Anticipating the Future: Continuing Education at the National University of Singapore

Abstract

The chapter describes how the National University of Singapore contributes to strengthening Singapore’s workforce through its approach to Future Skills, as well as through collaboration with government and industry. The authors show how a refreshed approach to undergraduate education, coupled with the development of a broad array of graduate programs, support the goal to prepare students for the future. NUS’s approach includes efforts to inculcate a culture of lifelong learning on campus, providing opportunities for acquiring in-demand skills, and building data literacy among students as well as university staff. This approach aims at ensuring both broad- and deep-skilling in undergraduate education for a volatile and uncertain future.

1 The Little Red Dot

Singapore, affectionately referred to as “the little red dot”, is a city-state with a population of around 6 million and one of the world’s most open and market-driven economies (The Heritage Foundation, 2023). Singapore has one of the world’s largest and busiest cargo ports; its economy is also driven by services, tourism, chemicals, electronics, and financial services. The World Bank classifies Singapore as “a high-income economy [which] provides one of the world’s most business-friendly regulatory environments for local entrepreneurs and is ranked among the world’s most competitive economies” (The World Bank, 2019, Summary). Except for a pandemic-related contraction in 2020, Singapore has enjoyed steady economic growth since independence in 1964 (The World Bank, 2021a, b).

The World Bank’s Human Capital Index (0–1) index measures how much health and education feeds into the productivity of the next generation of workers. In 2020 (the most recent year for which there is data), Singapore scores 0.9 on the World Bank’s Human Capital Index, the highest of any country in the world (The World Bank, 2020a, b). This is also true for 2017 and 2018, the only other years for which there are data.

In this chapter we describe how the National University of Singapore (NUS) contributes to strengthening Singapore’s workforce through its approach to Future Skills, as well as through collaboration with government and industry. We show how a refreshed approach to undergraduate education, coupled with the development of a broad array of graduate (primarily Master’s) programs, support our goal to prepare our students for the future. We relate our efforts to inculcate a culture of lifelong learning on our campus, and to provide opportunities for acquiring in-demand skills. Finally we describe how Future Skills includes building data literacy among students as well as university staff.

2 The National University of Singapore’s Approach to Future Skills

At NUS, Future Skilling means ensuring that our undergraduates acquire critical thinking skills and breadth of knowledge. We also stress interdisciplinary approaches. These strategies are intended to prepare them intellectually for openness to learning throughout their careers and lives. At the same time, we are launching new postgraduate programs that teach technical or specific skills, with as much flexibility as possible. As the flagship university of Singapore, it is part of NUS’s mission to keep the national workforce relevant. However, our mandate is not just to churn out well-trained workers for industry, but also to teach students how to be good humans and citizens, and to develop in them resilience to confront a volatile and unpredictable future.

Our approach therefore also includes teaching our students that learning does not stop after university, nor does it end at the confines of a particular discipline. We have invested significantly in lifelong learning, expanding opportunities for adult learning, and infusing younger students with the spirit of lifelong learning.

Our approach to Future Skilling does present challenges. We work hard to balance general knowledge and up-to-the-moment expertise and skills—especially relevant, given that knowledge and skills can (and do) expire. And change is hard. To illustrate, figuring out how to make postgraduate programs more flexible, for example by making courses stackable toward diplomas and degrees, has demanded careful thought and planning. We confront these challenges with purpose and open eyes, and with confidence in our mission.

2.1 A Tight Coupling Between Government and Higher Education

The Singapore government works hand-in-hand with Singaporean institutions of higher learning and with industry to invest in the future, to ensure that both businesses and people can thrive in an increasingly diversified economy and are prepared to deal with whatever changes lie ahead.

Singapore set up the Workforce Development Agency in 2003, under the Ministry of Manpower to “[t]o enhance the employability and competitiveness of Singapore’s workforce” by increasing access to Continuing Education and Training (CET) and ensuring that training meets industry-approved standards (Singapore Workforce Development Agency, 2011, p. 3). The Agency was subsequently split into Workforce Singapore (still under the Ministry of Manpower) and SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG), which is under the Ministry of Education, looping Singapore’s universities and polytechnics into the effort to ensure future-readiness. SSG partners with educational institutions across Singapore—including NUS—to ensure that younger people and working adults have access to “high quality, industry-relevant training throughout life” (SkillsFuture Singapore, 2020, paragraph 2).

Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry developed an Industry Transformation Program, to allow the government, firms, industries, trade associations and chambers to partner and address industry issues (Ministry of Trade & Industry, 2023). This program, launched progressively between 2016 and 2018, is used by Singapore’s institutions of higher learning to ensure that the workforce has access to training in areas that are in high demand by employers. This means frequent review and updating of programs, curricula, and pedagogical tools, and working with national initiatives such as SkillsFuture Singapore, which provides educational and training opportunities to Singaporeans. There is demand for upskilling and reskilling: the number of adult learners enrolled in Singapore’s higher education system has doubled, from around 165,000 in 2018 to 345,000 in 2020, and is expected to continue to increase, according to the Minister of Education (Ng, 2022).

2.2 Knowledge and Skills Are Quickly Obsolete

The World Economic Forum (WEF) reported in 2020 that employers believe 50% of their employees will need reskilling, and 94% expect employees to pick up new skills on the job, a sharp uptick from 65% in 2018. For workers who remain in their roles, about 40% of the skills a typical role requires will change in the next five years (World Economic Forum, 2020). A 2018 McKinsey report claims that between 2016 and 2030, the need for physical and manual skills is likely to fall by 14%, whereas social and emotional skills requirements will rise by 24%, and technological skills by 55% (Bughin et al., 2018).

As complex issues upend expectations of work and the workplace, job markets are becoming more unpredictable. For example, the Covid-19 pandemic caused some jobs to be designated as essential/non-essential and remote/non-remote. Many workers whose jobs could not be done remotely, or in industries hit by the pandemic, were displaced. The WEF reports that around 60% of workers in high-income countries (e.g. the United States and Switzerland) were unable to fully work from home (World Economic Forum, 2020). The figure is higher for countries with lower GDP per capita. It is vital that workers today have the agility to pivot their skills in an unstable world.

3 NUS—Educating the Workforce of the Future

The current leadership at NUS, sensitive to seismic changes in the labor market, has shifted the focus of undergraduate education. To help protect future Singaporean workers from becoming redundant, NUS is taking a two-pronged approach: interdisciplinarity and lifelong learning.

3.1 Interdisciplinarity—Broadening Undergraduate Learning

To give students a broad foundation for lifelong learning, the university has begun a shift towards interdisciplinary learning. Through the merging of faculties, it recently created the College of Humanities and Science (CHS). CHS undergraduate students must complete a year and a half of general curriculum, then specialize for 18 months. In their final year, they either go deeper into their chosen area, or add another area of specialty. Figures 27.1 and 27.2 show the various paths CHS students may choose from, and the options for curriculum balance, depending on the level of focus or specialization preferred.

Fig. 27.1

Multiple pathways for undergraduates (NUS College of Humanities & Sciences, 2021)

Fig. 27.2

Multiple pathways for undergraduates (NUS College of Humanities & Sciences, 2021)

CHS students have the choice to pivot between disciplines or to learn about what lies in-between, as the problems of the future are unlikely to “fit nicely within one discipline”. NUS president Tan Eng Chye, who propelled the merger, said: “Our challenge is this: if you are focused on one, what if this particular branch of knowledge becomes obsolete?” (Ellis, 2021, paragraph 10). The design and structure of CHS was led by a vision “to prepare students for the digital world and a future of change and complexity, while nurturing them to be adaptable, resilient and empathetic,” said Professor Sun Yeneng, CHS Co-Dean and Dean of the Faculty of Science (National University of Singapore, 2020c, paragraph 13).

The general curriculum requirements for CHS students include the following courses:

• i. Artificial Intelligence (uses, economics and ethics of AI),

• ii. Communities and Engagement (for example, caring for the elderly, to encourage students to think beyond their immediate identities),

• iii. Digital Literacy (tailored for whether the student intends to major in a science or in social science/humanities),

• iv. Design Thinking (to develop potential for problem-solving) and Data Literacy (fundamentals of business analytics and data science), and

• v. Writing

CHS’s requirements aim to equip NUS undergraduates with the capacity to perceive and understand multiple perspectives, the skill to communicate effectively, an understanding of the value of contributing to their communities, and the ability to think beyond themselves.

