11 April, 2022
Kia ora e te whānau,
At this special time of the year for our Muslim whānau – Ramadan Mubārak!
We have two long weekends ahead of us, thank goodness! As I look around our Institute, I can see the effort and the mahi that has gone on in order to meet our students needs since the beginning of the year. There have been lots of difficulties and efforts to ensure last year’s deferred grades are resolved for students. Ngā mihi nui to all involved in that process.
Then the enrolment for 2022 and the difficulties of vaccine passes, another mammoth job to coordinate. And of course, the problems with the delivery of our programmes in online and partial on-campus modes – so well done under extreme uncertainty by our Academic teams and the APM’s who coordinated so much of that along with the Operations teams. I know some of that uncertainty and stress has caused students to reconsider whether study is for them at the moment. Great mahi by our Student Success teams, Maia and the Pacific Centre to help students work through their concerns.
I know I have missed other examples of the Unitec whānau going above and beyond this year – so I really just want to say, thank you all so much and wish you a wonderful Easter break. I hope some have taken advantage of the ten days off for three days leave situation that we have with Easter being so close to Anzac Day.
Something to think about (or not) during this time away from Unitec is the concept of Pottering – an antidote to busyness…
Busyness – the state or condition of having a great deal to do, probably important things.
To Potter – to ignore all the things you have to do and spend time in a relaxed way doing small jobs and other things that are not very important, occupy oneself in a desultory but pleasant way.
We have been talking about Pottering in our School, and what became very clear was that it meant quite different things to different people. I felt it was activities that had an absence of adrenaline, however our team didn’t all agree with that. Many felt there had to be some sense of achievement or even competition related to the spending of this time. In general, it was agreed that they were activities that brought enjoyment in some form. We will be running a SCEAT Photo Competition until 02 May – ‘Share your Pottering’ anyone can enter, just let us know and we will send the link.
In our HoS meeting this last week, Sue Emerson asked us to consider what we would be carrying forward into the rest of the year – maybe activities that we would keep as part of the ‘new normal’. My personal favourite concept to carry through is ‘bubbles on campus’ and I’m happy if the definition for that is what we had in the ‘very old normal’.
Susan Bennett
Head of School – School of Computing, Electrical and Applied Technology
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4 April 2022
Kia ora e te whānau,
The past two years have been so disruptive that it can often feel like we are treading water and that there’s not a lot of good news out there. However, throughout this time a great deal of important mahi has been underway with Unitec researchers, students and lecturers making an impact and creating change in the world. Quite a bit of it has been making it into the media. so I wanted to share some of these stories with you.
At the close of last year, Unitec’s School of Healthcare and Social Practices Senior Lecturers, Dr Hoa Nguyen and David Kenkel, released their study on the lived experience of Tuvaluan undocumented immigrants. The report, titled Hidden Gems – Lived Experiences of Tuvaluan Hope Seekers and Their Families in Aotearoa, details the experiences of Tuvaluans immigrating to New Zealand on valid visas, but subsequently losing the legal status that would allow them the right to work or to gain residency.
For the release, the communications team worked to get wider exposure for this important report, with the result that it was covered as a three-part series on TV One News by Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver. The research then got further coverage on Radio New Zealand and the Pacific Media Network and after its release, Stuff news reported that one Tuvaluan overstayer had finally managed to achieve residency. Since then, government ministers have indicated their interest in furthering this cause, and the hope is that change will be made in the immigration system that will allow these overstayers gain residency.
It will be lifechanging for this community, and it is wonderful to see how the mahi of Unitec is making significant change in the world for others.
Last month, Build magazine featured the cutting edge waste-reduction programme that Dr Terri-Ann Berry and team are leading that could see companies from across the construction industry join in the push to reduce plastic pollution. Her team’s work will continue to make waves in the future with some exciting mahi in the pipeline.
Soon the Uniwaka car sharing app developed by the Sustainability and Wellbeing team is being profiled on The Project as an example of Unitec’s innovation in this area.
Ngā Wai a Te Tūī continues to be a powerhouse of significant research, including a recent survey, He Waka Eke Noa: Māori cultural frameworks for violence prevention and intervention receiving wide coverage.
We can be proud of the work we are achieving, especially as it represents the strong spirit of Mahi Kotahitanga at Unitec, and if you have any news you wish to share about the mahi you are doing with Unitec whānau or externally, just email us at communications@unitec.ac.nz
Vivienne Merito
Director- Communications and Marketing
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28 March 2022
Kia ora e te whānau,
The Bachelor of Performing and Screen Arts has had a whirlwind six months. I would like to give a bellowing thank you and congratulations to the entire PASA team for the successful move from the north end of campus. The task was monumental with the picking through of three decades worth of costumes, props, film reels, video tapes, sewing machines and lighting rigs. After sorting through all of this, and much more, the team has selected the best of it and packed it up for our move onto the south west side of campus late December 2021. Everyone in PASA contributed to this project, many on the team dedicated long hours and weekends in order to make sure we could make the move out date.
Things are still in a state of flux. The new semester has found the team teaching in a variety locations around the city and on the Mount Albert campus. The delay in building 108 has left us without much of the specialised teaching spaces that we need to deliver the Performing and Screen Arts programme. We have secured some fabulous locations that are keeping the programme going strong and matching our high standard of training. The Dance discipline has been working out of the beautiful DANZA dance studios in New Lynn. Screen Arts discipline’s technical classes are being taught a few days a week at Whoa! Studios in Henderson. And there’s great news that the Acting discipline will be locating some of their practical teaching at TAPAC at Western Springs. Securing all of these locations has been a lot of work for the wider Unitec team, thank you to all who have been involved.
Our students have been working in-person during this time, masked and distanced, so they can continue to develop the skills for the creative industries. The screen and television industries have seen a lot of production being moved to New Zealand as Netflix, Amazon and Disney have chosen Auckland as the hub for a lot of their productions. When Building 108 opens in 2023 Unitec will become the heart for training the artisans and technicians needed to keep the New Zealand industry going strong. Behind the scenes the team are working flat out to make everything run as smoothly as possible in the meantime.
With the move to the south end of campus Performing and Screen Arts has received so much aroha from Te Noho Kotahitanga marae. The team has shared their space in Te Puukenga, the Wharenui and the Wharekai so that students from all 3 BPSA disciplines can learn and practice Toi Māori and Kapa Haka right at the heart of our campus. We’ve also centred our first year Professional Development course in Ngākau Māhaki with the Te Noho Kotahitanga values and campus resources explored with our students throughout the first semester. The MAIA team and Pacific Centre team have been instrumental in bringing this all together and delivering these sessions. Thank you for holding us and bringing so much life and love for our students during this time of change.
The remainder of 2022 presents plenty of challenges as we continue to work around the Building 108 delays and the scattered teaching locations. It takes a village to house a programme. My hope is that as we settle we’ll discover a host of opportunities for the BPSA to team up with the other programmes we will soon be living next to. The strength of Unitec rests in our ability to collaborate and invent new ways of learning.
Michael Miller
Academic Programme Manager, Performing and Screen Arts
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21 March 2022
Kia ora Unitec,
So the baton has passed to me. I have the pleasure of writing this article from my desk on campus. Many of the Trades team have been back on campus since 10 January, planning for the year ahead. We also restarted our classes well before the official start of the semester, catching up on the missing practical activities from the lockdown.
As I sit here, I can tell you that all of our scheduled on-campus classes are running as planned. Initially, we had staff off with Omicron. Further, significant numbers of our learners were also away, isolating. Over this past week, we have seen the teams returning to full strength with ever-increasing numbers of learners back in class. I can tell you that it has not been easy. We covered classes to ensure that learners did not have to revert to online only. And, of course, there is a balance between learner progress and learner catch up. Hopefully, we are through the worst. The school certainly feels like we have returned to normal, which is fantastic!
I need to pay homage to the Mataaho Technician Team, who have supported the teachers and students every step of the way. They, too, have had their struggles with staff isolating, but their tenacity and flexibility kept the doors open and the lights on. I must mention Zelalem; as the standing Technicians Manager, he has proven that he is a true leader with an innate ability to tackle the most complex circumstances.
Our Carpentry Team is close to completing the first batch of houses for Kainga Ora. Considering all disruptions, this is an incredible achievement and is a testament to the extraordinary commitment of the entire team. They are not alone; in December last year, the Plumbing team received news that they were to deliver a new level 3 programme at the start of this semester. Changing programmes is a massive amount of work for those of you who may be unfamiliar with academia; changing a programme in an impossible timeframe is unheard of, yet this team has pulled it off. I cannot find the words to express how much I admire them. I don’t believe I could have done it.
In parallel to this mahi, there was a massive administrative burden. Thanks to Sau and Manali for their support and continued support with the next piece of transition work the school is about to undertake.
We are fortunate to have Rhiannon (TPA) embedded in the school advising our teachers. It is remarkable that when you walk into our staff room (yes, we wear masks), the dominant conversations are regarding learning, teaching and student success. Watching all of our team grow as teachers is so satisfying. They snap me back to our core purpose: education and training, and in the Trades space, nobody does it better than the teachers in the School of Trades.
There is a considerable amount of other work behind the scenes, and if I were to thank everybody who supports our learners and us, it would take my entire word count. There is something unfortunate about an empty Unitec. I love being among the hustle and bustle of the campus, and as we revert to normality, so does our campus. The School can confirm that coffee from the Long Black is as good as ever.
Take care, and I look forward to catching up in person. It’s been far too long.
Lee Baglow
Head of School- Trades & Services
14 March 2022
Kia ora e te whānau,
Today marks the beginning of week 4 of our Unitec Pathways College learning and teaching delivery, and what an interesting, challenging, collaborative, innovative and inspiring three weeks we have had.
In this Pou Tukutuku, I would like to acknowledge the incredible commitment and dedication that is happening not just in our world of secondary-tertiary programmes, but right across Unitec and the wider education sector right now. This is our third year of major disruptions due to Covid, and our people, our students and our wider education whānau are tired and stressed. We are all doing absolutely everything we can to keep our learners engaged and enthused about their education. Everyone continues to go above and beyond, for a third year, pulling out all stops to provide the best possible experiences we can for all of our learners.
At Unitec our values of Te Noho Kotahitanga continue to lead the way in how we are working and our principle of Mahi Kotahitanga, in particular, is even more prevalent right now, as we do all we can to support our lecturers, including Academic Programme Managers and Heads of School stepping into classrooms to teach our learners, in support of our lecturers who are unwell or looking after unwell whānau members.
In the UPC we have had to continue to be as innovative as possible, in what is now a third incredibly disruptive year for senior secondary students. We have a number of new partners that have joined us this year, and really strong numbers across all of our programmes this year with a significant increase this year in tauira from our Kura Kaupapa Māori.
Late last year we developed a hybrid delivery model, which we have had to execute over the last two weeks so we could ensure our secondary students could be in our classrooms even if they could not physically be with us. Kanohi ki te kahoni is what we know works best for our young learners, the social engagement that they have missed due the last two years of Covid disruption has been a key driver in disengagement with education. We knew from delivering at Level 3 and Red Traffic Light last year that our young learners, across the many communities we serve, engage and achieve at much higher rates when they are with us, and we were determined to be able to deliver this way in as safe and inclusive a manner as possible.
Over the past two weeks, our learners in isolation who were either not sick, or well enough to engage, have been Zooming into our classrooms via webcam to take part in lessons just like they were there in the room. Our lecturers in isolation (close whānau contacts) have been Zooming into our classrooms and teaching from the screen, while non-teaching members of the team have provided adult supervision in the room and running the technology. I was privileged to be the adult in the room last Thursday afternoon for our health class. Our lecturer did a phenomenal job on screen, the energy and engagement was high and, most importantly, our learners were really grateful to be there, whether in the room or on screen. It was a really special moment for me to see part of our plan in action first-hand and that it is working so well for our learners.
Our learners (and their schools) are loving the inclusiveness and the fact that this has not limited us in our delivery and continued to give our learners the social engagement that is so very important at this age and stage in life for them. While our classrooms were sitting at around 50-60% attendance in those first two weeks, last week we saw ever increasing numbers of our learners return to the classroom post isolation – in fact our Mahi ā Toi Level 3 class on Friday had 24 of 25 learners with us, excited to be back and very eager to be learning.
A massive thank you to my fabulously talented UPC team, who are pulling out all stops, and in some cases wearing multiple hats right now for the sake of our young people and communities so we can continue to deliver to our learners. Thank you also to everyone across Unitec who has made it possible, or provided the support to us so that we are able to have our young people with us on campus right now. Being in the classroom with them myself right now, I know first hand how very grateful they are.
Andrea Thumath
Director – Unitec Pathways College and Students Under 25 Success
Please see below some highlights of our week! Kia kaha e te whānau.
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7 March 2020
Kia ora koutou
Our commitment to Māori and Pacific learner success
As the new teaching year gets fully underway, it’s a good time to think about what we are doing to support our Māori and Pacific learners – particularly our rangatahi – to stay in study and be successful.
