—Discusses Possibilities for Development of “Asia’s Liberal Arts College” Educational Model

From January 21-25, YonseiPresident JeongKap-young visited several institutions of higher education in Singapore to promote friendship and collaboration between Yonsei and Singaporean universities, as well as the establishment of a stronger academic network.  During his trip, PresidentJeong visited the National University of Singapore (NUS), Yale-NUS College, Nanyang Technological University (NTU), and Singapore Management University (SMU).  He also met with Yonsei alumni living and working in Singapore. Singaporean universities have gained international recognition for their strong achievements in academics and research.  According to the 2013 QS World University Rankings, NUS is the 24th-best university in the world and tops in Asia, while NTU was rated 41st globally and 8th in Asia.  As such, President Jeong was keen to discuss these institutions’ strategies for achieving such international standards of excellence, while beginning talks about creating more student and faculty exchanges and dual-degree offerings between Yonsei and the Singaporean universities. At Yale-NUS, President Jeong met with officials of the liberal arts college to discuss its similarities with Yonsei’s Underwood International College (UIC) and the evolution of the Residential College (RC) liberal arts education model in Asia.  President Jeong and the Yale-NUS officials agreed that the demand for RC liberal arts education in Asia will only continue to grow.