," Dunnett said. Tan added that strict adherence to academic standards by both UB and SIM will ensure that "our students receive the outstanding education they deserve."

The UB School of Management has a longstanding relationship with SIM, having partnered with the institute since 1996 in offering the first Executive MBA Program in Singapore accredited by a U.S. university.

The Singapore Institute of Management was founded in 1964 as an independent, not-for-profit professional membership organization that partners with American, Australian and British universities to provide a comprehensive range of qualification-based and senior-executive programs. More than 15,000 students are enrolled at the SIM, which offers 58 undergraduate and graduate programs and more than 30 diploma, graduate diploma and certificate programs.

At the signing ceremony, Ambassador Lavin said, "The United States is pleased to support the Singapore government's push to promote the nation as the region's education hub. The SIM-UB partnership is a concrete expression of our nations' increasingly strong relationship, particularly in the commercial arena.

"The program serves as an important model for future partnerships between American and Singaporean institutions in the region's growing education sector," he added, calling the collaboration "an excellent showcase of a quality partnership between two established institutions that will benefit mutually from the huge demand for higher-education services in Asia."

Dunnett says the establishment of the undergraduate program in Southeast Asia satisfies one of UB's longtime aspirations and that Singapore is an ideal location.

"We needed to find a local educational institution of sufficient size and stature with which to partner, and in SIM, UB has found an outstanding match. SIM is a superb institution with an international reputation for excellence in delivering management and undergraduate education programs in collaboration with American, British and Australian institutions," Dunnett added.

"This extension of the SIM/UB collaboration will enable more students, both from Singapore and the surrounding region, to benefit from the U.S.-style curriculum," Tan says.

A project office will be established within the Office of the Vice Provost for International Education to manage the program for UB, with Dunnett and Thomas serving as co-directors. The program also will have an advisory council to provide general program oversight, and will include, in addition to them, senior UB faculty and administrators from the participating units on campus.

For information about the program, contact John Wood, director of communications, UB Office of International Education, at 716-645-2077, jjwood@buffalo.edu or fax: 716-645-6198.