Chairman’s
Message

"After five decades of phenomenal growth and achievements, SIM now stands at another exciting inflexion point. Ahead of us is a new and challenging era in education and training that will yet again test our ability to thrive on the crest of change."

Mr Tan Soo Jin

CHAIRMAN
SIM GOVERNING COUNCIL

The Future Belongs to the Imaginative, Innovative and Resilient

After five decades of phenomenal growth and achievements, SIM now stands at another exciting inflexion point. Ahead of us is a new and challenging era in education and training that will yet again test our ability to thrive on the crest of change.

Against the backdrop of a highly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world, many other factors – including demographic and technological – have and will continue to impact education and training. The inevitability of these changes is borne out in the government’s implementation of the nation-wide SkillsFuture movement to keep Singaporeans and Singapore competitive.

Towards this end, more innovative programmes that meet market needs and impart real skills will be needed as will accessible, flexible and effective modes of teaching and learning through the leveraging of technology. With more diverse and relevant pathways to encourage lifelong learning, we will develop a more resilient, adaptable and competent workforce.

At SIM, we have begun a transformative process to equip ourselves to meet these challenges. We are proud that SIM University, though still a very young university, is well positioned to play an important and unique role in the local higher education and continuing education and training landscape. SIM Global Education (SIM GE) and SIM Professional Development (SIM PD) are also poised to play a bigger role in private education and professional development respectively. Plans are also underway to take SIM GE’s experience and expertise beyond Singapore to widen their reach and deepen their footprint in global education.

I am confident that with the same imagination, innovative spirit, dexterity and resilience, SIM will again rise above every turn and change to seize the future and further our mission as the choice provider of lifelong learning and a preferred partner in helping organisations optimise their human capital.

I thank all our board members, management and staff for their contributions and commitment in the past year. Let’s look forward with optimism and confidence to scale greater heights ahead!

The GE Board

Management Report

Mr Ronald Tan Hee Huan

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
SINGAPORE INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

Professor Cheong Hee Kiat

PRESIDENT
SIM UNIVERSITY

Dr Lee Kwok Cheong

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
SIM GLOBAL EDUCATION

2015 was a landmark year. As we joined Singapore in celebrating her golden jubilee, we also celebrated SIM University’s (UniSIM) 10th anniversary. It is poignant that these celebrations herald not just a brand new phase for our nation but also for SIM as an educational institution.

Across the different SIM business units, a plan has unfolded to equip us for the many changes ahead. It was a busy year of continuing consolidation, re-defining and sharpening our focus as a key player in education and training, and as a partner to the government and employers in manpower development.


SIM University: The Future of Lifelong Learning
At ten years old, UniSIM's history is short but eventful and exciting. We are proud to count not just the number of our achievements, but the many pioneering initiatives we have set in pace that have benefitted our learners and earned us our reputation as the choice university for working adults. In more recent years, with strong government support, we have broadened our scope to offer full-time degree pathways for A-Level and polytechnic graduates. In time, we will offer a law degree programme with a specialist focus. These programmes will help pave the way for us to play a bigger but differentiated role in higher education.

UniSIM's mission has been to encourage lifelong learning by making education and continuing education and training (CET) more accessible. We have done this by providing more pathways and more flexible but effective ways to learn anywhere, anytime and at any pace for people who have to juggle many roles and are on the go.

As an early pioneer in e-learning, we are pleased that by the end of 2015, 50% of our courses are offered with a blended mode, supported by interactive study guides (iStudyGuides) that were specially developed to enhance learning. Soon, all our courses will have iStudyGuides. The use of learning analytics will continue to help us better understand and improve our students' learning process and outcomes.

Our pioneer batch of full-time undergraduate students successfully completed their first year, and we are very encouraged by the outcome that the rigour of our programmes has produced in them. Another full-time degree programme in human resource management was added to our suite of full-time programmes. Developments for UniSIM to host Singapore's third law school with a focus on family and criminal law are well underway, and we look forward to announcing details of the law degrees in early 2016.

