SINGAPORE — Securing a spot in one of SIM University’s (UniSIM) new full-time degree programmes next year will mean passing a three-part admission process — watching a video and submitting an essay about it, followed by one-on-one and group interviews, and concluding with a reflection essay.

This helps the university get to know a student better, and also mirrors the school’s pedagogy — requiring students to go to classes prepared with some work done, said UniSIM Provost Tsui Kai Chong yesterday as he laid out the details of the three programmes — in accountancy, marketing and finance — at a media conference.

Education Minister Heng Swee Keat announced last week that UniSIM and the Singapore Institute of Technology will begin taking in 200 students each for their full-time degree programmes next year, as part of the Government’s plan to provide more university places for Singaporean students.

UniSIM’s inaugural batch will offer 80 places in the finance and marketing programmes, and 120 places for accountancy — courses which reflect an increasingly services-oriented economy, Professor Tsui said. Places will be split between A-Level students and diploma holders, and possibly those with other qualifications.

The provost said applicants will be first shortlisted based on grades and non-academic skills like leadership. He did not give a clear weightage to either criterion, but noted that it will place “very serious consideration” on the latter category. “We would prefer now to assemble a class where people care not for themselves alone, but care for each other, for society at large,” he added. A UniSIM spokesperson said that the entire admission procedure will take less than four weeks.

UniSIM President Cheong Hee Kiat reiterated that “flexibility” will be a key feature of its full-time courses, where students can take any time between three to six years to graduate. For instance, students can choose to speed things up by taking the evening classes that are part of the part-time courses. If they are offered a job mid-way through their studies, they can switch to studying part-time.

Currently, the maximum candidature for an honours degree course at the National University of Singapore is five years, while Nanyang Technological University allows students in several full-time engineering programmes to opt for part-time studies. The Singapore Management University also permits undergraduates to graduate in six years if they need more time for certain modules or to complete their double degree.

Prof Tsui noted that while other local universities also offer business degrees, UniSIM’s full-time finance and marketing undergraduates will be able to minor in psychology and analytics, among other disciplines — drawing on the school’s existing capabilities in the social sciences. These minor programmes also allow students to interact with part-time students who are working adults, so that they can gain an industry perspective.

The school will also structure the work attachment experience with “clear learning outcomes”, “such that students come away learning about subject material, (learning) how to deal with other people, about the business, (and) the student will function as an employee within the company”, he said.

All students will have to complete a project centred on a work issue as well as 80 hours of service learning in order to graduate.

In the meantime, UniSIM has at least 14 auditing firms — including the Big Four: Deloitte, Ernst and Young, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers — and 38 other businesses on board as work attachment partners.

Some 12 faculty members, including PhD holders from Harvard and Cambridge, have also been recruited. UniSIM eventually plans to have more than 100 faculty members for its full-time programmes.

University-bound students TODAY spoke to welcomed having more choices. Singapore Polytechnic graduate Tavence Heng, 21, felt that strong links to the workplace makes UniSIM’s full-time finance courses attractive. Final-year Raffles Institution student Darren Foo, 18, said students value hands-on education opportunities, but noted that, compared to other local institutions, UniSIM’s reputation is not as established, and this will be among his considerations.