The philosophy behind our I See Me initiatives is really simple: if we can ensure that new students find in Unitec a learning environment that is culturally and educationally familiar, and where they feel welcome and safe, they are much more likely to remain with us and succeed. If they see themselves here, then our learners are on track to good outcome.
This is especially so for our young Māori and Pacific learners, for whom the first few engagements with us are critically important. Programme design and pedagogy matter hugely, but small things matter too. So whether it’s a kind word from a support team member, or correct pronunciation of names by teachers, or taking care to show goodwill and acceptance, it all contributes to learners thinking “I can see myself in Unitec”.
A couple of quick updates:
Our Hāpai Ō programme is underway again in 2022. It’s a targeted approach to supporting the ten programmes at Unitec that have both high numbers of Māori and Pacific learners and poorer outcomes for those learners. In most cases, Hāpai Ō focuses on orientation and onboarding, mentoring and tuākana-tēina models, and positive early engagement with our Under-25s. I’d really like to acknowlege the Priority Group teams, Te Puna Ako and school staff who are making this commitment.
In the next weeks and months, we’ll be engaging with support teams to check in on your progress with Living Te Noho Kotahitanga and how you too are able to further support our Māori and Pacific learners. We’d like you to do some self-evaluation and challenge yourselves to see where you can refine your practices to support learner engagement and success.
Thank you everyone for your continuing commitment.
Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou,
Simon Nash
DCE – LEarner Experience and Success
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28 February 2022
Kia ora e te whānau
Ngā mihi mahana ki a tātou.
I am greatly heartened at the appointment of Keith Ikin to the role of Pou Hautu and co-lead of MIT and Unitec. This is a significant step forward in terms of honouring Te Tiriti in education in Aotearoa and our cherished Te Noho Kotahitanga; it feels great to be part of an organisation that is showing leadership on this. Ngā mihi nui ki a Gus Gilmore, Professor Jenny Lee-Morgan, Toni Vaughan and so many others for their mahi.
I lead research at Unitec and it is an exciting role which I enjoy with our fab Tūāpapa Rangahau team. Our mission is to serve researchers and this is a big mihi to all those staff who continue to research in these trying and uncertain times. Also to our partners in Schools, UPC, Pacific Centre, MAIA, Finance, Corporate Comms, HR, IMS and Legal, we rely on you to help us be the top performing ITP institute in Aotearoa.
Some developments I want to share with you;
Our key project in 2022 is the Internal PBRF Quality Evaluation. The team have met one-on-one with over 70 researchers; the opportunity remains until the March 7th deadline for portfolio completion. Give me a shout if you want to know more.
Unitec ePress will publish the proceedings from the 2021 ITP Research Symposium and Unitec/MITs Rangahau Horonuku Hou (New Research Landscapes). The team are also working with the national Rangahau Research Forum toward a combined Te Pūkenga publishing platform bringing together all the journals in the sector.
The team in Unitec’s Cybersecurity Centre are making rapid progress with industry partner GeneCrypt. The injection of expertise from recently appointed bioinformatician James Love has helped advance this exciting research commercialisation project. Students from Cybersecurity Diploma who undertake credit bearing projects with the team, gain invaluable industry experience.
Ngā Wai a te Tūī, the Māori and Indigenous research centre at Unitec has a focus on rangatahi and future Māori leadership. It hosts MAI ki Wairaka and will host the 2022 MAI Doctoral Conference, welcoming Māori PG students from all over Aotearoa. It is also well into the three year Building Better Homes, Towns & Cities funded research project investigating rangatahi Māori housing experiences and aspirations in Auckland using a kaupapa Māori approach.
The Environmental Solutions Research Centre (ESRC) continues with its award winning plastics research with a BRANZ funded project to work with the plastics industry, building-product suppliers and manufacturers, and the waste-management sector to identify opportunities for change. An earlier project with Mitre 10 resulted in the reduction plastic use; of 13,091 online trade orders, 97% were supplied unwrapped due to a new website “opt out” option, a massive shift.
Work is well underway with Associate Professor Samantha Heath’s Royal Society Aparangi Whitinga Fellowship; Fit for the future: Reimagining nurse preparation for practice in New Zealand’s changing demography. Ethics approval has occurred, data collection has started for phase one and the first of a number of national plenary occured on February 28th; a virtual nursing leadership event sharing the origins of Samantha’s Whitinga research and nursing education research in general.
In summary, it takes a village to raise a research culture as dynamic as we have. Thank you to all for playing your part in supporting these outstanding achievements and too many more to mention. We can all be proud.
Ngā mihi
Associate Professor Marcus Williams
Director Research and Enterprise
Unitec
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21 February 2022
Kerry Kirkland
Kia ora e te whānau
Welcome back to work, though for many of us it is an online start to the year. As I write this Omicron has started to make its presence known with cases doubling very quickly now. Here in the School we have had a lot of enquiries about online delivery from anxious students in the School and we are planning for a semester that may need to be delivered largely online. This is not what we wanted for 2022, but the ongoing Covid situation still requires flexibility in delivery and the ability to change things up at very short notice. I would like to acknowledge the goodwill and resilience our staff continue to show in the face of this ongoing pressure.
Besides saying hello, I wanted to tell/remind you about our 100% fees free offer for permanent staff in our postgraduate programmes (and 90% off for international staff who are not residents). This is a great opportunity to study whilst working and at no or very little cost to yourselves.
One of our postgraduate programmes is the Master of Professional Accounting (180 credits). The MPA is a conversion degree designed to provide an advanced programme of study for people who have an undergraduate degree (or equivalent) in another discipline and who wish to pursue a professional career in accounting. The Master of Professional Accounting is accredited with the professional accounting bodies in New Zealand and Australia; CAANZ (Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand) and CPA Australia (Certified Practicing Accountants Australia). Job opportunities for graduates with the MPA are excellent and can lead to very lucrative and interesting careers.
If accounting is not your thing then the Master of Business (180 credits), or Postgraduate Diploma in Business (120 credits) or Postgraduate Certificate in Business (60 credits) could suit you. These programmes were developed in the context of a business environment impacted by technological advances, disruptive innovation, shifts in the socioeconomic environment, environmental challenges and changing consumer expectations. Needless to say, all of the above is very applicable to what we have experienced in recent years. Specialisations including Digital Marketing, Business Analytics, Supply Chain & Logistics, Advanced HR and Leadership. We have employers approaching us now for graduates in these areas, so upskilling can provide future and immediate benefits. Many of our postgraduate students are already employed and tell us that their studies are helping them in their current roles and giving them the edge they need for promotion.
If you are interested in enrolling then please have a chat to our Postgraduate Academic Programme Manager Liz Rainsbury erainsbury@unitec.ac.nz and your line manager (your studies would need to be included in your ADEP plan). Also please note that enrolments are subject to programme admission requirements.
Have a happy and successful semester everyone.
Ngā mih Kay Kirkland
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14 February 2022
Kia ora koutou
Welcome to my first 2022 update for The School of Computing, Electrical and Applied Technology.
Firstly, I would like to go back to the end of 2021 and congratulate all of our graduates. We were able to conduct an online student prizegiving for our School, managed beautifully by Anaru Parangi as the very successful MC. Of course, it was strange not being with our students for the event, we missed the photos and the personal stories that graduates often share during the casual after-event supper. However, the online structure still allowed us to celebrate and to have some students present their project work. Thank you to our wonderful BA, Angela Hunt and Paul Hays from Marketing who took on the challenge of organising and running the event.
Moving onto to this year, we have a great new programme which is now taking enrolments. The New Zealand Certificate of Electrical Pre-trade (L3) is a national unified programme, developed in consultation with all of the Te Pūkenga network who deliver pre-trade Electrical. We are the first ITP to actually offer the programme, with the other institutes starting in Semester 2. There has been so much mahi from so many teams across our Institute to get to this point. I am very grateful for all the mahi, and I particularly want to thank the teaching team who are now, with the support of Te Puna Ako, planning the lessons, resources, assessments and everything else that goes with a new programme.
The CPF Red setting has also meant that all our academic teams are reorganising their teaching up until Easter (the term break). We are planning for limited on campus attendance blended with structured online content. We will focus campus attendance on practical, hands-on opportunities for developing skills as well as face-to-face sessions to develop connections, and build confidence. This is the solution we have developed to ensure the very best Teaching and Learning environments for our students during the Omicron outbreak. All of this is plenty of extra work, and I am incredibly grateful to our APMs and their teaching teams for the way they have taken on this mahi.
I was very disappointed when it became obvious that due to this Red setting, we would be mostly working from home and disconnected from our teams for who knows how long, but then I found the following quote by Brianna Wiest:
“Sometimes you get what you want. Other times, you get a lesson in patience, timing, alignment, empathy, compassion, faith, perseverance, resilience, humility, trust, meaning, awareness, resistance, purpose, clarity, grief, beauty, and life.”
So, in our School we are trying to hold onto the lessons, knowledge, strategies, aptitudes and skills that were developed during the last two years and apply these to our current situation.
Susan Bennett
Head of School – School of Computing, Electrical and Applied Technology
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9 February 2022
Kia ora koutou Colleagues
Welcome back to what promises to be another interesting year!
Like many people, my partner Kate and I participated in the Great Staycation of Christmas 2021. We enjoyed it much more than we thought we would, as we normally try to go somewhere visiting friends, relatives or new places. For the most part, this was because – like so many people – we just needed a good rest. By the end of it, however, we both felt very ready to reconnect with the world. It’s not about not being content with our own company – it’s about wanting to expand ourselves. We are sure we are not alone in that feeling either.
It got me to thinking about our learners and where they may be at as we enter a new year. From the time the Government introduced the COVID Alert Level system on 31 March 2020, until we changed to the COVID Protection framework system on 2 December 2021, we in Auckland were in lockdown (Levels 3 & 4) for 37.8% of the time (184 days), compared with 14.4% for the rest of New Zealand generally (with some exceptions in Waikato and Northland).
Now we are starting our year at CPF Red, which fortunately is not a lockdown and builds upon the opportunities enabled through the individual and social protection provided by COVID vaccines and boosters.
That said, we are also entering a significant surge for the next 6-8 weeks as Omicron kicks into gear here in Aotearoa.
ELT has taken the position that we are open. Learning that has to take place on campus can do so. As a precaution against the surge, we are, for now, also asking that learning activities that can take place online do so in order to reduce physical group sizes and minimise the spread in the event of a positive case at Unitec. Hopefully, as the surge passes we will be able to resume more fully on campus – although it is likely that on-campus learning activities will continue to be constrained in certain ways for quite some time.
How do we manage the impact of this on our learners?
ELT has noticed that our enrolments for 2022 are looking a little soft – currently down by about 10%. Some of this may be due to NCEA results being released late. But there may also be a COVID impact, with some learners (and prospective learners) not being excited by the prospect of learning online. This is not just about loneliness – it is about the quality of learning.
There are many different theories on how people learn. I continue to advocate that students (and, indeed, all of us) learn not just through passively receiving information and processing it as individuals, but through actively engaging with information, testing our understanding of it, and our consequential behaviours, in a context that is broader than our individual selves.
Social Learning Theory and Social Constructivism are not new, but they are sometimes bypassed in a desire for efficient means of teaching “delivery” (ghastly term). During times when our students and staff are unable to be together physically it becomes all the more imperative that we develop opportunities for them to actively explore information in a socialised context.
This is not limited to academic staff. Tertiary level education is a social milieu. Every time anyone at Unitec engages with, or facilitates opportunities for others to engage with, our learners we enrichen that milieu and deepen the students’ connection with their learning.
As we enter a new academic year, may I encourage all of us to have conversations within our teams, and across teams, about how we can continue building upon our blended mode experiences to ensure they are focused not only on individual learners, but on learning communities. We did a fantastic job over the last two years – thank you!
Now we are entering a new phase, with new learner expectations, and need to continue evolving in this space.
This is a discussion I’m also actively promoting within Te Pūkenga’s Ako Framework working group, as we design what this might look like nationwide.
Ngā mihi
Martin Carroll
DCE – Academic
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01 February 2022
Kia ora koutou
I write to welcome you back in 2022 in this year of transformation and change. I hope you and your whānau had a peaceful break from work and enjoyed the glorious weather the whole country has been experiencing. For my whānau, it was a good opportunity to get out of Tāmaki to visit family in Upper Hutt and enjoy the beautiful environment and roto in Taupō.
First, I acknowledge those who worked through the shutdown period and in particular our enrolment, operations, property and IT teams. We thank you for your mahi during these periods to keep our services going to those needing them. Secondly, I acknowledge the sad passing of Anaru Happy over the break. It was a shock to many of us and he will be sorely missed. Thirdly, I send warm wishes, prayers and love to our Tongan whānau (staff, learners and wider communities) who may be affected by the recent tsunami in the Pacific.
Our primary team focus in the next month will be on maximising enrolments for Semester 1. We currently have over 2,750 EFTs for Semester 1 and this reflects the massive efforts we have made to date across Unitec. However, this is only 47% of our year end target which we remain dedicated to achieving. The key to achieving this will be coming together as an Unitec whānau to convert the current pipeline of applicants by providing timely and relevant communications, support and advice to learners when required from our teams (both academic and support). For example, our enrolment specialists have been conducting engaging conversations with learners about how we can meet their needs in a challenging Covid environment. We also need to continue to reach out to re-enrolling learners to enable them to safely and confidently return to their studies. This will require a massive effort from all of us and I urge you to remain committed to this cause.