UniSIM's approach and experience in modular and flexible learning has prepared us well to support the government's aims for step-wise lifelong learning through the SkillsFuture movement. With our strong industry links and applied pedagogy, we are well-positioned to offer more and interesting options for CET under this framework.

As the University diversifies it offerings, ensuring internal integration and synergy will be pivotal to making us an efficient, effective and vibrant organisation. In just one decade, UniSIM has manoeuvred up a challenging but exhilarating S-curve; we now look forward with anticipation and confidence to transiting to another one.

SIM Global Education: The Future of Global Readiness
The year in review saw a continued downward-trend of enrolment in private education. This is due to shrinking student cohort sizes, a strong Singapore dollar making studying here more expensive for foreign students, and increasing local competition as the government ramps up places for higher education.

Challenges are always good for they force us to think outside the box. It is no longer enough to do more of the same. We must continually reinvent to make our brand of global education and our offering of a diverse and dynamic learning environment more attractive. We must also seek out new ways to grow locally and overseas.

Three foundational pillars must define what we do and differentiate us. We call them the three Rs: Relevance of programmes; Relevance of students; and Relevance beyond Singapore.

Working closely with our valued partner universities, we continued to refresh and upgrade our suite of programmes to ensure they stay relevant to changing market needs. Several new programmes were launched to fill skills gaps in the market, notably in sport studies, marketing, human resource, international studies and accountancy.

We stepped up investments in student development with a focus on building their connectedness and work-readiness. We hope to equip our students with hard and soft skills to contribute positively to their organisations from the word go. A new Student Learning Centre was set up to help students with their academic and personal development. Collaborative learning for better learning outcome is also promoted through the Peer-Assisted Learning programme which encourages student-to-student support outside the classroom. The new Career Connect service actively engages students and employers in offering guidance on employability and employment, internships and networking opportunities.

As developing countries in the region grow their investments in education, opportunities abound for us. We stepped up efforts to provide foreign students more articulation pathways into our programmes locally. Our International Development unit is also active in forming strategic alliances to take our academic and business capabilities beyond our shore. In support of this growth, our overseas alumni and alumni industry partners from around Asia also offer valuable channels for cooperation.

The future holds many challenges and new avenues for growth. Key to our success will be our people and their ability to think and work with an entrepreneurial spirit – to be creative and bold when responding to rapid changes and seizing opportunities as they come.

SIM Professional Development and Membership: The Future of Skilled Professionals
As technology makes knowledge increasingly accessible on the internet, a review is needed for the traditional channel of delivering CET. Added to this are the low market barriers in the sector which have allowed many training providers of varying quality to jump on the bandwagon. These changes, together with companies’ general lack of support for ad-hoc training, necessitated a strategic rethink of how SIM Professional Development and Membership Services can continue to play a relevant role in the future.

With a long-term view of bringing greater value to professionals, managers and executives (PMEs) and organisations, we moved to streamline and unify our professional development and membership as one unit. This works to strengthen common touch points and engagement with customers, and bring synergy and coherence across service lines. With this, we improved and integrated the content and delivery channels of our membership and training programmes. We also ensured that our programmes incorporate a multi-disciplinary perspective to better cater to the needs of businesses and organisations. For instance, two of our signature programmes – the Annual Management Lecture and Interest Group Convention – were brought under the same umbrella as the inaugural Singapore Management Festival. This mega-event featured a wide spectrum of speakers from different disciplines and functional areas to offer participants rich insights into the interdependent and complex workings of today’s businesses.

Beyond being a re-seller of training programmes, we continued to sharpen our competitive edge as a CET provider. More development of propriety programmes that offer greater flexibility and customisation to suit executive and organisational needs will be undertaken. The Job of the Manager suite of programmes is one such programme that has become a staple for aspiring managers.

