NUS – Reverse the Mergers and #NoMoreTopDown

NUS – Reverse the Mergers and #NoMoreTopDown

Started
August 29, 2021
Petition to
NUS President Prof Tan Eng Chye and 1 other
Signatures: 14,817Next Goal: 15,000
Support now

Why this petition matters

Started by No More Top Down

*Access our full petition here: bit.ly/NMTD_nonSR [regular version] or bit.ly/NMTD_SR [screenreader-friendly version].

Access our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) here: bit.ly/NMTD_FAQ_nonSR [regular version] or bit.ly/NMTD_FAQ_SR [screenreader-friendly version].

**Please note that when you click "chip in", the money does not go to this petition – it goes to change.org. See here for more details: change.org/l/us/chipping-in-explained.

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We reject the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) recent merger decisions. Inexcusably, the affected parties were only informed after the decisions were made. The mergers are ineffective, lacking in transparency, and undermine the welfare of the affected communities.

NUS recently revealed the decision to merge the Faculty of Engineering (FoE) and the School of Design and Environment (SDE) to form the College of Design and Engineering (CDE), as well as merge the University Scholars Programme (USP) and Yale-NUS College (YNC) to form New College. Students from various faculties of NUS have drafted this petition to voice our concerns with the policy and its implications.

We contend that these mergers are not isolated events but are part of NUS’ standard operating procedure for years, as evidenced by the merging of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) and the Faculty of Science (FoS) to form the College of Humanities and Sciences (CHS). These three mergers directly impact six faculties – FoE, SDE, USP, YNC, FASS and FoS, which constitute over half of NUS’ student body.

As our full petition outlines*, NUS has had a history of concentrating power over major decisions and its processes to its upper management, with minimal regard for the members of NUS whom it claims to serve. NUS claims that its values include “[considering] students’ perspectives and needs”, “[providing] support, motivation, and recognition to [its] students”, and “[exercising] accountability to [its] stakeholders, [upholding its] integrity and [endorsing] fair practice”. However, NUS’ decision to impose these mergers directly contradicts its own values and endangers the wellbeing of its students and staff.

This petition aims to hold NUS accountable for its own contradictions. The mergers are symptoms born from NUS’ lack of care for its student and staff bodies. Students and staff who have collaborated tirelessly on this petition are but a small reflection of the wider sentiments held by students across all NUS faculties.

We therefore demand #NoMoreTopDown approaches across the whole NUS. We call for the creation of policies based on the close participation and consent of students, staff, and representatives in common agreement and for their collective wellbeing.

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*Access our full petition here: bit.ly/NMTD_nonSR [regular version] or bit.ly/NMTD_SR [screenreader-friendly version].

Access our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) here: bit.ly/NMTD_FAQ_nonSR [regular version] or bit.ly/NMTD_FAQ_SR [screenreader-friendly version].

[Update, 31 August 2021: We have made minor edits to our documents for greater precision and clarity in wording.]

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**If you would like to get into contact with us, please email nomoretopdown@gmail.com. If you are from NUS – please indicate (i) if you are a student/staff/etc., and (ii) which faculty/department you are from.

***[Header image credit: Original image from @jiachenlim on Unsplash]

****Please note that when you click "chip in", the money does not go to this petition – it goes to change.org. See here for more details: change.org/l/us/chipping-in-explained.

Support now
Signatures: 14,817Next Goal: 15,000
Support now
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Decision Makers

  • NUS President Prof Tan Eng Chye
  • NUS Board of Trustees