Defence studies contract with Brunei Army secured

The University's Centre for Defence and Security Studies will offer postgraduate diploma studies to members of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces under a three-year contract expected to earn several hundred thousand dollars.

Vice-Chancellor Steve Maharey announced the agreement today, saying it reflected well on the international standing of the centre led by Professor Glyn Harper, a leading authority on defence matters and military history.

The agreement also foreshadows future possible academic exchanges between the Brunei Defence Academy and the University through research and staff training programmes.

With Professor Harper is currently in the United States on a Fulbright scholarship, the acting director of the centre, Professor Emeritus Graeme Fraser, signed the agreement on the University's behalf in Brunei Darussalam this month.

Professor Fraser described the opportunity to offer a Postgraduate Diploma in Defence and Strategic Studies at the Brunei Defence Academy as an important strategic development for the centre and the University. “It results from a contestable process involving other tertiary providers,” Professor Fraser says.

Some of these included institutions in Britain, which had responsibility for Brunei before it gained independence in 1984. Professor Fraser says the contract is also significant in positioning the University in the South East Asia market, where Massey already has existing agreements with institutions in Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia.

A preparatory course for intending students will be held in Brunei in November before the programme starts next year. Papers include command studies, international relations-theory and practice, joint multinational and interagency operations and modern campaign studies.

Course information will be provided through a combination of distance learning, video conferencing, e-learning, and campus block courses run by Massey staff at the Brunei Defence Academy.

Most of the students will be serving soldiers in the Brunei Army. They will do the equivalent of a year's full-time study to complete the diploma. Professor Fraser says they may then progress to a master's qualification at Massey.

Established in 2001, the Centre for Defence and Security Studies provides a focus for defence education to military service personnel and interested civilians. It teaches an undergraduate degree, a major in the Bachelor of Arts and a range of postgraduate programmes.