As a strategic partner to organisations in their human capital development, we worked closely with companies to provide a more holistic training and development roadmap for their talent. The focus was on customising in-house training programmes that develop knowledge and skills progressively and deliver a greater impact on organisations’ performance and goals.

As a valued partner in executive and organisational development, we will continue to align with the national direction of deepening skills through lifelong learning. Our strategic relationships with our pool of expert trainers will be an advantage as we work together to develop and offer more CET programmes, including those under the Workforce Skills Qualifications framework.

2015 Key Statistics

Members
49,427 individual members
531 corporate members


STUDENTS ENROLLED
SIM UNIVERSITY
13,600 students enrolled | Over 50 programmes offered
SIM GLOBAL EDUCATION
20,000 students enrolled | Over 80 programmes offered
PROFESSIONALS TRAINED
Close to 700 public and customised
in-company programmes organised
ALUMNI AND GRADUATES
26,500 SIM University alumni
133,000 SIM Global Education graduates

2015 at a Glance

March

SIM GE launched the University of Stirling’s Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Sports Studies and Marketing and the University of London’s Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Economics and Politics.

April

SIM GE was voted best private institute at the AsiaOne People’s Choice Awards 2015 for the seventh consecutive year.

SIM GE launched two new programmes with the University of Manchester, the Bachelor of Science (Honours) Management (Human Resources) and the Bachelor of Science (Honours) Management (International Studies).

SIM GE celebrated its 10th year of partnership with the University of Wollongong.

UniSIM kick-started its 10th anniversary year-long celebrations with a luncheon graced by Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Deputy Prime Minister.

May

UniSIM co-organised and hosted the 14th Tamil Internet Conference, which focused on computer-aided language teaching and mobile technology.

June

UniSIM co-organised and hosted the 10th eLearning Forum Asia themed Innovations in Education: Responding Intelligently to Diverse Learnings Needs.

July

SIM GE launched the SIM Advanced Diploma in Events and Tourism Management, along with two University of Birmingham’s Masters programmes – the Master of Science (Economics) and Master of Science (International Economics).

UniSIM hosted and co-organised the 19th International Consortium for Social Development themed Transforming Society: Trends and Models in Community Leadership and Social Development.

The SIM Dragonboat Club clinched the Men's and Women's Prime Minister’s Challenge Trophies at the Singapore Dragonboat Festival 2015.

UniSIM launched the Master of Business Administration and Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics (TESOL) programmes.

August

UniSIM launched the full-time Human Resource Management (with minor) programme.

SIM GE opened the Student Learning Centre to assist students with their academic and personal development.

September

SIM GE signed an MOC with the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) to allow students to simultaneously earn the UOL Master of Science in Professional Accountancy and the ACCA professional accounting qualification.

SIM PD held the inaugural Singapore Management Festival, combining two SIM hallmark events – Annual Management Lecture and the Interest Group Convention.

UniSIM presented its inaugural Spirit Award to honour people-oriented and social-centric full-time programme students.

October

SIM GE launched Career Connect, an interactive space for students to seek assistance and guidance on career development.

SIM GE signed an MOU with Japan’s Oki Islands in Japan for students to assist local residents with reforms using real-world solutions.

UniSIM signed an MOU with the Singapore Armed Forces, Singapore Civil Defence Force, Nanyang Polytechnic, Institute of Technical Education and the Justice Institute of British Columbia to jointly promote paramedicine skills mastery through training and education.

UniSIM launched the Master of Non-profit Management Programme.

November

UniSIM signed an MOU with Project Dignity to offer trainees in the food and beverage industry the opportunity to read university-level courses in management and finance at UniSIM.

The SIM Performing Arts Theatre and Block C were awarded the Green Mark Gold Plus by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA). SIM also received a 92% rating for BCA’s Good Construction Practice and the Public Utilities Board’s Water Efficient Building certificate.

December

UniSIM co-organised the 9th International Conference on Researching Work & Learning themed Work and Learning in the Era of Globalisation: Challenges for the 21st Century.