In terms of applications we have been heavily affected by the extended lockdown last year but our teams are working hard to continue to connect with our communities. The summer boost campaign is out in market and doing really well, particularly on Tiktok. Please see these sample 15sec ads here: Jade and Kahmis. While new international residency pathways are heavily impacting onshore applications, our international recruitment team have rallied with outbound calling, local advertising and Unitec has secured 11 places through the government border exemptions. On the communications front, we’re out the gate running by supporting the Covid-19 response, getting our Nest stories back up and running. Just prior to Xmas, we had extensive positive media coverage of our amazing people and stories. These included:
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- Unitec research Hidden Gems – Lived Experiences of Tuvaluan hope seekers and their families in Aotearoa New Zealand.by Dr Hoa Thi Nguyen and David Kenkel
- An opinion piece on housing by David Turner published on Stuff website.
- A wonderful story by The Project and NZ Herald on Unitec student Issy Bodahandi which raised over $25k on GiveaLittle
The events team have had to pivot with a number of planned on-campus events unlikely to go ahead. Luckily, they are well versed in online events now and are putting together some great offerings, including the upcoming Information and Enrolment Day this Thursday 3 February from 12pm to 2pm.
In our Pacific space, we are finishing the development of a second Pacific Priority Badge which will be available to both teaching and non-teaching staff. The badge will be a leadership capability badge that will focus on Pacific values. The Fale has been fully re-located. There are just some minor finishing touches required and we will be looking at having an official opening around February-March. We are currently preparing for our Pacific Orientation which will be held on Friday 18 February. This will be an online orientation. Finally, our Pacific Learning Advisors and Pacific Navigators are also planning with the various schools the Hapai O project actions that we will be engaging in this year to support Pacific learners in those Hapai O programmes.
Finally, our Careers team is in the process of finalising the Careers Tupuranga model. They are assisting students with finding their business internships and work with schools with similar tasks. We are also working on hard on identifying the best tools for online career consults to ensure good career planning support for our ākonga during these times. Our Industry Partnerships team is currently planning the SuperFairs events in collaboration with Prosple. Once again, these events will run online and provide our ākonga with an opportunity to directly connect with the potential employers. Lastly the successful AWS re/Start micro-credential is now going to be offered in three more locations: Wellington, Palmerston North and Hawkes Bay. All these will be achieved in partnership with local providers.
We certainly have a lot on our work plans this year. We wish you, your teams and whanau well in 2022.
Ngā mihi
Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga
DCE – Pasifika, Partnerships and Support
_______________________________________________________________________
13 December 2021
Kia ora koutou
I think this qualifies as an unprecedented year, although I do sometimes wonder if we’re approaching the point where we can no longer say that.
It’s certainly been, in both senses of the word, an outstanding year.
I continue to be thoroughly impressed – through asbestos building closures, through a short round four and an extended round five of lockdown, and through many other challenges – with how our teams and our people across Unitec enact our values of Te Noho Kotahitanga. At every step of the way you draw upon on your incredible experience and expertise to support our tauira and to keep our learners at the centre of everything that we do.
As we close out the year I’d like to acknowledge the collaborative work on programme planning and delivery by Heads of School, Academic Programme Managers, Te Puna Ako, Te Korowai Kauhurangi, Timetabling, Infrastructure and Operations, Health & Safety, IT, IMT, ARC, Student Success and many other support teams.
It really has been the whole of Te Whare Wānanga o Wairaka coming together to support our learners and to support and enable the fantastic mahi of our teaching teams both online and on campus. Ka nui te mihi ki a koutou. Outstanding stuff.
Mauri ora whānau. Have an awesome, and very well-deserved, summer break.
Ngā mihi nui,
Chris King
Director – Schools and Performance and Chair of ARC
22 November 2021
Kia ora koutou
Coming to the end of the year is always a busy time for marketing, as it’s usually our last-ditch effort to get applications and enrolments across the line before Unitec’s Christmas shutdown – when we pull back our advertising effort while whānau focus on more pressing kaupapa, like taking a well-earned break after a hard year.
This year is going to be different. Instead of toning down advertising and PR efforts over the holidays, we’ll be ramping it up – as the knock-on effect of the Tāmaki lockdown continues to impact so many of our prospective students, especially from high school, with reports of a marked drop-off in engagement, higher numbers of students leaving school early and concerns over a growing number of NEETS (young people in neither work, education or training) in West and South Auckland.
It’s why we’re proud to be able to have been able to get out with the UPC team and Hoani Waititi whānau to support the rangatahi-led GotYaDot initiative, and why it’s been wonderful to see the stories of our staff and students, getting picked up in the media. Read the story of Terri-Ann Berry and the Waste Avengers and Isuru Bodahandi and the efforts of Unitec staff, who Annette Pitovao rightly points out “go above and beyond” to support students like Isuru.
We’ve seen a drop of about 20% in applications compared to last year (although we’re still ahead of 2020 and 2019 figures). It’s something we predicted months ago when we started a new project Rapua tō Ara, focussed on reducing barriers in the application process and improving conversion – so we’re able weather a drop and still achieve our new and transferring EFTs targets. There are around 50 initiatives we’re undertaking as part of the project to improve the experience for applicants.
On the international front, we have one of the strongest international pipelines in the ITP sector, are identifying candidates for a new 1000 student cohort and are holding our International Agent day on the 8th and 9th of December. We’re also pleased to report that Puja Malik, our International Relationship Manager, domiciled in India, begins her first tours across the country week – the first in two years!
Overall though, it’s by living our Te Noho Kotahitanga values and doing the right thing for our students and communities that we’ll get through this together. I’m mindful two cherished senior colleagues who exemplify this in all they do: Heather Stonyer and Nick Sheppard who are moving on to take up roles as part of the wider Te Pūkenga network. As one of our whānau said last week (I hope she won’t mind me sharing her kōrero), “Haere pai atu – hoki ora mai. Go with our blessings – and return back to us, safe and well.”
Ngā mihi
Vivienne Merito
Director – Marketing and Communications
15 November 2021
Kia ora koutou
However many days it has been now I can sense an end is in sight. I’m starting to dream of a summer of sunshine and swapping the blue-tinged online conversations for some bathed in sunlight. I cannot wait!
Firstly of course there is the not so small matter of closing out the teaching year and this is going to run us right up until the Christmas closedown. With the days long and weeks fast we’ll be there before we know it. Keep going everyone, we’re really close. And of course, soon we get to celebrate the Staff Awards. A big congratulations to all the finalists and thank you to those that nominated them. Even though we are remote, it’s important to celebrate at the end of year the exceptional work that has continued.
Like others over the past several weeks, I would like to thank all of those at Unitec that have been getting their heads down and working tirelessly to keep the year moving forwards during lockdown and getting ready for 2022 too. That we have looked to find ways to support our students and bring them on to campus at these times sets us apart, and to the teams supporting and enabling this to occur especially, thank you. That our student numbers and student sentiment remains strong this year is validation to the care and dedication that goes into every student.
In the School of Architecture we will miss the usual festivities with students for the year and will plan for this to occur in the New Year. It’s important to us that we recognise the achievements of the year and not to let it drift away online. There is some excellent work being achieved and it needs to be shared and celebrated.
I’m still mowing the lawn on Friday evening. It’s just I’m no longer exactly sure when Friday is!
Have a great summer everyone and enjoy some well-deserved time to rejuvenate and enjoy yourselves.
Ngā mihi
Peter McPherson
Head of School – School of Architecture
08 November 2021
Ahiahi mārie ki a koutou katoa
Firstly, it’s great to update you on something other than CoVID lockdowns or building closures!
While the Incident Management Team (IMT) work has unexpectedly taken a major focus over the last 20 months, its certainly been a busy period for the Enrolment & Academic Operations teams.
Towards the end of 2020 and continuing into 2021, the demand for reskilling opportunities from the communities we support has increased significantly due to impacts of CoVID-19.
Combined with a new Marketing approach to specifically promote the learning outcomes that Unitec offers, we received a 15% increase in overall application volumes (over 1,500). As you’d expect, international applications were down with border restrictions, however we had over 10,300 domestic applications to process (nearly 25% up on 2020).
With the combined efforts of the various enrolments teams, together with our Partners Concentrix as well as the Schools individual efforts, we collectively achieved over 109% of Unitec’s EFT’s (Equivalent Full Time Student) target.
A fantastic result and reinforcing Unitec has a critical place delivering vocational education in Tamaki Makaurau.
The demands of this year have provided “opportunities” for the Timetabling Office, Student Finance, Academic Registry and Graduation teams too.
With the moving feast of multiple lockdowns and end dates, the teams have demonstrated highly their agility in the delivery of support to our tauira and to our academic colleagues.
Gradually bringing students back in bubbles, planning for exams in level 3, programme planning changes and cancelling of the Spring Graduation ceremony have all required constant adjustments, re-work and out-the-box thinking. I’m incredibly grateful to work with the members of these teams who demonstrate their commitment to Mahi kotahitanga & Rangatiratanga each day.
I’d also like to acknowledge my colleagues on the IMT and Academic Recovery Committee (ARC) for their support and constant focus on enabling delivering within the restriction levels for our tauira & kaimahi.
Finally to all of the kaimahi of Te Wananga o Wairaka, as IMT Chair I’ve had the privilege to see the dedication of our people in these times and it has never ceased to amaze me.
Whether delivering teaching or in a support capacity, thank you for your outstanding commitment to our values.
Nāku noa, nā
Dan Brady
Director – Enrolments and Academic Operations
01 November 2021
Kia ora e te whānau
After spending over 70 days in lockdown it is sometimes challenging to remain positive, especially as we are always so busy and constantly adapting to the latest announcements while trying to keep calm and carry on!
So, on that note, here are some positive pieces of news from the Finance space!
- Some of you will know Paige Clements – one of our Management Accountants – gave birth to a wee girl, Rosie, in October. Rosie is Paige’s first child and was safely (and unexpectedly) delivered at home after rushing her way into the world! Both Paige and Rosie are doing well. A couple of us had the pleasure of meeting her last week, socially distancing of course!
- Another great piece of news is that recently the Unitec Board approved our 2022 budget. We await final approval from Te Pūkenga which is expected in the coming weeks. The annual budget is always a massive piece of work and we appreciate all the time and effort that went it to this from across the business – thank you!
-
And on that note – we have recently had a business case approved for a new budgeting and forecasting system – Workday Adaptive. This will provide greater visibility, flexibility and ownership for cost centre managers. The Finance team will be kicking off the implementation in November and will be in touch on how this may involve you in the new year.
Alen, Emily, Paige, baby Rosie and Kristine
- While still reporting 2021 numbers, we have also rolled out the 2022 EFTS and Application dashboard. Thanks to Kim Woods from Marketing for your help there! You can see the dashboard here. Enrolments are currently down on the prior year, which is to be expected at this time due to the lock down but we anticipate the numbers will ramp up after Christmas.
- And lastly, on the 2021 student numbers, we continue to hold up well against budget which is really pleasing in these uncertain times. This is due to the incredible efforts that you all continue to put in to ensure that our students succeed. The phenomenal work that both the academic and the support teams are doing is heart-warming.
This year I am disappointed that we can’t physically be together to celebrate Diwali, but please join one of the celebrations today or tomorrow – you’ll find all the information on the Nest.
And just a reminder – there’s less than a week left to share your thoughts on Te Pūkenga Operating model. Head over to the Your Voice platform to read about it, or watch the hui that Gus and Martin hosted to learn more about the model and how you can provide feedback.
He waka eke noa – We are all in this together.
Ngā mihi
Kristine Brothers
Director – Business Performance
26 October 2021
Kia ora koutou
It was great to have a long weekend with an extra day off for Labour Day yesterday! Hope you had a chance to reset and find balance despite this extended lockdown which sees us all heading into Week 10 and actually today is Day 70 to be exact.
There are a number of current highlights I’d like to bring to your attention, so I have created a list for your reference (and speed reading ease):
- 2021 Staff Awards nominations close tomorrow, Wed 27 October – please nominate a super star to recognise excellence together
- The Access and Inclusion Survey 2021 closes this Friday 29 October – please complete it so we have lots of perspectives about Disability, learning and inclusion for both students and staff
- Our Student Services newsletter for October has some gems to share – please see the link to read more about what’s happening in Student Success
- Celebrating Diwali online is coming up soon with some exciting activities planned that will spice up your world! Look out for more info later this week
- Student NPS for Semester 2, 2021 is looking good (the pack will come out in the next few weeks) – despite lockdown constraints we all continue to put our learners at the centre of what we do and how we do it. Thanks to all our amazing teachers and support staff who ensure no one gets left behind!
Can I encourage us all to keep finding moments of daily gratitude and celebrations to help build sustained mental wealth (more than mental health) as we progress into another week which happens to be a short working week – yay!
