Samoa USP Campus pride in expansion as 270 students graduate this Friday

By Talaia Mika

APIA, SAMOA – 11 AUGUST 2022: The University of the South Pacific Samoa Campus continues to expand and have shared some of the milestones achieved over the years, including the graduation of close to three hundred students this Friday.

USP’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Pal Ahluwali announced in a media conference yesterday that the University’s upcoming graduation will be remarkable in terms of numbers and a huge achievement for USP.

“One of the highlights for me is the role of the USP as a capacity building institution in the Pacific and when I looked at the figures and I saw that there will be 27 people that will graduate with an MBA, that really resonated with me that we are really doing the job that we claim that we should be doing and to have 27 MBAs within the country is a huge accomplishment and I really congratulate those graduates and it’s such an honour to be a part of the graduation and seeing people that will be taking that capacity and investing it back to our country and in the economy,” he said.

“Especially given the pandemic, we haven’t had a face to face graduation in here since the outbreak and lockdown so this is a really great opportunity for us to celebrate the success of our students.

“For me, graduation for anything else is about students’ success and it’s our students who are the biggest ambassadors, they are the ones who are going to come out of this primary institution of the Pacific and make a difference to their communities.”

USP Samoa is recognized as amongst the top ten universities in the world, which validates the excellence that the university strived for in over 50 years of its existence.

World universities also rank USP number twelve for its’ impacts and crisis management in the world, and amongst hundreds to two hundred universities in the world being seen as innovative.

At USP, the staff had done much in trying to expand which will be reflected at the diversity they will have at this graduation on Friday.

The Vice-chancellor also acknowledged the Samoan government’s support including a recommendation to change the name of the campus from Alafua USP campus to Samoa USP campus.

“That’s because we do a lot more than agriculture here in the campus and of course we have many plans to expand into new areas and we want to make sure that many people can study here rather than having to travel all the way to Fiji for some of their studies that can be delivered here,” he said.

“Government are extremely supportive including their assistance in expanding our Savaii centre, we’re exploring that with them and they have been fantastic and we’re expecting more support now that our Chancellor is from Samoa,” in reference to the investiture of the Chancellors position on the Head of State before the graduation.

“The Prime Minister herself has such a long association with this University and I think every time I’ve spoken with her, her love for the University comes through and she’s a real regional champion and we hope that grows from strength to strength.”

Part of USP’s expansion include efficient academic programs, including a Business Diploma in Professional Management which 35 people have already started on since Monday with three students from Savaii.

Significantly, many students are from several parts of the region and overseas including Tokelau which makes USP Samoa a very vibrant community and is marked as another achievement for the university.

“So many of the regional leaders have studied on this campus and have that fond memory of meeting people, some end up getting married and there is an interesting amalgamation of cultures that happens here on the campus,” says Prof. Ahluwalia.

At the Savaii Centre, Prof. Ahluwalia said USP Samoa staff are making sure that the Savaii centre is linked better and has more opportunities for Savaii students to study without have to come to Apia.

USP is also negotiating fee arrangements in many ways considering that not many students can afford university education immediately.

On the 10^th and 11^th of November this year, USP’s council meeting will be held in Samoa and all ministers from twelve-member countries including Heads of States, Prime Minister of Tonga, and President of Nauru will be in Samoa.

The Minister of Education, Seuula Ioane and the CEO of the Ministry of Finance will be Samoa’s representatives at the conference.