http://app.sprinter.gov.sg/data/pr/20080624992.pdf
1) To offer main in Biz & IT, Engineering & Sciences as well as Architecture & Design
2) More emphasis Interdisciplinary Modules
3) Emphasis on industrial exposure for students
4) Location would be away from the current 3 public funded university
Eventually they hope to increase e university places for poly grads by 40% & JC students by 15% by 2015
Singapore's fourth university to be located in Changi
By Satish Cheney & Margaret Perry, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 11 August 2008 1840 hrs
SINGAPORE: Singapore's fourth public-funded university will open its doors in 2011, offering programmes in Engineering and Applied Science, Business and Information Technology, and Architecture and Design.
The disciplinary areas chosen for the new university's initial offerings will serve Singapore's economy and manpower needs over the medium term.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) has appointed Philip Ng Chee Tat, CEO of property developer Far East Organisation, as chairman of the steering committee to oversee the establishment of the new university.
The committee will comprise leaders from the academia, industry and public sector.
One of the committee's main tasks is to develop a masterplan for the development of the new university's permanent campus and to locate a temporary campus in the interim.
When the interim campus opens in 2011, it will take in just 500 students. This will gradually be expanded over time until there is an annual intake of 2,500 students.
The committee will also appoint the board of trustees and management team for the institution, which includes an international search for the president of the new university.
It will guide the development of the new university's programmes as well, and identify suitable and reputable overseas universities to form partnerships and collaborations.
The new university's campus will be located along Upper Changi Road East, next to the Changi Business Park, which is home to high technology businesses and knowledge-intensive facilities of leading companies such as IBM.
MOE said the location will offer the new university opportunities to develop a vibrant, industry-academia ecosystem around the campus, with possible link-ups with companies nearby.
Senior Minister of State for Education, Lui Tuck Yew, said: "I think that will give opportunities for industry to be in the campus and for students to be in the industry as well."
The new campus will be built by 2015 on the plot of land that was previously set aside for the University of New South Wales' (UNSW) Singapore campus. It was chosen because it is large enough to house faculties and hostels.
The site, approximately 22.6 hectares, is also easily accessible - as the Expo MRT station is 600 metres away and expressways run nearby.
No budget has been set for the new campus, but it is expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
On the design of the campus, Education Minister Ng Eng Hen said: "I would encourage them to find something that's distinctively Singaporean, which will give students the feeling, 'Oh, I'm going to enjoy my four years here because this is a place I'd like to study'."
MOE is conducting a public consultation on the naming of the new university and members of the public can submit their ideas online at www.moe.gov.sg/name-the-uni.