Take care and stay safe.
Annette Pitovao
Director – Student Success
11 October 2021
18 October 2021
Kia ora e te whānau
The first thing I’d like to say is a heartfelt thank you to everyone at Unitec who is working so hard to support our learners (and each other) in this difficult time. Covid has made this year very difficult for you all, your learners, your friends and your family. I know that those of you at the coalface have gone above and beyond the call of duty this year. I really hope that we all manage to get a rest over the Christmas and New Year period!
As with other Schools, EAS staff have had to wrestle with shifting learning online, changing assessments, deferring practical work and placements and ramping up pastoral care, all while on ‘home detention’. The team have done an amazing job, and sometimes a very creative one. If you missed it, check out the Nest post where our Canine Behaviour and Training students shifted their dog training to Te Reo for Te Wiki o te Reo Māori.
Meal worm pancakes!
The animals in Te Puna Kararehe have been missing our students, so last week our technician Holly and student technician Mik made them pancakes with mealworms to cheer them up.
Also well worth checking out is the Auckland Climate Festival, happening now and going until the end of the month. It is a great opportunity to think of something other than Covid, showcase new thinking on a raft of sustainability issues and highlight organisations that are really having an impact on sustainability in Auckland.
Have a good week everyone.
Ngā mihi
Dan Blanchon
Head of Environmental and Animal Sciences
11 October 2021
Kia ora koutou
Firstly, I’d like thank you all for your continued focus on our students. Your excellent teaching and manaakitanga towards our students is reflected in our retention and enrolment numbers. We’re seeing very low withdrawal rates and enrolments are tracking above budget. This is not the case in all tertiary institutions, so I’m really proud of you all and appreciate your exceptional mahi.
As with all other teams, it’s been a busy couple of months in lockdown for the wider Operations team.
Thank you to our Technology and Infrastructure team for supporting our campus through the levels. Our Technology, Security, Inwards Goods and Operations teams have been keeping the campus access and click and collect process going smoothly behind the scenes. We all appreciate your extra effort to support our staff through this period on top of keeping our other projects in motion.
The fale is being relocated from the northern campus to near Te Puna, Mt Albert campus
One example of fantastic teamwork is the distribution of laptops – our Technology and Student Success teams have worked together to prepare and distribute more than 300 laptops over the past few weeks to staff and students. Great to see this mahi kotahitanga in action!
We’ve seen great progress on the Fale relocation to its new home outside Te Puna. Last week the concrete was laid, the structure went up and in the next week the roof will be transported from the north campus.
Our on-campus teams are also focusing on decamping from our campus areas that we will hand over to the Government, including clearing out, cleaning and preparing the documentation. Seventeen buildings are due for handover on 29 October with the remainder in late December.
This includes our Performing and Screen Arts (PASA) spaces. The PASA programmes will be moving to a range of onsite and off-site facilities including a community‐based dance studio and other available spaces on campus. The project team is working through these details with the teams involved.
The construction in B108 was suspended during the Level 4 lockdown but resumed in lockdown Level 3. We’re on track for the Makerspace and Architecture workshops to be completed by the end of the year, ready for Semester 1 2022 delivery, and our Electrical Engineering and Trades spaces are on schedule for completion for Semester 2.
Unfortunately, other areas of the B108 renovation are now behind schedule due to the extended lockdown, meaning we have delays in our Creative Industries spaces. We’re working through our options for these programmes to ensure we’re offering the best experience we can for our ākonga.
Once again, thank you to all of you, including our people working on-campus and remotely for your continued mahi.
Today is another decision day for the Government regarding our Alert Levels, and I’m sure, like me, you’ll be hoping for an indication of when we might be able to bring more of our staff and students back on campus. At this stage it looks like high rates of vaccination is our best chance of moving forward so please go and get both vaccinations. A reminder that the wait time for the second shot is back to three weeks.
Have a great week everyone.
Ngā mihi
Michelle Teirney
DCE – Operations
04 October 2021
Ni sa bula vinaka, kia ora and, sut wyt ti? (how are you? I wrote this during Chinese language week)
The first meal at lockdown level 3, vindaloo curry with keema naan bread from the Indian restaurant in Tuakau, was glorious. I had been looking forward to that meal for weeks, strange how we take things for granted. I found myself missing my commute from Pokeno to the campus, ranting about the journey from the kitchen to my desk with the perils of avoiding the cat. Still, they are not quite the same as those intelligent discussions I have on a morning regarding Auckland and its infrastructure. Don’t worry; I will be saving an extraordinary rant for when we return to campus! I am sure the school is missing them.
Have you noticed that over the last couple of weeks, everything is taking longer to do? I had to send a relatively simple email; it took me the better part of a day to compose it. Over the past week, I have started feeling more anxious and irritable, and if you think the same, I understand. Several weeks ago, Bryan Davis and I covered classes with engines, probably the most exciting topic for a week. That was the first time I had to deliver sustained online teaching. What a challenge!
I like to think that I am a pretty decent teacher, but online presented a whole new series of complications. Maintaining learner interest was a steep learning curve. Here lies our problem: most of our delivery to full-time learners focuses on practical activity, theory supports the practice. Hats off to our lecturers in the School, and how they have managed to sustain high levels of engagement is remarkable.
The School of Trades and Services has been busy developing and embedding a structured pastoral care system led by Tu Nuualiitia and Sharleen Churchward, with outstanding support from Rhiannon McNamara in Te Puna Ako (TPA). Speaking of Rhiannon, I must acknowledge her work in supporting our lecturers in their endeavours to deliver online. Thank you, TPA. Thanks also to Victoria Russell and those who have been looking after the wellbeing of our people; from a personal perspective, those calls helped enormously, and I am sure that appreciation is across our organisation.
As always, I need to acknowledge the continued support of Te Korowai Kahurangi and thank Kakala Vainikolo for his patience and advice. We are not the most straightforward School. Jake Curran, John Pepere and Angus Roberston have been very busy preparing for various consistency reviews. On top of everything that is going on, these reviews have added to their workload massively!
A few weeks ago, I received word that our first New Zealand Certificate in Light Automotive Engineering apprentice had graduated. A level four work-based programme, I know the details supporting this success, and it goes without saying, congratulations to the learner and the team. Great result, the first of many.
As I write, we have some activity which has returned to campus. To be precise, the Mechanical Engineers (Gerald Ryan, Hector Zinck, Svetlana Pecncheva and Rudolph Mario), supported by our excellent Mataaho Technicians (David Nicol, Brett Andreassen, and Bruce Hilliard). Seeing some of our activity return is heartening. Hopefully, we are returning to a level of normality. I will let you into a bit of a secret, Monday I was late for the School’s leadership meeting; when I did join, it was in the middle of a conversation about bubbles and toilets. Surreal!
Fingers crossed, we will have some return to normality soon. If you can, try to get some time for yourselves, because when we return, I feel it is going to get very busy.
See you all very soon, diolch yn fawr iawn!
Nga mihi
Lee Baglow
Head of Trades and Services
27 September 2021
Kia ora e te whānau
Firstly thank you to everyone currently supporting our young people across our institutions and communities, this includes those of you parents to teenagers currently navigating their senior secondary years in what really are unprecedented times. All of the work that our team does involves connecting with young people on and off our campus, and right now we are again zooming into the homes of many a young person and their whānau, walking them through their options post-secondary school. For some of them this journey is ending a little earlier than expected so it is great that as an institution we have a broad range of options available to them, so they can continue their journey with us.
It is a totally different world for young people now than what it was for many of us (and sometimes we forget this!) and for those of us privileged enough to walk alongside them in their journey, it certainly is an interesting world for them to try and navigate right now. They are a generation disrupted, trying to balance study, supporting whānau, parenting younger siblings while their own parents are out on the frontline as essential workers and many instances stepping up as the main income earners. What they also are however, are leaders, innovators, entrepreneurs and incredibly resourceful – there are lessons every day, that all of us can learn from our young people in our communities.
I’d like to take this opportunity to showcase some of the amazing rangatahi across Aotearoa, doing some amazing things.
Across many areas of our communities it is our rangatahi supporting the COVID vaccination response, not only taking to social media but as front line essential workers supporting the agencies delivering vaccines across our communities. Out West the Wai-Vaximus Bus, the Te Whānau o Waipareira mobile vaccination clinic, is popping up at all the local community spots us Westies are hitting now at Level 3. It is their Rangatahi Team doing all of the letter box drops and social media campaigns to bring the community on board to ensure as many people as possible take up the opportunities as they pop up on their communities. Not a day goes by without one of our team spotting one of our young people from a UPC programme on the Te Whānau o Waipareira social media pages, out there supporting our communities.
Many of the annual events our young people would have taken part in person during this time of the year have been either postponed or shifted to a virtual platform. One such event was the national Ngā Manu Kōrero competition. Ngā Manu Kōrero is the national Secondary Schools Speech Competition, which is regarded as the most significant Māori education event for nurturing their oratory skills and providing the stage for young people to lay down their challenges to an audience of their peers, parents, whānau and judges. Unitec sponsors one of the regional heats, Ngā Manu Kōrero ki Waitematā which took place physically at Ngā Puna o Waiōrea back in June. This year’s nationals had to move on line and we are very proud that the winner of the Junior Māori category was H’zel Hetaraka, a young man known well by our team from Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Hoani Waititi Marae.
And finally we leave you with a pretty epic I See Me koha! A group of Porirua secondary school students have created a website that helps you to improve the pronunciation of Māori and Pasifika names. The website called “Fa’amalosi” means to be strong, say it right, have the courage to try. For $4.99 as a one off cost, you can access the site and learn how you should be pronouncing people’s names. For us in the UPC this will become a really important tool for us to ensure we can continue to be better every day in this space for your young people, and we encourage you all to give it a go.
Ngā mihi
Andrea Thumath
Director – Under 25s Success
20 September 2021
Kia ora e te whānau
Thank you to our team
I want to acknowledge the work you are all doing in lockdown to support our learners. These are exceptional times and you are all doing your best to ensure that our learners can continue their studies and succeed. We appreciate your efforts and we recognise that you are working in very challenging conditions.
Lockdowns certainly don’t get any easier, but it’s been gratifying to see how well you’ve shifted into different modes for teaching and support. Our experience and feedback last year showed us that our learners really do appreciate the way you’ve changed practices and innovated to keep them on track. Our student NPS at the end of 2020 was very high and full of comments about the value of the supports and communication being provided during lockdowns.
Thank you to all our support services. Your efforts mean that our learners feel supported and have a sense of belonging, and are more likely to stay in study. And when services and communication are clear and joined-up and effective – particularly in times like this – our learners are more likely to be successful.
Thank you to all our teaching teams for providing online learning that keeps our students engaged and succeeding. There’s a lot of work going on to ensure that classes and recordings, drop-ins and assessments meet our learners needs, and that pastoral care is attended to at this time.
Finally, I hope you are all taking care of yourselves, your whānau and whoever else is in your bubble! Many of you will be faced with a range of competing demands at the moment, so please do your best to get some down-time when you can. It’s been great to see the team activities many of you have underway to try to keep a bit of balance. Kia kaha!
Ngā mihi nui
Simon Nash
DCE – Learner Experience and Success
13 September 2021
Kia ora koutou e te whānau
Haere mai ki te wiki o te reo Māori!
Nō Airini, Nō Ingarangi, Nō Kotimana ōku tupuna
I noho au ki ngā tōpito o te ao
Engari, kei Tāmaki Makaurau taku kainga
Nō reira, ka mihi ki te maunga ko Maungarei me te Rao o Kai-a-Hika
Ko Ngāti Pākehā te iwi
Nā ngā ture Pākehā i whakawehe tēnei whāngai Pākehā i tōku whakapapa
Engari, ko Carroll tōku whānau ināianei
Ko Ahorangi Martin Carroll taku ingoa
Ko taku mahi ki Te Whare Takiura o Manukau me Te Whare Wānanga Ōwairaka
Ko te Deputy Chief Executive Mātauranga
Over the past few months, the Board and ELT participated in a cultural training programme run by Te Kaa. There were so many taonga to embrace. One I particularly treasure was the assistance we were given in crafting our pepeha and learning its role as a method for evincing our identity and for connecting with people. Te Kaa were particularly skilled at helping those of us who are tauiwi learn to use the pepeha framework without culturally appropriating it. This entailed, for example, acknowledging landmarks of significance that help position us socially and geographically, but without claiming a Māori whakapapa sense of belonging to them.
Mine is above. If you have not yet had the opportunity to develop your own, I highly recommend it.
In this Māori Language Week, we can all look forward to developing / improving / perfecting (depending on our respective starting point!) our skills in te reo Māori. Whether it is by way of pepeha, greetings, waiata, karakia etc… If you’re in hui with me this week, let’s give it a go! At best we’ll learn things; and worst we’ll have fun trying 😊
And if lockdown is extended a little longer for our safety’s sake, here’s a whakataukī I love which may help:
Kia maia te āwhā tū
Maiangitia he ua
Brave the storm
And dance in the rain
Mā te wā
Martin Carroll
DCE – Academic
06 September 2021
Kia ora koutou
I’m writing this in Level 4 lockdown, so am super aware of how much all our teams are now doing to continue the learning in creative and engaging ways away from campus. The last few weeks have been unusually tough, so huge thanks go to our amazing teachers and support teams who are once again being resourceful and resilient to keep our students engaged. It’s deeply appreciated!