Students also take a series of courses intended to promote independent learning, a rigorous approach to problem-solving, and an appreciation for tolerance and diversity. Finally, in their third and fourth year, CHS students take two interdisciplinary courses. This structure ensures that even a social science or humanities major will leave NUS with broad knowledge that includes data skills and, hopefully, an understanding of how a scientist thinks. And science students will know how a social scientist thinks.

An example of an interdisciplinary course is Sporting Bodies, offered jointly by the departments of Pharmacy, and Communications and New Media. Sporting Bodies covers issues like mental and physical health, gender and sexuality, and doping and substance abuse, through both cultural and scientific lenses (NUS College of Humanities & Sciences, 2023a). Another course, provided jointly by the departments of Economics and Chemistry, unites the physics and chemistry of technology with the environmental, economic, geopolitical and policy considerations of electric vehicles (NUS College of Humanities & Sciences, 2023b).

Like CHS, the College of Design and Engineering (CDE) was recently formed through the merging of faculties. The new College carves out a common curriculum (equivalent to 15 courses) and bumps up the number of electives students can take. CDE united the School of Design and Environment and the Faculty of Engineering, to “take advantage of the natural synergies and growing convergence between the fields of Engineering, Architecture, and Design” (NUS College of Design & Engineering, 2021, paragraph 1). Given the collaborative nature of so many professions, students need to know how to find integrated solutions for the real world by working across disciplines.

In addition to the interdisciplinary approaches of CHS and CDE, NUS offers a variety of programs and pedagogies that promote the kinds of skills and critical thinking we believe students will need throughout their careers.

3.2 Lifelong Learning at the School of Continuing and Lifelong Education

To build and support a culture of lifelong learning, NUS established a School of Continuing and Lifelong Education (SCALE) in 2016. SCALE unifies professional development and CET offerings at the university and supports the delivery of large-scale training. Its programs target the needs of working professionals and are therefore broad-based and multidisciplinary. To ensure its courses meet market demand, NUS works closely with industry associations, unions, and local and international employers.

In addition to programs open to any adult learner, SCALE services are available to corporations through “All-You-Can-Learn” (AYCL), a customizable training program to upskill and reskill employees. NUS currently has nine AYCL corporate clients.

3.2.1 Extended Enrollment Period, Stackable Courses, and New Master’s Programs

To encourage alumni to return and to continue their learning journeys, enrollment at NUS is valid for 20 years from when students are first admitted as undergraduates. Alumni are eligible for continuing education courses curated from 17 NUS schools and faculties, with opportunities for an alumni discount of 5% as well as some government subsidies.

Where possible, programs are flexible, to accommodate the needs of working adults. This means not only short courses (which are compressed and typically last a few days) and evening/weekend offerings; some programs permit sequential credentialing. An expanding catalogue of courses and programs can be stacked into qualifications like graduate certificates, graduate diplomas, and Bachelor’s or Master’s degrees. For example, students in the Master of Social Sciences in Communication program receive a graduate certificate upon completion of 16 units, a graduate diploma with 24 units, and a Master’s with 40 units (including a final project). This gives students the option to pause after completing the graduate certificate, and to return later to complete the Master’s. Short courses can be taken all year round, whereas semester courses follow the academic calendar, with intakes in August and January.

In 2018, at the launch of the 20-year enrollment initiative, NUS Provost Ho Teck Hua observed:

At NUS, we see lifelong learning as the key to ensuring that our students and alumni stay updated on the developments and disruptions that globalization and digital technologies are bringing to the workplace (...). It represents our strong commitment to our students and alumni, as well as our ambition to be their anchor for lifelong learning. (Teng, 2018, paragraph 7)

Some of NUS’s new Master’s programs offer specializations, and students can choose to get a graduate certification in that area, or to continue on for the full Master’s. For example, our Master of Science in Industry 4.0 offers specializations such as Data Mining and Interpretation, Deep Learning for Industry, Digital Supply Chain, and Internet of Things. Some of these programs require students to complete a consulting project, working with a private, public, or non-profit organization, to invent an application, or solve an industry problem. They are mentored by a faculty advisor and a company representative, connections that may further tie the student to the industry.

