NUS Bulletin AY2023/24

Ridge View Residential College (RVRC) offers a distinct two-year living-learning experience to foster a community of growth and excellence.

The RVRC Programme models values of stewardship to the society and the environment enabled through robust inter-disciplinary education, active community engagement, and critical introspection. Throughout their residency, students work closely with dedicated RVRC Fellows, called ‘Academic Advisors’. Learning is conducted in small groups to enhance student engagement with their Academic Advisors and their peers. This ensures that RVRC students have ample opportunities and support for individual growth during their residency at the college.

Formal learning in the academic courses is complemented by a suite of co-academic activities and initiatives aligned with the college values and students’ individual interests. These activities make learning fun while becoming the catalyst for strategic learning outcomes beyond the classroom and to further the college mission to hone future oriented leaders.

Incoming freshmen may apply for the RVRC Programme concurrently with or after their NUS application. Admission into the RVRC Programme is contingent upon the acceptance of an offer to pursue an undergraduate degree programme in NUS.

Admissions for current undergraduates is typically opened on a case-by-case basis. Hence there are semesters where none or only selected RCs will open for applications. The admissions exercise for current undergraduates will be announced on the RC admission website before the start of the semester if there are places available.

Interested applicants should submit an online application via the Joint Residential College Application System. Selected students will be invited to attend an interview. You will be assessed based on your essay(s) and interview, in addition to your academic achievements and co-curricular experiences.

Only one application may be submitted per Academic Year.

For Cohort AY2021/2022 onwards:

Incoming Freshmen admitted to RVRC will be offered a two-year residency, during which students are expected to read the RVRC curriculum comprising four courses which map directly to the following four General Education (GE) pillars (https://news.nus.edu.sg/service-learning-and-greater-flexibility-for-incoming-undergraduates-at-nus/):

• Cultures and Connections
• Critique and Expression
• Singapore Studies
• Communities and Engagement

RVRC students will have the choice to select courses from each of the four pillars, and are expected to read one course from each of the four pillars to fulfill the requirements of the RVRC Programme. Students who complete the RVRC programme will receive recognition for this on their official NUS transcript.

For students from Law, Medicine, Dentistry and selected programmes with curricular constraints (e.g. Nursing, Pharmacy, Music, and Joint Degree Programmes), an academic pathway is tailored for students to still read courses with RVRC as part of their college experience.

For Cohort AY2020/2021 and before:

The RVRC experience is anchored and distinguished by its integrated inter-disciplinary curriculum.  Each year is centred around three themes – sustainability, communication and workplace readiness in the first year; and resilience, respect and reflection in the second year.

In the FIRST year of residency, every student admitted into the RVRC Programme is required to complete three year-long academic courses.

These three courses are:

1. GEQ1917 Understanding and Critiquing Sustainability
2. ES1601 Professional and Academic Communication*
3. WR1401 Workplace Readiness

*Students who are required to read ES1103 in Semester 1 (based on Qualifying English Test (QET) results) will read ES1601 in Semester 2.

The courses include two compulsory co-academic components which provide experiential learning and real-world application.

In addition to the course requirements, all first year students enrolled in RVRC must participate in the following compulsory college-level activities:

1. the RVRC Coastal Cleanup
2. two college-level industry engagements: 1 industry leader dialogue and 1 industry visit
3. two community service actions

Certification for the first year is achieved by fulfilment of all the above academic, co-academic and college level activities.

In the SECOND year, students at RVRC are required to choose from a basket of non-course learning opportunities called Forums.

Certification for the second year is achieved by fulfilment of participation in a forum in each of the three pillars of Respect, Resilience and Reflection.

For Cohort AY2021/2022 onwards:

With effect from AY2021/22, students from faculties in the course system are required to complete six General Education (GE) courses under the enhanced GE curriculum (https://www.nus.edu.sg/registrar/academic-information-policies/undergraduate-students/general-education/for-students-admitted-from-AY2021-22).

The four courses in the RVRC programme curriculum are designed to map directly to four of the six GE pillars. RVRC students who read the four courses will fulfil the requirements of the following GE pillars:

• Cultures and Connections
• Critique and Expression
• Singapore Studies
• Communities and Engagement

RVRC students will read the remaining two GE pillars of Data Literacy and Digital Literacy outside the RVRC Programme, as offered by the university or their home faculty.

RVRC students from NUS College of Humanities and Sciences (CHS) who read the four RVRC courses will be exempted from the following four CHS Common Curriculum Courses marked with ‘X’ in the table below. RVRC CHS students will be required to read the CHS Common Curriculum courses indicated in yellow.

For more details on the fulfillment of degree programme graduation requirements, students are advised to check with their respective programme offices.

For Cohort AY2020/2021 and before:

GEQ1917 fulfils the ‘Asking Questions’ pillar, which is one of the five General Education courses required of all undergraduates. RVRC students who have read and completed this course would have satisfied the “Asking Questions” pillar.

ES1601 is read in lieu of the writing and/or communication course(s) of RVRC partner faculties, or as an Unrestricted Elective Course for students in the following degree programmes: Architecture (ARK), Environmental Studies (BES), Industrial Design (IDS), Pharmacy (PMC), Project and Facilities Management (PFM).

Students have the option to read WR1401 as part of the NUS Design Your Own Course (DYOC) initiative by completing additional learning activities.

For more information on RVRC, please visit http://rvrc.nus.edu.sg.