Looking after ourselves during trying times is important. Going for a walk, staying connected to family and friends, and getting fresh air are ways that work for me. You may also want to check out justathought.co.nz which provides useful tools for mental and emotional wellbeing, including free cognitive behavioural therapy courses and some that are tailored to COVID.
Change and uncertainty can be very hard. It takes faith and trust in something better on the horizon to be part of change and to stay with it. Like many areas, our School of Creative Industries has been going through extended change for a long time now, and while there are good things ahead with the B108 relocation and fit out, this has been a long and winding road to get to where we are.
The irrepressible ways in which our teams continue to be creative and stay on course are very inspiring. The positive way that teams are partnering across Unitec to help our School is very heartening. We have some large-scale moves to see through at the end of 2021 and lots of changes over the next few years, so we need to keep up the momentum and resourcefulness to lead our learners through this.
Whenever things seem a bit uncertain or shaky, I like to look for wisdom from some of the great thinkers and writers. Here’s a favourite sonnet that describes the power of our imaginations to rise above adversity. It captures a particular feeling of joy beyond what your current circumstances might be. This could be remembering a place, person, thing, or memory that can summon a state of being so joyous that nothing would substitute that. Remember to take time so you can also happily ‘think on thee’, whatever that might be for you:
Sonnet 29 – William Shakespeare
When, in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,
And look upon myself and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possessed,
Desiring this man’s art and that man’s scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least;
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
(Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth) sings hymns at heaven’s gate;
For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.
Let’s all look after each other and do what we can to keep our loved ones and communities safe as we keep living through change, surely the only constant in life.
Ngā mihi
Vanessa Byrnes
Head of Creative Industries
30 August 2021
Kia ora koutou
As we experience yet another lockdown I am again amazed and proud at how easily Unitec staff move into online teaching and students embrace new modes of learning, or just continue as they did last time when we were in lockdown. Knowing that we can do this with such short a turnaround shows the resilience and ability of staff and students to respond to change. Alongside our teaching staff is Student Support and other service teams, ensuring our students are well supported and are able to continue with their studies with the call outs and delivery of laptops where needed.
Mahi Kotahitanga in action in support of our tauira!
Before the lockdown, many of our School of Healthcare and Social Practice students were busy with placements, thanks to the Placement coordinators across the programmes. Due to Level 4 requirements, frustrating as this is, all students had to be removed from their placements. This of course will impact their hours and the time it will take to complete their programme and so staff will be busy trying to support and meet student requirements, I’m sure till the end of the year and possibly into 2022.
The District Health Boards have called for some of our fully vaccinated Nursing and Medical Imaging students to support their testing stations with swabbing due to public demand and staff shortfall. A range of not-for-profit and social service organisations have also requested the voluntary services of Social Practice students to support with calls from home to support our vulnerable communities and to support health providers with tracking. These students will be balancing their studies and their work in support of our community and we wish to acknowledge them for putting their hand up to be of service.
Our team has also been busy, with three staff members handing in their PhDs – congratulations to Joanna Thorogood, Aulola Lino and David Kenkel. We also now have three Nursing staff members who are trained vaccinators.
Lastly, we wish to acknowledge our Aunty Agnes who cleans and looks after our campus at Waitākere. Her daughter passed away a few weeks ago, leaving behind a young family. Our campus sends their condolences to her and her family.
Be safe everyone, take care and keep those daily walks up.
Ngā mihi
Linda Aumua
Head of Healthcare and Social Practice
23 August 2021
Talofa
I hope everyone is well and staying safe in their bubbles.
Prior to lockdown, the relocation of the Fale from building 1 to in front of building 113 was progressing well with the central and side poles in place and the foundation ready for the cement to be poured. While this project will now be put on hold, it is exciting to actually see parts of the Fale arrive in its new home. It will be a while before the relocation is fully complete as there are a number of planned projects such as plants and art work that will involve our Unitec staff and students.
We have once again reactivated our askpacific@unitec.ac.nz email address as another possible contact for our Pacific learners to seek help and from there we will guide and support them to the appropriate support service if we are unable to support them directly.
The Pacific team will also be participating in the LOP welfare call outs this week to check in with our Pacific learners and to see how they are doing during this lockdown. This was an important initiative which was ran last time we were in Level 4 lockdown, and the majority of our Pacific learners really appreciated getting the call.
We will continue doing our part to support our students and our institution and we wish you all a safe lockdown as you all continue to do your important and valuable work as well.
Take care
Niko
Falaniko Tominiko
Director – Pacific Success
16 August 2021
Kia ora e te whānau
The last month has been incredibly busy for Unitec, including the School of Computing, Electrical and Applied Technology. The end of Semester 1 leads to lots of celebrations for students completing their qualifications and moving on from Unitec as well as the preparation for new and continuing students for Semester 2. The teams were busy marking assessments and ratifying grades, completing CEPs and trying to have a short break before welcoming our new students to Unitec with our Semester 2 pōhiri.
In this edition I want to introduce you to two of our students – one who has completed their qualification and one who is part way through their study.
Kam Ho, Hannah, Maryam (Project course coordinator), Bob (Ponhvath)
Ponhvath Vann (Bob) started with us in 2018 – his first qualification was our L4 Certificate in IT Essentials. He then enrolled in the Bachelor of Computing Systems, completing in Semester 1, 2021. As part of the programme his team (Hannah, Bob and Kam Ho) developed, as their final project, a Dealer Management System. Supervised by Dr Lei Song, the system was designed for AutoHub to better manage dealership and consumer contributions to aid in vehicle internet sales. Bob has been a very successful student with terrific results during his study. He is now working at RUSH Digital as a Graduate Software Engineer, his dream job. He is loving the mahi. Bob tells us “The team at RUSH have been very welcoming and the culture is great”.
While Bob’s path was pretty traditional, our second student, Ethan Wijlens, is building his qualifications a bit differently. In 2012 Ethan completed the Certificate in Applied Technology (L4) and moved into the power electronics industry working with a range of switching power supplies and inverter products designed and manufactured here in New Zealand. After developing a passion for electronics design he returned to us in 2016 enrolling in the NZ Diploma in Engineering. (L6). Recently he presented his project – an oceanic data collection system. Supervised by Dr Nigel Yee, the project combines traditional data collection methods with proven military techniques to produce the Air Deployable Oceanic Survey System or ADOSS. The ADOSS platform aims to make collecting this data easier and cheaper by developing an aircraft deployable asset for oceanic environmental surveying. Ethan is due to complete the qualification at the end of 2021. He is currently employed by Garmin working in the marine hardware design team as an electronics engineering technician so is studying part-time. Ethan’s aspiration is to eventually go on to complete further study in a bachelor’s program to enable international opportunities while progressing into designing embedded systems and complex digital solutions for the marine environment.
Our School has 1111 enrolled students (689 efts) each with their own stories, aspirations, challenges and study journeys. I’d like to thank all the teams that help us to support those students and to thank our School team for their endless commitment to this mahi.
Ngā mihi
Susan Bennett
Interim Head of Computing, Electrical and Applied Technology
09 August 2021
Talofa lava
I’m proud to share some updates from my teams.
We are now fully into Semester 2 and it is a good time to reflect on our enrolments to date. Great news whānau – we are now sitting at 104% of our domestic enrolments EFTS budget (5,669 EFTS) and for international learners this figure is at 124% (483 EFTs). While we expect some withdrawals, our focus now moves to retention in the coming weeks. My heartfelt thanks to everyone who has contributed to these remarkable results. I am particularly proud of our Enrolment, Marketing, Student Success and Academic teams, whose hard work and drive helped make this a reality. We are already working toward 2022 and to this end we opened the enrolment cart in late July, ahead of schedule.
The 2022 Unitec Prospectus is now out, in time for the school careers days. We also have our Unitec Open Days coming up. The online Open Day will be held on 24 August and on-campus held on 4 September at both Mt Albert and Waitākere campuses. And from early September, keep an eye out for Unitec bus-backs, billboards and digital ads as we launch our 2022 advertising campaign.
Our Comms/PR team delivered the well-attended Tū Arotake event last month. They are currently bringing together the feedback for this and will be reporting back to you soon. The team has also been assisting in the valuable consultation work around the co-leadership model for Unitec/MIT. This work is ongoing, with hui organised at both the Waitākere and Unitec campuses as well as online and I encourage you to attend, participate and provide feedback to this transformational proposal.
In the Industry Partnerships space, the team has supported industry-based learning placements by developing a placements tool with our Nursing teaching team. They’ve also helped place learners from the Amazon Web Services re/Start cloud computing microcredential into full-time employment with New Zealand’s tech companies. The team is running Connect events both on campus and online – they’re running four on-campus events and co-hosting seven virtual super fairs with other ITPs, a great collaborative effort. The first virtual event is an Engineering super fair which is live tomorrow at 11am. Check out what’s coming up so you can encourage your students to attend.
Finally, our Pacific team recently held a joint fono or so’otaga with our MIT whanau. Over 80 staff members were there to share in a memorable day discussing our respective strategies and ways in which our Pacific cultures provide value to learners.
Thanks for your mahi everyone.
Ngā mihi
Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga
DCE – Pasifika, Partnerships and Support
02 August 2021
Kia ora koutou
Well, the first semester was certainly an interesting time for the School of Applied Business (SAB). Between an early Covid lockdown, the asbestos-related closure of our building, and the first delivery of several new programmes the SAB team has coped admirably with everything 2021 has already thrown at us.
I would like to take this opportunity to recognise the successful first delivery of our postgraduate programmes, the Master of Applied Business and Master of Professional Accounting, and in particular, the participation of many of our Unitec colleagues in these programmes.
When we developed the fees-free postgraduate offer for Unitec staff in late 2020, we knew it would present certain challenges for the teaching team and the staff who would become our students. I would like to acknowledge the lecturers in the postgraduate programmes for their openness to the initiative – it takes courage to have one’s peers in a classroom and be subject to this kind of scrutiny.
I would also like to acknowledge our ‘staff students’ for their input and participation in the courses, and their openness with SAB staff. I have been seriously impressed with the very high grades many of our staff students obtained in the first semester – their results emphasise how many talented and smart people we have working here at Unitec.
I would also like to acknowledge the generosity of the various businesses who worked with us to provide case studies and student projects for the courses. Real world applied learning is a key aspect of our postgraduate programmes and provides our students with invaluable experience in real businesses and real business issues.
For instance, in the ‘Design Thinking for Business’ course the students worked with businesses to apply design thinking techniques to issues of concern or potential opportunities. I was fortunate to be invited to the final Design Thinking for Business presentations and was impressed by the caliber of the work the students had undertaken and the resultant solutions/recommendations made to the client businesses.
Several of the businesses told me how much they enjoyed working with our students and how impressed they were with the students’ ideas; many of which had real potential to solve issues or add value to their businesses. Combining talented students and local businesses is a win-win scenario for all concerned and a core feature of the School’s new postgraduate programmes – we love it!
We look forward to welcoming many more Unitec staff into our programmes, so please contact myself or Liz Rainsbury – Postgraduate Academic Programme Manager, if you are interested in this opportunity.
All the best for the semester.
Kay Kirkland
Head of Applied Business
26 July 2021
Kia ora koutou
Matariki hunga nui – Matariki, the gatherer of large groups of people
Matariki ahunga nui – Matariki, the provider of plentiful kai
Matariki tāpuapua – Matariki, the winter (Pleiades) season – signalling heavy rains that create water pools
Matariki te whetū o te tau – Matariki, the star that signals the start of a new year.
Ngākau Māhaki has had approximately 5,000 visitors since February 2021. We’ve participated in 60 pōhiri this year and had 15 groups stay for noho; and Matariki is a time to reflect on the past year, to remember those who have moved on to another realm and to think about the year ahead. It has most certainly been a year of change and reflection for Te Whare Wānanga o Wairaka and we’ll continue to experience change into the next cycle of Matariki. At a recent Māia whānau hui, we had an opportunity to reflect on numerous activities undertaken by the team, for instance:
- Kaihautū have read through and signed off approximately 800 Living Te Noho Kotahitanga and Te Tīpare badges
- Kura Pō see approximately 620 students each term, and is delivered four times per year
Speaking of Te Reo, we can see by the numbers that there certainly is demand for such an offering. We have been lucky enough to secure the services of Tamarangi Nightingale-Pene who will offer Te Reo for staff on a Tuesday. We already have 60 interested staff, so unfortunately the classes are now closed.
We’re now into the second week of orientation pōhiri, it’s great seeing all the new ākonga who have selected Te Whare Wānanga o Wairaka as their place of study – how privileged we are. We look forward to continuing our mahi with you to manaaki ēnei rito.
Ngā tauwhirotanga o te wāhi ngaro kia tātau katoa.