A number of our new postgraduate programs (both Master’s and Graduate Diplomas) are multidisciplinary, or interdisciplinary where relevant, and in some cases, allow prospective students with no prior domain knowledge to enroll in them. An example of a cross-disciplinary state-of-the-art CET course is the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy’s course, 3D Printing, Robots and Public Policy. In this course, students explore the benefits and risks of 3D printing and robotics in a variety of industries, as well as the policy and regulatory implications in terms of growth, efficiency and equity, and competitiveness. This kind of course equips a future policymaker with the knowledge and skills to make informed decisions about how to maximize the benefits—and manage the risks—of 3D printing.

4 Building a Learning Culture

Lifelong learning needs to be more than just enabling working adults to take classes. Younger adults must be prepared—and desire—to learn, so they are driven to take up educational opportunities throughout their careers and lives. NUS has been working to increase the types of learning experiences we offer to our students, to excite and encourage them to take charge of their own learning.

4.1 Starting Them Young

In 2021, SCALE commissioned a survey to explore how polytechnic students and first-year undergraduates make decisions about their studies and future careers. Some 36% of survey respondents had not yet decided on a study or career path (many said they were too busy to even explore options). Another 43% had not made a study or career decision but were at least aware that they needed to do so. Only 21% of respondents had decided on a study and/or career path. While the university is committed to skilling its undergraduates for the future, students who do not seriously explore or understand their options are less likely to take maximum advantage of what we have to offer. From subsequent focus group discussions with selected respondents, teachers, and career counsellors, as well as representatives from youth organizations, SCALE found that the majority of youths today face challenges in:

• 1. Identifying their aspirations and career identity, including their skills and interests;

• 2. Understanding the impacts that issues of today and tomorrow will have on their future; and

• 3. envisioning how they can balance what they want in their future and what they value.

NUS, with funding from the Temasek Foundation, is developing short courses (typically three days) for pre-university students ages 15–19 to help them better appreciate the technological and cultural opportunities and challenges we/they will face in the future, e.g., sustainability, an ageing population, cyber security, and food security. These courses will urge them to start clarifying their interests and thinking about the future by considering where they want to make an impact, how will they make a living, and what careers are appealing. The courses will also familiarize them with NUS’s approach to future skilling, by introducing critical thinking skills, interdisciplinary approaches, and openness to learning. Our hypothesis is that young people’s ambitions and interests are only as diverse as those of the mentors and opportunities they have been exposed to; we aim to increase that diversity.

Through this project, we would like to help a young person better appreciate:

• 1. the linkages between topics learned in school and their applications in the real world;

• 2. the multi-disciplinary lenses and empathy that solving real-world problems requires; and

• 3. the drivers of change in Singapore, and the unique opportunities and challenges these pose, both for Singapore and for the young person.

Regardless of whether the young person chooses NUS, the intent is to encourage them to think rigorously about their higher education options, and to make decisions based on their own interests and abilities (rather than what their parents want them to do).

4.2 Design-Your-Own-Module (DYOM)

DYOM was introduced in 2019, to encourage self-directed learning among undergraduates (Fig. 27.3). Students can take or design up to eight credits worth of electives (the equivalent of two courses). To push students to try new things, DYOM courses are taken on a pass/fail basis. Students may choose from over 2,000 edX courses or an online course offered by AI Singapore (a program run by the Singapore government). Once completed, students receive NUS credit and are reimbursed for the cost of the course.

Fig. 27.3

Example of possible DYOM development timeline provided by Dr. Andi Sudjana Putra

Alternatively, students may form groups based on their interests or social networks. The groups design their own course, with guidance from supervisors.

Students can create their own learning experiences, such as engaging guest speakers and conducting field trips and workshops (National University of Singapore, 2020b). In one DYOM course, students from diverse disciplines (engineering, arts and social sciences, and computing) worked together to create a rinser to prepare bottles and cans for recycling. In another course students learned to speak with their grandparents in the Hokkien dialect, which much of the younger generation has lost touch with.

Students may also choose to join recurring DYOMs. The Office of Student Affairs runs a course to train Peer Student Supporters. The curriculum includes mental health literacy, mental health issues and disorders, basic peer helping skills, and coping techniques. Peer Student Supporters provide a listening ear to fellow students, offer de-stressing activities like board games and craft work, and organize wellness projects. Social and emotional intelligence may go a long way in equipping students for the future (Bughin et al., 2018). There are currently about 40 Peer Student Supporters in training.

