The HEAD Foundation (THF) welcomed Professor Deane Neubauer, Co-Director of the Asia Pacific Higher Education Research Partnership (APHERP) at the East-West Centre, on 8 April 2016.

THF is a member of APHERP, and Professor Neubauer’s visit has come as an occasion for the Foundation to exchange ideas and research on higher education with an eminent senior scholar and leader in the field.

Professor Neubauer and THF researchers discussed the global issues and challenges in higher education, and the responses of universities in Southeast Asia, as well as collaborative opportunities between THF and APHERP.

“I see (THF and APHERP) as facilitators of a discourse on … the changing nature of higher education,” Professor Neubauer said. “And I think THF being here in Singapore in the midst of this incredibly vital and diverse region, (has) its purpose perfectly sited to be able to create this initiative … APHERP as a companion organisation can assist in that progress as well.”

THF Academic Director Professor S. Gopinathan and Professor Neubauer also paid a courtesy call to Professor Cheong Hee Kiat, President of SIM University (UniSIM). They had a fruitful exchange of ideas on trends and challenges in higher education, in particular on the interaction between universities and the job market.

Professor Neubauer, himself a former Chancellor of the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, spoke on the future of universities, exploring their role in credentialisation and in tandem with workplace needs.

Professor Cheong spoke on the evolving higher education landscape in Singapore, in particular with the SkillsFuture programme.