Ngā mihi
Toni Vaughan
Director – Māori Success
19 July 2021
Kia ora koutou
The school holidays are bringing a welcomed break to many of our staff and students. It is nice to see the campus a bit quieter knowing that people are taking the time to refresh and spend time with friends and whānau.
The Heads of School from both Unitec and MIT recently met for a joint hui at MIT’s Ngā Kete Wānanga Marae. It is believed that a meeting like this was the first of its kind between the two organisations. It was a great opportunity for whanaungatanga and sharing of ideas. The passion and commitment to education and to our learners was evident and mutually shared.
An organisational development consultant and positive psychology practitioner, Jane Davis joined us in the afternoon to discuss leading through change. A useful and timely topic for our sector.
She discussed psychological safety as the fundamental requirement to lead change. This is when people believe they won’t be humiliated, punished, or made fun of for sharing thoughts and beliefs. Psychological safety enables people to speak up, to be resilient, to be energised, and be able to engage in change.
Jane’s kōrero is a great reminder of Unitec’s Code of Conduct: Ngā Tikanga Whakahaere. The code makes explicit our commitment to creating and sustaining an environment free from bullying, harassment, discrimination and other poor behaviours. If you want to know more, check out the Speak Up: Supporting & Enabling our Code of Conduct Workshops
Have a lovely week.
Katie Bruffy
Head of Community Studies
12 July 2021
Kia ora e te whānau
It was lovely to see everyone at Tū Arotake last week. It’s always important to acknowledge our people. It’s also important to acknowledge that for many reasons – asbestos-related building closures and Covid-19 lockdown included – it has been a very big semester. I’d like to take this chance to echo and re-iterate the message of thanks from our Executive Leadership Team.
The outstanding way you have worked, collaborated, and supported each other to keep our learners at the heart of everything we do is reflected in our strong student NPS results and is very much appreciated by students, leadership, and colleagues alike. He tino pai te mahi! Awesome work.
In Bridgepoint we’re looking forward to a short but well-deserved break this week before welcoming new learners and new cohorts into our Bridging Education and Language Studies programmes. We’re also looking forward to engaging further with RoVE and Te Pūkenga.
Over the next semester and indeed over the next few years there’s little doubt there will be both challenges and significant opportunities. The passion, experience, dedication, and expertise you bring to your mahi here at Unitec will be key to helping to shape the future of vocational education across Tāmaki Makaurau and Aotearoa.
With Manakitia Te Rito guiding our direction and Te Noho Kotahitanga keeping us grounded, I’m confident that through whatever the changes bring, we will remain sharply focused on supporting our learners, our communities, and each other.
He waka eke noa whānau.
Ngā mihi nui
Chris King
Head of Bridgepoint
05 July 2021
Kia ora koutou
Well, we’ve made it to the end of semester – ka pai everyone for your massive efforts over the past few months! As well as our amazing learning and teaching staff, I’d like to thank all our Support teams for their ongoing commitment and dedication to ensure learner success. With the additional pastoral care required at this time of the semester, it’s reassuring to know we have such capable teaching and support teams in place, and I acknowledge the extra workloads you’ve been carrying.
All of us have been stretched with our workloads during this very busy and challenging semester, and I encourage you to take some time off over the semester break where possible.
It’s been great to see the solid turnouts at the recent Te Pūkenga visits, where we were invited to provide input into the Operating Model and Academic Regulations. Thanks to everyone who attended for your interest, attendance and feedback. You can still share your thoughts on these important kaupapa on Te Pūkenga website or directly via their email: ourjourney@tepūkenga.ac.nz.
I’d also like to acknowledge and thank Trude Cameron (Project Lead) and the ‘Manawa Tina’ project team for all their incredible work. This project focuses on improving the learner experience across a range of identified issues. Through the team’s work, many problems have already been addressed through the process of continuous quality improvement. Read more here. Soon I, along with with Trude and representatives from the Working Party, will present this work to members of the ELT later this month – with improvements to the learner journey implemented from next semester
There is also some important mahi happening in the Creative Industries space. There are three main workstreams: the relocation of the School to the south end of campus, the redevelopment of the BPSA programme and the scoping of off campus delivery locations for our Acting and Dance Pathways.
From 2022, building 108 will accommodate the School of Creative Industries, including the delivery of the Design and Contemporary Arts disciplines and programmes along with the Screen Discipline from the BPSA Programme. Scoping of fit-for-purpose facilities on and off campus for Dance and Acting has been a key focus and redeveloping the current BPSA programme to align with stakeholder expectations (students, whānau, Unitec, industry and community) while improving the financial sustainability of the programme and continuing to meet and exceed our EPI success outcomes.
With a commitment to maintaining our rich whakapapa of history in delivery performing and screen arts programmes at Unitec, a proposal outlining short and long-term delivery options for the BPSA Programme will be submitted to ELT this month which will include industry partnerships for off campus dance facilities, integration of our learners into student life at the south end of campus and potential long-term programme delivery options for ELT consideration.
A special thanks to Aroha Lewin (Project Lead), Vanessa Byrnes, APMs and our wider School of Creative Industries team, including the BPSA whānau, for their willingness to explore future options and new ways of working. Tenei to mihi ki a koutou katoa.
Finally, I’ll see many of you at Tū Arotake on Wednesday. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone together – it’s been a long time since we all gathered in Te Puna.
Have a great week e te whānau.
Nick Sheppard
DCE – Schools and Performance
28 June 2021
Kia ora koutou
Here comes July! Yes, we’re already at the mid-way point of 2021 … I’m sure time speeds up with age and life in general. Most of our students are in Exam Week 2 this week so the stress pressure is very real for final exams, assessments, presentations etc. Speaking of stress, let’s consider the stress cycle which offers us great reminders. Thanks to Marion Blundell, Manager Te Puna Waiora, Health & Wellbeing for this timely prompt to help us all find a sense of balance.
As July arrives soon, so does the mid-year break and the ramp for Semester 2. This Wednesday 30 June is our Info and Enrolment Event to help encourage new and returning enrolments for next semester. This event will be held in Te Puna and continue on the success of 2020 to ensure our students understand the range of options available to help them complete their qualifications in order to get that amazing job they strive for. As always the team in Student Success are readily available to help in many ways which are included here and here please let us know if there’s anything we can do to help you in your role and support our students to be successful.
Stay well, keep well, go well, and Mānawatia a Matariki – acknowledging Matariki.
Annette Pitovao
Director – Student Success
21 June 2021
Kia ora koutou
I wrote last time that 2020 reinforced to me the need to value what is important to me and to take time to regularly enjoy those things, as well as needing to think more broadly how work fits into my life. After another disrupted semester and with 18 months ahead of us preparing for our integration with Te Pūkenga, I think it worth mentioning again. For me, it helps to consider what is controllable and what is not, and to think about what it is that gives me agency and enjoyment in my day. I know that I’m going to struggle to do everything all the time and that’s okay. Spending time with my family and friends at the weekend is as important as anything else I do and helps me to reset for the week ahead.
I have been particularly impressed this year by the support that many Unitec teams offer our ākonga, and the effort in particular of our first year staff in the School of Architecture, Ngā Ia Vai (our Māori and Pacific group), and wonderful Learner Outreach Programme advisor, Grace Zhang. The transition for our students to tertiary study has been a specific focus for the School of Architecture the past two years and we are seeing some great results. Our NPS across the School has just seen a really positive improvement, with our learners ‘new to Unitec’ giving the highest rating for two years running. Given the challenges faced this year it is excellent to see improvements like this in my own School and also the consistency of outcomes across the organisation.
These outcomes are something for us all to be proud of. A great many of us are involved with teaching because of the difference we can make to the lives of our students and we take satisfaction from seeing those students go on and succeed. When it starts to feel that there are things we have little influence over, as academics and teachers it helps to ‘own’ our classroom and our relationship with our students. With the end of semester upon us let’s continue to work with each other and our students to manaaki their success and foster that joy we get from seeing great results.
As we start to close out the semester the focus is on getting our students across the line, assessments graded, quality assurance processes completed, and semester 2 students enrolled. At the least. And amongst this busyness it can be easy to fail to find time for ourselves to step back and enjoy a break from the day-to-day. My tip, mow the lawn on Friday evening and then the weekend is that bit more free to enjoy. Maybe go crazy and add a few days of leave to that weekend over the coming weeks!
Ngā mihi
Peter McPherson
Head of School – School of Architecture
14 June 2021
Kia ora koutou
I’ve been attending day-long workshops run by Te Kaa on Igniting your Māori Cultural Competency along with the rest of the Exec team and the Unitec/MIT Board. Last week’s workshop focused on Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
At that session we talked at length about the persistent achievement gap between Māori and non-Māori learners in mainstream tertiary organisations like Unitec and MIT. I wanted us to think about the goal of equitable educational outcomes as a right and an obligation under Te Tiriti.
The Board and ELT remain committed to addressing this equity gap, and so this Pou Tukutuku seems like a good time to review what we are doing as an organisation for our learners in this area.
My main message is that the goal of equity for our Māori and Pacific learners remains. All the initiatives under Manaakitia te Rito and the I See Me programme of work also remain and will continue to be evaluated and refined to ensure they are as effective as possible.
We’ve recently had confirmation of final educational results for Unitec for 2020, and there’s generally positive news for our Māori and Pacific learners. For our Māori learners, Successful Course Completions, First Year Retention and Qualification Completions are all up. For Pacific learners, Course Completions are steady and First Year Retention is up, but Qualification Completions are slightly down.
We are doing further work to really understand these outcomes and how they reflect our initiatives, but in the COVID context, it’s a great set of results.
Less positively, the gap between Māori and non-Māori learners, and between Pacific and non-Pacific learners is pretty stubborn. It’s closing in places, but there’s no clear, overall trend of improvement. Clearly we have a lot more work to do to achieve equity and we really must remain committed.
Fortunately, there’s a positive ‘lead indicator’ in our soon-to-be-released Semester One Student ‘Net Promoter Score’ results. I’ve seen a quick preview that shows both Māori and Pacific learners have very high and improving NPS scores that are well above non-Māori/non-Pacific learners. That’s great news because it means that engagement and satisfaction are high, and this is likely to lead to improved outcomes.
So what’s next? Again, I want to assure you that we are strongly committed to the I See Me programme and other initiatives to support equity of outcomes. We’ll continue to evaluate and refine what we do, including reviewing the 2022 equity goal timeframe. In the meantime, thank you to everyone for all your hard work to support learner success. Kia kaha whānau!
Ngā mihi nui
Simon Nash
DCE – Learner Experience and Success
08 June 2021
Kia ora e te whānau
These are interesting times to be an academician.
The transition from independent ITPs to Te Pūkenga is significantly more than a mere merger of organisations. It is a radical overhaul of the design of vocational education and training. Within this overhaul are significant changes to the way that learner outcomes are determined, designed, developed, delivered (I assure you all this alliteration is accidental), assessed, moderated, reviewed and improved.
There are potentially huge advantages in a nationalised approach to this, driven by the needs of industry: learners will benefit from greater transferrability of learning (especially of partial credit); support for on-campus and in-work learning will be seamless; employers and industry will have renewed confidence in the relevance of curriculum; cost of duplicated efforts can be removed from the system, etc.
One question has not really been addressed yet: what will it mean to be an academician in this new world?
As academic staff, we engage in reflective practice: we reflect upon our experience of teaching and training, feedback we get from our learners, discussions we have with our peers, interactions we have with employers and industry. We participate in professional development: we attend and contribute to seminars and conferences, we read the latest publications in our area, we participate in workshops on a variety of aspects of teaching and curriculum design. Some of us engage in applied research: we work with partners to help solve real-world problems with innovative approaches, thereby also expanding the repertoire of problem-solving methods that can be imcorporated into student learning. All of these scholarly activities are conducted for the purpose of improving our teaching and training practices and the design of curriculum (including assessment).
The cumulative talent among the thousands of academic staff of Te Pūkenga (that includes us) is phenomenal. Right now is a critical time to apply that talent, by getting involved in the many ways in which Te Pūkenga and NZQA are seeking input on the emerging reforms. Right now, these reforms include NZQA’s proposals for a simplified qualification system, and Te Pūkenga’s draft Academic Regulations and Operating Model – both about to be released in the coming days. Unitec will provide opportunities for you to contribute to submissions on these matters, and you can also contribute as individuals. Please take advantage of these opportunities (including the upcoming Te Pūkenga session in Ngākau Māhaki on 21 June). This really is a once-in-a-generation change to the design of our roles as academic staff, and it really is up to us to make it work.
Ngā mihi nui
Martin Carroll
DCE – Academic
31 May 2021
Kia ora koutou
Like many others, our team has been affected by the closure of B111-115. While it has been inconvenient and has created extra workload for many people, I also want to highlight the positives that have come out of this situation. Basing ourselves in the hastily kitted-out B172 basement was unexpectedly beneficial. Not only was it a lovely setting with everything we needed for our work stations, we also rubbed shoulders with staff from the Business and Community Studies Schools and this enabled us to share ideas and expertise. We enjoyed shared morning teas with the Early Childhood teaching staff and observed the dynamic way they interact. My team also benefitted from technical expertise shared by our Business School staff – unplanned conversations led to discussing best practice and solving problems. It’s a different working environment and I’m proud of my team and the teams we’re sitting with for adapting so well.
