UB expands with an international program in Singapore

Over the past year, UB has established an undergraduate degree program in cooperation with the Singapore Institute of Management.

The program is offered at the SIM campus in Singapore, and consists of four years of course instruction developed and approved by UB to satisfy the university's bachelor's degree requirements in business administration. Students who successfully complete the program would receive a baccalaureate degree from the university.

According to UB officials, the program has been in the works for quite some time but was further delayed due to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"It was challenging for students to get approved for visas," said Stephen Dunnett, vice provost for International Education. "However, in the past year these challenges have been overcome. Asian students now have the opportunity to attend UB in Singapore."

UB's new SIM program is the first bachelor's degree program the university has offered entirely overseas. The program is comparable in all respects to the Bachelor of Science program offered at UB and is taught by lead faculty from UB as well as SIM-appointed faculty.

Currently there are 50 students enrolled in the program and enrollment has doubled for the upcoming summer. The program's enrollment is likely to increase with the addition of the communication courses offered starting in May, Dunnett said.

Although the program is only a year old, Dunnett said he feels it will be beneficial for more courses to be added to the program in a timely fashion.

"Over time, we hope to build up to thousands," Dunnett said. "I hope the program helps develop UB's name in Asia and enriches the education for Asian students. It has long been UB's aspiration to establish an undergraduate campus in Southeast Asia, and Singapore is the ideal location."

The program's admission, course requirements, curriculum and instructional format, faculty qualifications and academic standards at SIM will stay consistent with UB's home campus. Full-time course instruction is offered year-round so students can complete their degrees in three rather than four years.

Although the program been a success a so far, it still faces daily challenges, officials said. The 13-hour time difference between Singapore and Buffalo makes it difficult to answer questions or respond to problems in a timely fashion, Joseph Hindrawan, assistant vice provost for International Education and director for international enrollment management said.

"The time difference has created a great deal of communication problems," Hindrawan said. "Also, Singapore's holidays are different from ours too. Faculty and students have off for a week to celebrate the Chinese New Year, and we're in school here. When we have off in December, Singapore's program is still in session. This is why we have such communication difficulties."

Over the next five years, Hindrawan and Dunnett said they hope to find resolutions to the communication delays. They're also anticipating students who complete their undergraduate studies in Singapore will further their education by attending UB for graduate school.

"I would like to see students from Buffalo's UB campus to enroll in courses offered in Singapore," Dunnett said. "I'm looking forward to seeing a lot of additions to the program in the next few years. For starters, an increase in students who take advantage of the program and a wider variety of classes that will be developed with broader options for those classes. What I really would like to see is more students from Singapore come to Buffalo and vise-versa."