About Us

The Higher Education Planning in Asia (HEPA) Association was formed in December 2017, registered as a non-for-profit professional body under the Registry of Societies in Singapore (UEN: T17SS0240D). The objects of the Association are:

  1. To establish and develop an Asian network of higher education planners and administrators with common interests to share experiences and learn from one another;
  2. To provide platforms for interactions, peer mentoring, learning, and collaborations among higher education planners and administrators;
  3. To contribute towards the capability and strategic development of higher education institutions across Asia.

HEPA originated from an initial gathering of planners from across various higher education institutions in Singapore in 2006, as a community-of-practice that met regularly to share insights and best practices. Over the years, it has evolved into a pan-Asian network of university planners, with more than 700 individuals in the network to date, across countries including  Australia, Brunei, China, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan. HEPA is linked with a number of sister organisations, such as the Society of College and University Planners in the US, the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education in the UK, the Australian Network of University Planners in Australia, the Higher Education Wechat Group in China, and the University Rankings Forum of Korea.

In 2012, the first pan-Asian HEPA Forum was held in Hong Kong, and the annual Forum has been held in successive years across various Asian cities, including Seoul, Beijing, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, and Shanghai. The annual Forum attracts a broad and diverse representation of senior institutional planners and administrators from across Asia, focused on topics that are highly relevant to the evolving higher education landscape in Asia. Through the HEPA platform, Asian university planners can interact, share best practices, and build their networks, thereby contributing toward strengthening the planning capabilities of higher education organisations across Asia.