When it comes to teaching, we have around 1880 students in our School – a 180 increase on last year – so we’ve leveraged off some of the learnings through Covid to accommodate our large classes. We’ve used remote teaching options so students can join either in person or remotely – something we hadn’t previously considered. It’s been heartening to hear good feedback from students; they really have adapted easily to this new mixed mode of delivery.
I recently attended a couple of amazing events. The first was a demolition and waste minimisation seminar at Unitec. It was supported by over 150 construction and waste minimisation practitioners and included some amazing presenters and great initiatives.
It’s great to see the raised awareness and momentum in the industry around more sustainable building practices. Suppliers are taking responsibility for reducing waste, and manufacturers are looking for sustainable ways to repurpose products. Our own Dr Terri-Ann Berry and environmental research team shared their work, for example how they’ve worked with Mitre 10 to reduce plastic wrapping when delivering materials to site.
Another highlight personally was attending the opening of TechPark at MIT in April. Along with the impressive facilities, it was very moving observing the relationship MIT has with Tainui and hearing the dignitaries from Tainui expressing the mana and their respect for MIT for what they’ve achieved in creating pathways for Maori into the sector.
A challenge we’re currently facing is the rapidly changing vocational education environment navigating a pathway through Te Pukenga , NZQA and Tamaki Makaurau expectations as well as reviewing and designing the format for delivery moving forward. The reform of programme portfolio offerings is yet to be determined. We’re trucking along with our current delivery but changes are definitely on the horizon.
Finally, I want to acknowledge the positive way our schools and service areas are working together following challenges with lockdowns, buildings closures and other business as usual character building events. It’s a true example of mahi kotahitanga when we support each other and share our expertise for the benefit of our students and our organisation. For example, I have appreciated the positive feedback from Simon Tries on consistency reviews, not just in our school but across others who have been through the process. I’d also like to call out James Oldfield and his team who have been supporting us with technology in the classroom during the building closures and through out the year. Ngā mihi nui kōrua.
Have a great week everyone.
Paul Jeurissen
Head of School – Building Construction
24 May 2021
Kia ora koutou
It has been a challenging couple of months for the School of Environmental and Animal Sciences (EAS) with the ‘Lockout’ due to asbestos rather than the more familiar ‘Lockdown’ due to Covid-19. Staff and students have found it really difficult to be away from familiar spaces, resources and facilities, but this has been mitigated somewhat through the kindness of other Unitec staff, who have thrown open their spare desks, workstations, offices and cupboards for us to work from. You might see a little less of me working/eating at Long Black café in Te Puna now that we have been allowed back into Building 115. It’s great to be back in our own spaces and we’re looking forward to the reopening of the other buildings.
Disruption and change seem to be the norm in vocational education currently. As well as our very local issues of asbestos and carparking, nationally changes are happening with the continued evolution of Te Pūkenga and the creation of Workforce Development Councils. For EAS, all of the animal qualifications have been rewritten and approved by NZQA and we now start the mammoth task of working with all of the other providers to write new master programmes under the guidance of Te Pūkenga.
Tūmanako – the bearded dragon
Te Puna Kararehe, the Unitec Animal Behaviour and Husbandry Centre, has carried on as usual, and continues to go from strength to strength, with another cohort of students about to successfully complete their rotation looking after the wide range of animals we have. Some of the animals need more looking after than others. Our new White Orpington chicks need a lot more care than Tūmanako, our bearded dragon, who has gone into a state of brumation for the winter (kind of like hibernation). I must admit, as the weather cools down, brumation sounds like quite an attractive option.
Ngā mihi
Dan Blanchon
Head of Schools – Environmental and Animal Sciences
17 May 2020
Kia ora koutou
It is hard to believe I have now been in my new role as DCE Operations for over three months. In that time we have experienced a perfect storm, with two COVID-19 lockdowns and an asbestos event that closed Buildings 111-115. It’s been incredible to see the way the affected teams and IMT have responded to these challenges, and my personal thanks goes to everyone involved in keeping things moving and keeping our learners at the heart of our decision-making. It hasn’t been easy, and I’m grateful for the many high-performing, dedicated staff we have here at Unitec. Here’s hoping the rest of the year continues without further major disruption.
I would also like to acknowledge the Finance team that due to the sector reforms driven by Te Pūkenga has completed three year-ends in the space of one calendar year. Unitec’s Financial Report for the nine months ended 31 December 2020 was approved by Board and received an unmodified audit opinion on 30 April 2021.
A recent big win was having our business case for the $24m investment into B108 approved by the Unitec Board, Te Pūkenga Council and the national Secretary of Education. This will enable us to meet the commitment we made in the 2018 land sale agreement to move our Schools out of the northern precinct. B108 will be the new home for the School of Creative Industries and some of our growing Trades courses, along with UPC who are already based there. We’re currently investigating specialist spaces for Dance and Acting. I acknowledge the uncertainty for these teams and appreciate their input and patience as we look for appropriate spaces to base their classes.
I have been in the education sector for over eight years now, and it is incredibly heartening to see strong growth in domestic enrolments. We are tracking at 8% ahead of budget, and this is being experienced consistently in the Auckland region, due to a number of factors including the Government’s training and apprenticeship fees-free initiative, an increase in people studying as they change their career path, and solid marketing of our courses. After the past few years of declining enrolments, it’s a welcome upturn.
During my career, I have experienced significant change. I previously worked in the health sector during the District Health Board reform, followed by the integration of the funder and provider functions. While we’ll experience a lot of change over the next 12 to 18 months as Te Pūkenga reforms vocational education, in my personal experience this also brings many opportunities and new experiences. It is a chance for us all to make a lasting difference in our learners’ lives.
Have a great week everyone.
Ngā mihi
Michelle Teirney
DCE – Operations
10 May 2021
Kia ora koutou
It’s May already! Somehow, I have missed the last four months. As usual, Trades and Services have been exceedingly busy working on present and future business while still putting significant effort into addressing legacy issues. We have two major projects on the go, Takohanga (a restructure of our Trades and Services programmes), which is now at a point where findings and improvements are moving into BAU. The other project, Arotake, is a critical piece which aims to address our institution’s systems’ incompatibility with apprentice programmes. Arotake will finally give the School’s lecturers and administrators the assurance that leadership is listening to concerns and addressing decades-old failures in systems and processes.
The UPC team recently held several school holiday workshops for secondary school students, with support from our School. Thanks to our Mataaho staff for the massive amount of work that went into shifting the workshop so we could welcome our colleagues from UPC into our building. I should also mention the professionalism of the UPC teachers – watching their delivery to learners is inspiring.
Trades and Services has had an influx of new staff, so our team is back to the size it was in 2019. Over the course of 2019 and 2020, we suffered significant numbers of resignations. Over the same period, our EFTS increased, so we’ve been operating with staff shortages. I must thank the patience shown by our teachers, especially those in Carpentry, Plumbing, Drainlaying and Gasfitting, who despite the difficulties and extra workload, never lost sight of our true north – the success of our learners.
I recently had the pleasure of attending the official opening of MIT Tech Park. It’s a magnificent facility and I encourage you to go and have a look. We’re in regular contact with our MIT cousins and my ambition is to bring both trades groups together to work in partnership. If successful, we can position ourselves to exploit the unprecedented levels of opportunities that the Tāmaki Makaurau strategy will bring.
Our strengthening relationship is already paying dividends. We are working closely on external moderation and discussing concepts of what combined delivery would look like. I hope that you have read the Nest article, Working with Kāinga Ora to deliver quality homes, that announces the partnership between Unitec and Kāinga Ora to deliver four relocatable homes. We have invited MIT to be part of the conversation with Kāinga Ora where, together, we look to cement the relationship and expand our Carpentry provision.
At this point, I should thank everybody who has contributed to the renovation of the Trades and Services. Unfortunately, the list would be a who’s who of our Unitec whānau. So let me end with this, I would like to thank each and every one of you both internal and external. It’s you, our whānau, who continue to make this a very special place!
I will close by asking you to cross your fingers, my beloved Swansea City Football Club have made the playoffs for promotion to the Premier League. Believe me, the team need all the luck they can get!
Ngā mihi nui
Lee Baglow
Head of School – Trades and Services
03 May 2021
Kia ora koutou
This month I’m shining the spotlight on the whakapapa of some of the activity in our Under-25s space. Whakapapa is fresh in my mind after returning from a week-long wānanga at Awatere Marae in Te Araroa with what was the very first Unitec Pathways College developed course, Mahi-ā-Toi. As Tangata Tiriti working in education in Aotearoa, opportunities to be immersed in a completely kaupapa Māori environment within our communities is the best personal and professional development I can ask for. I acknowledge our whānau from Kōtuku (Rutherford College) for providing this opportunity to members of our team and encourage everyone to look for opportunities to do the same.
Māhi-ā-Toi is our partnership that began with Kōtuku (Rutherford College) starting with 10 students back in 2016. This programme of work has now grown to include Waitākere College, Massey High School, Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Hoani Waititi Marae, Ngā Puna o Waiōrea and Kelston Deaf Education Centre. We are also now delivering this programme to West Auckland Alternative Education and about to look at development of a Pasifika version with Mt Roskill Grammar. The programme places focus on the whakapapa of each participant and their ability to translate that into pieces of art that express this. What is really special about this programme is that they don’t just partner with us because we are the closest tertiary institute to their school, there is whakapapa to the partnership that links to our whenua, so this is a partnership in its truest form.
Learning the art of Paraoa Parai – Fry Bread
The name of the programme pays homage to Toi-kai-rākau who brought whakairo to Aotearoa, Toi-kai-rākau is a Tupuna of the Mataatua Waka. The Captain of the Mataatua Waka was Toroa, father of Wairaka – hence the very intentional Kōtuku and Te Whare Wānanga o Wairaka partnership that has been formed. While travelling through Whakātāne on our way down the East Coast we visited the ancestral land of Toi-kai-rākau which marked the official start of the wānanga as we learnt the history of the area.
April marked the fifth anniversary of the establishment of the Unitec Pathways College. The brain child of Nick Sheppard, the UPC was formed as a response to the falling number of young people transitioning into Unitec from our secondary schools and Kura Kaupapa, and in response to the growing criticism we faced regarding our absence from the communities we serve. Centralising the services for these key stakeholders, guided by the principles of Te Noho Kotahitanga and supported by genuine external and internal partnerships, we have looked after our communities and in turn now see them looking after us.
Making our own pounamu, shaping traditionally by hand
In 2019 the UPC moved out of Bridgepoint into Student Success under the leadership of Te Tumu Glenn Mckay, where it began to form the foundation of the wider portfolio of Under-25s strategy that is now in operation at Unitec. Secondary-Tertiary programmes have increased from 10 partners in 2017 to 32 partners this year, straight-from-school student numbers increased by 47% in 2018 and have continued to increase year-on-year, we are back at large community events and many of our Unitec Schools are seeing the benefits of these and many other initiatives with year-on-year increasing numbers of young people in their programmes.
When we speak of whakapapa, we speak of people so given the significance of hitting the fifth anniversary it is important that I acknowledge those that have and continue to support the work of this team – because we certainly don’t do this on our own, we can’t! Personally I would like to acknowledge Nick Sheppard, Glenn Mckay and Merran Davis for their support of myself and the team and the lessons in leadership and partnership I have learnt from them as my direct managers over the past five years. Their embodiment of Te Noho Kotahitanga, commitment to our communities and what our communities saw from their actions deserves a mention here. I also acknowledge my fellow Priority Group Directors for their support and guidance on a daily basis; Under-25s form a little under half our student population and include representation of all our Priority Groups so our ability to partner as a team is integral to our work across the institution. I acknowledge on behalf of our young people, communities and the wider UPC whānau every other member of staff and team that has partnered with us so we could in turn serve our young people; those that are here with us and those who will be here with us one day.
Please enjoy some of the highlights (videos) of our trip:
- Waiata tautoko that would happen before every meal to acknowledge the hands that prepared the kai
- Time lapse of the sunrise at the East Cape Lighthouse (first place in the world the sun rises!)
Ngā mihi
Andrea Thumath
Director – Under 25s Success
*Images and videos approved for internal use by Rutherford College
27 April 2021
Kia ora koutou
The first quarter of the year is always a busy time for the Finance team as our financial year follows the calendar year, which means that we are preparing year-end accounts for 2020 and going through those results with our auditors Audit New Zealand. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank my team and others in the organisation for their efforts over the last few months in assisting us to work through the audit requests and process.
It is great to be able to share with you that despite all of the impacts of Covid-19 including the impact on our international student numbers, the way in which we managed our expenditure enabled us to improve our overall results in comparison to the previous year and our budget. This together with a continued focus on Manaakitia te Rito (our renewal strategy), and particularly our students and staff initiatives, will enable us to continue to build a financially sustainable organisation.
