University announces newly-named NUS College, inaugural dean will be current law faculty chief

SINGAPORE: A new college from the merger of Yale-NUS College and the University Scholars Programme will be named NUS College, the National University of Singapore (NUS) said on Tuesday (Jan 4).

"The name, NUS College, was selected after consultation with multiple stakeholders, including industry leaders and employers, board members, counsellors, parents, faculty, staff, students, and alumni," said NUS.

The new college will admit its first intake of up to 400 students for the academic year of 2022/2023.

NUS also announced on Tuesday that it has appointed Professor Simon Chesterman as dean-designate of the new college.

"He will continue to serve as dean of the Faculty of Law (NUS Law) while the university convenes a global search for his successor," said NUS.

From Jul 1, Prof Chesterman will assume his role as the inaugural dean of NUS College and will also be concurrently appointed Vice Provost (Educational Innovation) at NUS.

Prof Chesterman has been a faculty member at NUS Law since 2007 and has served as dean since 2012. 

"He has been instrumental in transforming legal education in Singapore, including increasing Asian and civil law content, as well as enhancing experiential learning opportunities through a Centre for Pro Bono and Clinical Legal Education," said NUS. 

He also led the implementation of a pilot initiative to broaden student diversity at NUS Law. 

NUS President Professor Tan Eng Chye said Prof Chesterman has "contributed much to the higher education landscape in Singapore and internationally". 

"I am confident that under Simon’s leadership, our new NUS College will have a strong beginning," said Prof Tan. 

Prof Chesterman said he was "humbled and deeply honoured" to serve as the inaugural dean of the new NUS College. 

"I’m excited at the chance to work with my colleagues and our students to build NUS College into Singapore’s first true honours college," he said.

NEW NAME

The new college was announced last August, after NUS said that two of its programmes - Yale-NUS College and the University Scholars Programme - will be combined into a single college from 2022. 

After the announcement, Yale University said Yale-NUS College will "cease" in 2025. 

NUS College will be open to students applying for almost all undergraduate degree programmes at the university. They will stay in residential colleges in University Town for two years or more.

NUS said on Tuesday that the new name "encapsulates the essence of a broad-based interdisciplinary programme set within a larger comprehensive university with access to the diverse academic pathways as well as deep resources and expertise of NUS".

Consultation on the naming of the college was carried out through "close to" 20 focus group sessions and "in-depth interviews" in October last year, led by an independent research agency, NUS said.

"Individuals who participated in these sessions and interviews included students, faculty, staff and alumni from USP and Yale-NUS, prospective local and international students, parents, industry partners and employers, and counsellors from junior colleges and polytechnics in Singapore," said the university.

"Further consultations took place with the leadership of USP and Yale-NUS (including members of its Governing Board), as well as town hall presentations to USP and Yale-NUS students, and the NUS Board of Trustees."