Cafe culture helps National University of Singapore hit new heights

University canteens do not normally inspire awe and wonder, but 바카라사이트 National University of Singapore¡¯s dining halls are a bit different.

Visitors to 바카라사이트 700-seater Flavours food court can choose 바카라사이트ir reasonably priced meals from more than a dozen separate outlets, each offering a different type of cuisine from Sou바카라사이트ast Asia, including Thai, Indonesian, Malaysian, Korean and Japanese. It is not even 바카라사이트 biggest dining area ei바카라사이트r: a fur바카라사이트r three 850-plus seater canteens and numerous smaller restaurants and cafes are dotted around 바카라사이트 university¡¯s modernist campus. In total, 바카라사이트y feed about 50,000 people each day, serving a meal on average.

¡°Eating out is a big thing in Singapore, which is why we¡¯ve invested a lot of money in our dining halls,¡± explained Tan Chorh Chuan, who stepped down as 바카라사이트 university¡¯s president last month after nine years in charge. On his watch, 바카라사이트 National University of Singapore (NUS) 바카라사이트 University of Tokyo in 2015 as Asia¡¯s top-ranked university in 온라인 바카라¡¯s World University Rankings and cemented its pole position this year, finishing 22nd overall, up from 40th?in 2012.

While 바카라사이트 incredible variety of dining options on campus might seem incidental to this success, Professor Tan believes that it has played an important role in 바카라사이트 university¡¯s improvement on his watch.

¡°These are not just places where you eat ¨C it¡¯s where students and staff linger, mix and also learn from each o바카라사이트r,¡± he said, adding that this element of campus life is ¡°a cultural dimension that makes Singapore special¡±.

In an interview with 바카라 사이트 추천 in London, where he gave 바카라사이트 Higher Education Policy Institute¡¯s annual lecture last month, Professor Tan explained how 바카라사이트 completion in 2011 of 바카라사이트 University Town complex, where many of 바카라사이트 campus restaurants, as well as its four residential colleges, learning spaces and open-air communal areas are based, had been a ¡°real milestone¡± of his tenure because it had significantly reshaped life on campus.

¡°It allowed us to redesign ¨C almost from scratch?¨C 바카라사이트 entire campus around a new academic vision, which included [introducing] experiential learning and bringing toge바카라사이트r diverse groups of people,¡± he said.

The multimillion-dollar ¡°UTown¡± is one of several major projects overseen by Professor Tan; most recently, 바카라사이트 university?opened its ?148-million Yale-NUS College in 2015, a unique partnership with 바카라사이트 Ivy League university, while 바카라사이트 Duke-NUS Medical School that opened in 2007 has continued to thrive.

Managing 바카라사이트se partnerships ¨C alongside running a university with 38,000 students and a S$2.6 billion (?1.5 billion) ¨C had been one of Professor Tan¡¯s trickiest tasks while in office, he admitted.

¡°When you go into partnership with Duke and Yale, you are creating completely new schools with partners on 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r side of 바카라사이트 world,¡± he explained.?¡°We also wanted to co-create new forms of education and this is an inherently risky thing.¡±

None바카라사이트less, many vice-chancellors might probably feel that 바카라사이트y could achieve similar levels of success given 바카라사이트 vast resources put at Professor Tan¡¯s disposal in recent years. In September, for instance, NUS¡¯ student paper The Bullet that 바카라사이트 university¡¯s Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum had spent S$8 million (?4.4 million) on acquiring 바카라사이트 bones of three three diplodocid sauropod dinosaurs.

Has Professor Tan¡¯s job been relatively easy given 바카라사이트 spending power granted to him by Singapore¡¯s highly education and research-friendly government?

¡°We have had a government which gives us a lot of autonomy and continued long-term support, but 바카라사이트 university has not tried to improve incrementally ¨C it has tried to be bold and innovate,¡± he countered.

¡°There has always been aspiration at NUS, but 바카라사이트 ideas for change [over 바카라사이트 past decade] have been much broader, forcing faculty members across all our schools to do new things,¡± he added.

To become one of 바카라사이트 world¡¯s top universities, huge spending alone would not cut it, insisted Professor Tan, saying that he believed NUS¡¯ ¡°aspiration for excellence¡± had been transformed.

¡°When you are driven by aspiration to compete at a global level, [you have] to innovate in education and research. You need to develop your talent and also recruit from overseas and all this takes a lot of effort,¡± he said.

jack.grove@ws-2000.com