Another course, Computational Reasoning in the Corporate World, is a DYOM for students from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences who are interested in coding. Aimed at non-computing students who want to be able to incorporate simple coding into their work, this DYOM includes a part-time internship where students receive on-the-job training at participating companies. They learn the fundamentals of Python, how to analyze data, and link their training in the Arts and Social Sciences to problems they are likely to face in the corporate world: Future Skilling in action.

As of May 2022, students have taken 9,704 MOOCs under DYOM. An average of 248 students (or 13 groups) opted for group DYOMs. NUS’s DYOM initiative won the award for “Teaching and Learning Strategy of the Year” at the Times Higher Education (THE) Awards Asia 2021 (National University of Singapore, 2021).

4.3 The Imaginarium

Learning can be intentional or incidental. The Imaginarium—a physical space housed in NUS’s Central Library—is an example of a space that allows for incidental learning.

The Imaginarium offers an arsenal of technology, including a mixed reality room, a HoloLens, an Oculus, and 360 cameras that students can borrow. The Oculus has been used to test run a business idea, while 3D scanning and printing is used to print prototypes and other objects. The intention is for the space and tools to “future skill” our students by inspiring resourcefulness and creativity. For example, a designer might use Oculus to bring their designs to life; a media student might use a 3D printer to create props. The Imaginarium encourages students to think up applications for existing technologies and to look for new opportunities to apply their problem-solving skills. This allows them to transform future, unfamiliar challenges into opportunities.

Aside from providing a play space and tools, the Imaginarium supports experiential learning for specific courses. For example, the team developed apps for three Forensic Science courses that can be used with virtual reality and augmented reality technology, or on the web. In Advanced Criminal Litigation—Forensics on Trial, students inspect a crime scene through VR technology. They are able to view the evidence in detail, and to run tests. In Forensic Toxicology and Poisons, students can explore a crime scene in virtual reality, then use augmented reality to examine the evidence they find.

5 Emerging Area: Green Economy

In early 2021, the Singapore government unveiled Green Plan 2030, laying out sustainability and environmental goals for the next decade. Sustainability will be “a new engine for jobs and growth” (Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment, 2021, p. 5). The Green economy is also one of three high-growth areas identified by SkillsFuture (2021); the other two are the Digital and Care economies.

In a Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) survey in 2021, 41% of institutional investors in Asia said that a lack of qualified candidates for hire has limited their ability to invest more heavily in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) (HSBC, 2021). An analysis of LinkedIn data by the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Institute showed that while less than 1% of profiles listed sustainability-related skills, 6% of job postings sought them (Channel News Asia, 2021). There is a need to train the talent pool to meet the rising demand for Green Skills.

People are definitely interested in Green Jobs. According to a 2022 Accenture survey, 77% of Asia–Pacific respondents aged 15 to 39 said they want to work in the Green Economy within 10 years (Accenture, 2021). This means training for both young people and mid-career types. Rising participation in Green Skill training is part of a larger trend of increasing enrollment in CET, as adults want to add new skills and capabilities to their resumes or pivot to new industries and/or new job roles.

5.1 NUS: Matching Demand and Supply for Green Jobs

Using the labor research of SSG (2021), Green Skills were identified and clustered into groupings such as Environmental and Sustainability Management, Green Infrastructure, Resource Circularity and Decarbonization, etc. The skills groupings are used as a reference point for developing new (or reviewing existing) programs. After courses are developed, the learning outcomes are evaluated by selected stakeholders in government and corporates to ensure relevance.

Given the multidisciplinary nature of sustainability, NUS set up a CET Coordination Committee tasked with synchronizing efforts between Faculties/Schools that offer programs (everything from short courses to degrees) on sustainability and climate change. This is to minimize overlap in content and prevent internal cannibalization. It is also a forum to trade insights from the different experiences schools and faculties have from engaging their clients on sustainability.

6 Emerging Area: Data Everything

It is a data world. Much data is produced, and more organizations seek to leverage on the data collected. Naturally, they expect their employees to have data skills: how to get data, how to understand it, how to use it, how to protect it. McKinsey’s survey of over 3,000 C-suite executives in seven countries, including the United States, Canada, and a few countries in Europe, showed that advanced IT and programming skills are seen as the most important expertise that will be needed in the next three years. The demand for basic cognitive skills, especially basic data input and processing skills, is expected to fall (Bughin et al., 2018).

