SAF and SMU Establish Partnership on Continuing Education

The Singapore Management University (SMU) and the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) today announced that they will cooperate in the area of continuing education for SAF personnel.

Under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed today, SMU and the SAF established a three-year partnership through which SMU will support the SAF's Continuing Education (CE) Master's programme by admitting qualified SAF personnel to the University's postgraduate degree programmes.

Four SMU Master's programmes have been added to the SAF CE Master's current offering. They are: Master of Science in Communication Management, Master of Science in Innovation, Master of Information Technology in Business - Analytics and Master of Tri-Sector Collaboration. The programmes will be funded by the SAF through its CE Master's programme, with SMU offering credit exemptions to SAF personnel who have completed the Command and Staff Course or the Command and Staff Course (Executive) at the Goh Keng Swee Command and Staff College.

The signatories at the MOU signing ceremony held at SMU were Brigadier-General (BG) Benedict Lim, Commandant SAFTI Military Institute, SAF, and Professor Philip Zerrillo, Dean of SMU's Postgraduate Professional Programmes.

The SAF CE Master's programme was introduced in 2008 to develop all-rounded leaders for the 3rd Generation SAF with knowledge-based competencies to deal with the increasing complexities and challenges of the evolving security environment. SMU is the second institution of higher learning that the SAF is collaborating with to offer SAF personnel a wider diversity of postgraduate programmes.

On the SAF-SMU partnership, BG Lim said, "This partnership established with SMU will complement the various development opportunities available within the SAF. I am happy and appreciative towards SMU for recognising the academic rigour of SAF courses and the quality of our people.

"Professor Zerrillo said, "We are delighted to have this opportunity to deepen our relationship with the SAF, particularly in the training of the best SAF talents. Leadership makes all the difference, in defence and beyond. SMU is proud to be contributing to the SAF's Continuous Education Master's programme. We believe that our university can make a difference in nurturing leaders with an innovative and global mindset, who are equipped with the knowledge and skills to excel in today's complex and dynamic environment."

This MOU is another step forward in strengthening ties between the two organisations. Earlier this year in January 2014, SMU and the SAF officiated an agreement whereby SMU will sponsor up to 20 postgraduate scholarships per year for retiring SAF personnel, for a period of three years, through the SMU Warriors Scholarship programme. The scholarships, which are multi-disciplinary and cover up to 18 postgraduate programmes at the University, are bond-free. 14 scholarships have been awarded to date.