Communities and Engagement Pillar

Intent

NUS-CARES

As Singapore’s flagship university, NUS is committed to advancing higher education with purpose, responsibility, and long-term impact. We deliver sustainable social value through our education and training programmes, notably the NUS Communities & Engagement (C&E) Pillar, where we harness the collective synergy of youth action to advance positive social change. Through direct engagement — mentoring under-resourced students, supporting financially challenged families, aiding socially isolated seniors, and connecting with underserved communities — our students make a tangible impact, accelerating social mobility and strengthening national resilience.

The C&E Pillar is part of the university-wide NUS Cares movement, where the NUS community of students, staff, and alumni champion and volunteer in meaningful initiatives that contribute to the betterment of society. It provides a unique service-learning or engagement-learning experience for all students to cultivate empathy, agility, and personal effectiveness, while encouraging them to think deeply about societal issues and take actions to build a more caring and resilient society.

Students gain foundational knowledge in the classroom and put it into practice through engagements with national agencies or community partners. These experiences may include volunteer service, field projects, research, and the formulation of action plans. Through guided reflections, students deepen their understanding of themselves, the communities they serve, and the broader societal challenges they address.

The C&E Pillar applies to all NUS students enrolled from AY2021/2022 onwards in academic programmes without an existing community service component.

Watch this video to hear from NUS President Professor Tan Eng Chye on his vision for the C&E Pillar and learn more about the programme.

Key learning outcomes

Students will:

  • Cultivate a sensitivity and orientation towards broader community and/or societal issues through an appreciation for diverse perspectives and empathy for others, by stepping out of their own identities and immediate pursuits
  • Apply disciplinary, multi-disciplinary, and/or inter-disciplinary perspectives, theoretical frameworks and approaches to analyse social issues, plan and/or carry out mitigating actions, and engage in after-action reflection
  • Cultivate personal and interpersonal effectiveness skill sets, including empathy, collaboration, time management, communication, negotiation, and conflict management


Who is required to read the C&E Pillar

This is a graduation requirement for all students from Cohort AY2021/2022 onwards, except students from Faculty of Law, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, Faculty of Dentistry, Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies, Bachelor of Pharmacy, Bachelor of Technology, Bachelor of Information Technology, and Yale-NUS students. The academic programmes in these units already have service-learning as part of their graduation requirements or are recognised for their prior learning.

If you have questions, check out the FAQ, or email the C&E team at AskCnE@nus.edu.sg

Please visit the NUS Communities and Engagement Portal to hear more from students.



Types of C&E courses

a. Service-work courses (service-learning). These C&E courses have volunteer service work integrated into the course. The service effort required is usually 60-80h, including preparation time and follow-up work, spread out over up to one year. Their workload is less intense, and, more crucially, the spread provides a better sustained engagement with and support of the community.

These courses typically integrate academic training with impactful service in collaboration with ministries and national agencies to support senior citizens, disadvantaged families with children, and children from disadvantaged background.  Students will be fully trained before embarking on experiential service work.

b. Field/project-work courses (engagement-learning).

These C&E courses have field/project work integrated into the course, focusing on specific disciplinary skills and/or specific sectors of the community. The field/project work would typically require engagement with a community through dialogue, research, analysis, and/or formulation of an action plan (preferably, together with implementation of that plan) to bring a direct or indirect benefit to the identified community. The amount of effort required would also be about 60-80h, but will usually be completed within one semester.

Management Team
Chief, Communities & Engagement: Professor Melvin YAP (melvin@nus.edu.sg)

For service-learning programmes:
Director (Academics): Mr ZHENG Liren (z.liren@nus.edu.sg)
Director (Service Learning): Ms SIM Qin Ying (pvosqy@nus.edu.sg)
Assistant Director (Service Learning): Mr CHONG Bao Shen, Kenneth (pvocbsk@nus.edu.sg)

Special note on workload accounting: One-semester vs. year-long C&E courses

Some C&E courses, usually the field/project-work courses, are regular intense 4-Unit courses with work completed within one semester.

Other C&E courses, especially the service-work courses, are spread out over two consecutive semesters, or up to one year, that is, Semester 1 through Semester 2 to Special Term 2; or Semester 2 through the Special Terms to Semester 1 of following AY.

Such courses will then count 2 Units in the first semester and the other 2 Units in the following semester. An ‘IP’ (in-progress) grade will be assigned to courses that extend beyond current examination results release date or beyond one semester. The actual grade will be assigned upon course completion.

Thus, students can always register for these courses on top of their usual planned workload of 20 Units or so, without breaching workload cap per semester. Students generally do not have to ‘sacrifice’ any Major or other regular courses to read a year-long C&E course.

 

Overview

In general, students are encouraged to follow the academic study plan of their College, Faculty, or School to fulfil the C&E pillar in their third year of study, when they have completed about half of their academic courses and gained exposure to interdisciplinary training and complex problem solving. However, students in a three-year programme of study, or who will likely be away from NUS in their third year of study e.g., SEP, NOC, LoA are encouraged to read the course earlier, in their second year. For example, if you intend to go away for SEP or NOC in Semester 6, that is, Semester 2 of Year 3, you should consider to enrol in your preferred service-learning course in Semester 3 (which may end in Special Term after Semester 4), or Semester 4 (which ends in Semester 5). Click here for more information.

Certain Colleges, Faculties, or Schools may impose restrictions on the C&E course required to fulfil Programme requirements. Please see table.

If you are a student of:

You may choose:

1
  1. Faculty of Law,
  2. Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine,
  3. Faculty of Dentistry,
  4. Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies, or
  5. Department of Pharmacy, and enrolled in the Bachelor of Pharmacy programme
 Exempted – your academic unit will arrange for relevant work in the community as part of your graduation requirements. 
2 UTCP

UTCP students to follow UTCP study plan

3

NUS College

Impact Experience Project

4

RVRC

RVN1000/RVN1001 for Cohort AY2021/2022;
RVN2000, RVN2001, RVN2002 or RVN2003 for Cohort AY2022/2023 and beyond 

5

Bachelor of Technology and Bachelor of Information Technology programmes 

Bachelor of Technology and Bachelor of Information Technology students are exempted from C&E in recognition of prior learning

6

Others

You may select any course to fit your inclination, training, and interest from the list here.

 

Choosing the course that fits you

The university will trial a small-scale pilot launch of the C&E pillar in AY2022/2023 for students from Cohort AY2021/2022. We will further expand the range of C&E courses offered as we develop more C&E courses over the next 1–2 years (2022–2023). To help you in your selection, you may wish to ask yourself one of the two following questions:

1. Would you like to read a service-work course or field/project-work course?

2. Which sector would you like to contribute to through your C&E course?

Arts and Culture

Children and Youth

Community development, total defence, etc.

Lower-income families with children

People with disabilities

Senior citizens

Some discipline-based courses may simultaneously fulfil both the C&E pillar and a Major, Minor, or Specialization requirements (see here)

Students wishing to read these courses should consult the relevant academic programme for details.