Aside from relevant courses and programs, part of NUS’s future skilling agenda is making sure that everyone—students, faculty, and staff—knows how to use data. Graduates will have to use data in their businesses and organizations: to increase efficiency, solve problems and try new ideas. NUS staff need data (and data skills) to figure out what new programs and courses the university should offer (and which should be retired), and to support policy changes in anything from HR to IT to infrastructure development. As a university, the community is the creator, author, and custodian of enormous amounts of data.

6.1 Data Literacy on Campus

In 2020, NUS introduced compulsory training in data literacy and basic artificial intelligence for all university staff. The two goals of this program were to foster data-driven decision-making on campus and develop staff capabilities. Using concepts and visualization skills taught in the course, students use data—often from campus sources—to address problems or inefficiencies, or to test new ideas. For example, a team from the Development Office found that there is a significant difference in how much NUS staff donated to the school, depending on their alumni status (National University of Singapore, 2020a). This information may be helpful in refining development strategies. This program has met some challenges in practice. Staff with some training and experience in data use did not find that the required introductory course challenged them or added to their knowledge base. Feedback is used to fine-tune each course run.

6.2 ALSET—Where Data is Pooled

The Institute for Applied Learning Sciences and Educational Technology (ALSET) maintains NUS’s Data Lake, a living repository of educational data ready for research use by academics, policymakers, and innovators (Institute for Applied Learning & Educational Technology, 2022). The lake has data collected passively (such as LMS transaction logs, course bidding, and student housing), as well as those collected actively, through surveys and studies. NUS students and staff can access the data by submitting a request to the ALSET data governing bodies.

Dr. Robert Kamei, the founder of ALSET, formed an analytics team to pilot the use of educational data in his home school (Medicine). The team takes on research questions from management, faculty, or students. One project started with a student asking whether the order of clinical rotation affects student performance, and whether starting with a particular medical specialty is advantageous. The results showed only small differences, but these can probably be teased out as more data are accumulated.

The Data Lake is intended to be a resource to encourage inquiry and creative problem-solving. Access to the data is regulated (of course), but is available to staff or students who want, for example, to understand relevant behaviors (e.g., human traffic on campus) before they develop solutions for recycling. When curious-minded students or staff are empowered to question and develop answers to challenges, they are better prepared for the future.

7 Conclusion

As a major research institution enjoying a close relationship with the Singaporean government and with industry, we at NUS believe we are preparing our students for the future and for change. But the future remains difficult to predict. We recognize that the skills we teach today may become obsolete; there is of course no guarantee that our new programs provide “future-proofing”. Predicting even five years into the future is difficult (otherwise we would have written this chapter five years ago!). Lifelong learning is a little like nuclear fusion: many people think it’s a good idea, but perfection is always five or ten years in the future. And so, a degree of humility is warranted.

None of our challenges are unique to NUS. Universities, especially big research universities like NUS, can’t change quickly or easily. Knowledge takes time to evolve, refine, and translate into classroom content. We can’t lose sight of our primary mission as a research university—the production and dissemination of research. Nor should we forget the higher calling of a university: to help our students learn to be human. We cannot simply prepare students to be cogs in a machine, especially when the machine may change every few years. We must develop curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking. These are unlikely to ever become obsolete and may be what differentiates an exceptional worker from a good one.

By ensuring both broad- and deep-skilling in our undergraduate education, and with many new, more skill-specific and relevant master’s programs, we look at a volatile and uncertain future with cautious optimism. We end our chapter with some recommendations.

Future Skills in Practice: Our Recommendations

• Allow and encourage undergraduates to explore a variety of approaches and perspectives, either through a set of broad requirements and/or by offering interdisciplinary approaches.

• Lifelong learning might not remain an optional education taken up by diligent and curious adults, but become a necessity for adults to stay relevant. Encouraging adult learners to return to school is not just the matter of opening courses, but understanding their needs and motivations. For example, where possible, offer flexibility and stackability in postgraduate studies.

• Not all learning must happen in the classroom, with a facilitator, and guided by a learning plan. Incidental, unstructured learning can happen within a university that provides the tools, space, and opportunities for students to stumble into. Without the pressure of grades, they learn to learn, and are empowered to find answers to challenges. These are skills that will last them beyond their undergraduate years.

• Build and maintain relationships with potential employers to ensure understanding of their needs and expectations in terms of competencies.