You may have heard we have had approval from our Board and Te Pūkenga to proceed with the construction works in building 108. We now await final approval from the Secretary of Education. This is a massive piece of work and allows us to fully exit the northern campus and grow other parts of our teaching in Trades, Engineering and other Schools. To get a $25m business case through is no easy task, and a massive thank you to Nick Hanvey and the Finance team for their expertise to inform this.
We have just prepared our latest 2021 forecast numbers and while Semester 1 student numbers are down on budget we are fortunate that semester 2 is looking good. If we can retain these students in study we have an excellent chance of achieving our 2021 EFTS budget – which would be incredible in these uncertain times. I want to congratulate you all for managing our costs well against budget. Currently we are forecasting that we will fall short on our budgeted end of year surplus, so it is really important that we continue to question all expenditure. We’ve done this before and I have every faith in all of us that we can achieve our targets this year.
For those of you interested in reading about the economy, I suggest you subscribe to Tony Alexander, one of New Zealand’s leading economists. An interesting fact from one of his latest newsletters is below:
I bet 99% of you did not know this. When you reach your 60th wedding anniversary you can receive a congratulatory card from the Queen, and the Governor General, and the Prime Minister as well as the local Mayor and local MPs. The website referenced here lets us know that such congratulations can even be arranged for one’s 50th wedding anniversary.
All you have to do is go through a ten-stage process and the wheels turn. So, if you are perhaps considering your mortality and fretting about not receiving a message from the Queen or King when you assuredly reach 100, don’t fret. There is another way. All you’ve got to do is stay married to the same person for 50 years. How hard can that be?
Ngā mihi
Kristine Brothers
Director Business Performance
19 April 2021
Kia ora koutou
Wow…what a busy and eventful start to the year so far. Huge thanks to everyone who brings patience, wisdom, and creative solutions to challenges on a daily basis. We have some incredibly talented people at Unitec, and it’s a constant joy to see Mahi Kotahitanga evident in our work and dealings with each other. It makes me proud to work at Unitec.
It was great to have a bit of a breather over the April Easter break. We all need to recharge the batteries, and I feel very lucky to live in a country where we have so much on offer within easy reach of where we live. Remember to book your leave for that break away during 2021.
On another note, it was very welcome news to hear recently that finance for the renovation of B108 has been approved by Unitec’s Board, and more recently, by the Council at Te Pūkenga. The final step is to obtain approval from the Secretary of Education. It gives strong traction towards the future vision of the School of Creative Industries, with a home base and core provision for Design and Contemporary Arts, and Screen Arts in B108. Our School will reside cheek-by-jowl with other Schools including UPC in this space, so we have been working hard to ensure the integrated design of the spaces is right through several iterations. Thank you to everyone who is continuing this mahi and for the ongoing support for our School by all teams in testing times.
In Performing and Screen Arts, we are underway with extensive scoping for alternate delivery models and learning sites as the exit date of December 2021 looms fast on the horizon. This is complex work that has several elements to get it right, but I am so proud of the way that everyone is working for the best student outcomes. Our Beijing Dance Academy students have had approval from NZQA to learn online / offshore for the duration of 2021. This is excellent news and is a reflection of the innovative approaches taken by the Dance team to ensure these students are tethered to the practical learning while also advancing their own practice offshore. Across the School we are gearing up for a whole string of School Holiday workshops in partnership with UPC, so it’s a busy time for all our disciplines as we head into the next few months.
On 21 and 22 April, we will be hosting a national Creative Industries Tertiary Hui / Talanoa here at Unitec in Te Noho Kotahitanga Marae. It is a pleasure to be able to gather our creative colleagues from around Aotearoa for this hui. Amongst the guests, Deputy Chief Executive: Delivery and Academic for Te Pūkenga Dr. Angela Beaton will be joining us to speak about the direction of travel ahead. Special thanks to Tūāpapa Rangahau for supporting this hui.
On a final note, we place huge importance on Student Success at Unitec. Learner participation, achievement, retention, and satisfaction metrics are important to all of us, especially as we continue the journey towards meeting parity targets at the end of 2022. I’m excited to see where this journey will lead us over the next few years, and am so happy for our students to have had the recent Kahurangi, Pacific, and broader Graduation ceremonies to celebrate every student’s individual milestone moment of walking across the stage with a newly-minted qualification. It was very special to see 2020 graduates being celebrated with a special Unitec ceremonial sash. Thank you to everyone who has made this important milestone happen for our graduates. This success is what it’s all about.
Ngā mihi
Vanessa Byrnes
Head of School – Creative Industries
12 April 2021
Kia ora koutou
Waitākere campus has been a hive of activity since the beginning of the semester with an increase in enrolments across all programmes. The library and librarians are kept busy, corridors are buzzing, Student Central has an abundance of visitors, the student kitchen urn is constantly boiling, Rangimarie – our student space is well used, and we love it!
The brief Covid interruption in February meant our students, including many first year ākonga, experienced online learning to access their classes. They managed extremely well, enabling a relatively smooth start to the year. April has arrived quickly this year, and with so much happening we were grateful to have the small break over Easter to rest and re-energise.
Our busy placement schedule has been underway since the start of semester, and has seen students on placement or soon to go on placement across Medical Imaging, Nursing and Social Practice. Our placement coordinators have been working hard and with increased student numbers we are grateful to our community for their continued support in providing opportunities as we develop our workforce for the future.
In Social Practice, one class travelled to Waitangi for two days last week, which is a valuable part of their Te Tiriti course.
The Ministry of Health has requested support with vaccinations across the country so four of our Nursing lecturers have volunteered to join the national vaccination team. They will be attending a course for Registered Nursing Vaccinators, after which they’ll be ready to help with the demand for vaccinations from across the community.
Our Nursing students will be doing free Health Assessments for staff across both campuses in the next few weeks so – please take advantage of this opportunity to have a check-up, while also supporting our students with their learning.
Last week our School and in particular the Nursing team farewelled their much beloved colleague and lecturer Anna Smith, who taught in the Nursing programme for almost 17 years. Her funeral was well attended and it was heartwarming to see the number of current and past students come out in large numbers to acknowledge her. She will be very missed by us all.
Lastly, we look forward to Graduation where we can celebrate our students’ achievements and success. Congratulations to those crossing the stage on 13 April.
Ngā mihi
Linda Aumua
Head of School – Healthcare and Social Practice
29 March 2021
Talofa lava
It’s been a very disrupted start to our year but I’m very pleased that we’ve been able to welcome our Pacific learners as we’d planned, albeit in between the interruptions.
I was proud to be part of our 2021 Pacific orientation, after it was cancelled due to Covid last year. The orientation involved our Student Services, Pacific Champions and Schools staff working together to manaaki our new Pacific learners as they begin their journey at Unitec. Learners were split up into their School groups where they had talanoa sessions to get to know other students better.
Our Pacific Learning Advisors and Success Navigators have been working closely with the Pacific Champions in each of the Schools to connect early with fono. The recent fono sessions have seen many of our Pacific learners engaging with staff and each other. It’s wonderful to have so many of our Unitec whānau supporting our learners, as they navigate through the often unfamiliar and overwhelming experience of tertiary study.
To continue the talanoa and whakawhanaungatanga, we will be holding our first Whānau-Fanau Day in three years on Saturday 1 May. This is an opportunity for our Māori and Pacific students to celebrate their cultures together, and bring their families onto campus to see for themselves our beautiful campus and to meet staff. We know through experience and research that our Māori and Pacific learners are often more successful when we bring their family along with them, as a big part of their support network.
We are now into our 18th year of an agreement between Unitec and the NZ Police to grow Pacific police officer numbers. It’s an ongoing collaboration between the NZ Police, Unitec Police Studies and the Pacific Centre. Last semester saw a 100% pass rate for our pre-Police course or the first time and it’s great to see the course get underway for semester one 2021.
You may be aware of the Pacific fale that was built in the courtyard next to building 1, and opened in 2003. With the land being handed to the government later this year, we have been planning the relocation of this special structure from building 1 down to closer to building 180. Collaborative work between the Unitec property team, Pacific Centre team and a master fale builder will ensure correct process and ceremony is followed – I’ll keep you updated as we confirm our plan.
I’m very aware that the closure of B111 – 115 is causing disruption and frustration for many of our teams and I extend my thoughts and support to you all. Thanks to all of the teams working behind the scenes on the investigation and remediation needed to make these buildings safe for our learners and staff.
Finally, I welcome you to our Mu Talanoa sessions on Wednesdays – starting this week. It’s a combo of Chess and Talanoa (chatting), and a great opportunity to take time out, learn a new skill and get to know your colleagues.
Toe feiloa’i
Falaniko Tominiko
Director – Pacific Success
22 March 2021
Kia ora e te whānau
Well we have had a very interesting start to our academic year. I’m very grateful that our School was able to conduct our student welcome pōhiri on 24 February, just before the first week of the semester. I’d like to send out a huge ngā mihi nui to all of the teams that supported us in that event. They changed, re-planned, pivoted, and re-planned again many times as we worked through the options available at the various COVID-19 alert levels. We were able to combine the pōhiri with a wānanga and student hikoi through the whenua. It was a fabulous day and really set the year off to a good start. I think we were able to connect with our students which was very beneficial when we needed to go into our Level 3 lockdown from 1 March.
Our School is now very focused on supporting our students into their studies on campus. It is great to have our students here and I’m really enjoying the hum and buzz of the campus. However, building on the success we had with students during online delivery, we are working on developing our Master of Computing and Post-Graduate Diploma in Computing into online distance programmes. We are grateful for the support we have received from Te Korowai Kahurangi and Te Puna Ako as we navigate the NZQA approval process for delivering online. These programmes will be offered online in distance mode from the beginning of Semester 2 to students in New Zealand as well as offshore. We will also have some face-to-face campus courses which ensures we can still offer our practical hands-on courses. We are very excited about these programmes and see them as a great way to support and develop Computing and IT professionals in the regions. We also hope to incorporate our Te Pūkenga whānau in the future.
The other exciting development underway already works across our Te Pūkenga whānau as we collaborate on a new programme for the New Zealand Certificate in Electrical Pre-Trade (L3).
Suresh Palapati, who took out ‘Most accurate’ and ‘longest flight’
Last week, our School held our hotly contested annual Paper Plane Competition. Planes are flown from the third floor balcony of building 183, as we battle to win bragging rights in categories including: most accurate paper plane, longest distance and best looking paper plane. Well done Suresh Palapati for taking out the first two categories and Phil Plunkett for best-looking plane.
Ngā mihi
Susan Bennett
Interim Head of School – Computing, Electrical and Applied Technology
15 March 2021
Talofa lava
It’s been a whirlwind six weeks since I joined Unitec. I have taken on a new role as DCE Pasifika, Partnerships and Support and have felt a lot of aroha from you since starting. I have particularly enjoyed witnessing Te Noho Kotahitanga in action through the pōhiri and orientation activities – these have enabled me to meet both staff and learners alike. Our team has had a busy start to the year in spite of the COVID disruptions. In particular, we have been heavily involved in the Incident Management Team communications efforts. Our goal has been to effectively communicate to both learners and staff, with up-to-date, accurate and relevant information to help people to plan and make decisions around learning at Unitec. This is mahi kotahitanga in action.
The recent COVID outbreak directly affected our team at MIT. While this was a distressing time for the learners and staff, I was proud of the way our team pulled together to support those involved and to reassure our MIT whānau that we were there for them. Staff from across both MIT and Unitec stepped up to manaaki our whānau and I’m grateful for that.
Our marketing effort is hitting home with over 16,400 domestic applications received so far (a lift of 41% compared to last year). This had led to our current Equivalent Full Time Student (EFTS) value of over 4,900 being 6% over budget for the year to date. The processing of enrolments accelerated in the last few weeks and this included our team processing over 203 enrolments on the Saturday before term started. While we have achieved some excellent results so far, we have much work to do to reach our year end financial target of 5,847 EFTS. I am especially pleased to see our priority group EFTS up from last year (Māori – 14%, Pasifika – 13% and under 25 – 4%). Even with borders closed, demand from offshore continues to be high while we shift our focus to target onshore students and pathways from secondary schools. We have already met the annual EFTS target for new international students and are now pushing ahead for Semester 2.
Our Partnerships team continue to support our Schools, with planning well in-hand for our Connect events, with our first event being the Māori and Pasifika Careers Fair on 12 May. We are hosting and promoting a number of graduate recruitment programmes currently open for applications and working with our schools on industry placement courses.
Looking forward, graduation is sure to be a highlight for us. The team is preparing for this by working through the eligibility of our graduands, processing all of the requests to attend a graduation ceremony as well as working with the Events team in Student Success to awhi those learners who were unable to attend a graduation event due to COVID-19 restrictions. We are also hosting the Diversity Stage at Polyfest next month which is always a fun and interactive place to engage with our future learners.
I am looking forward to meeting you all this year as I get around Unitec but if you wish to contact me directly please do so on 021492994 or slotuiiga@unitec.ac.nz, or pop by Building 110 on level 2, on our Mt Albert campus.
Ngā mihi
Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga
DCE – Pasifika, Partnerships and Support
08 March 2021
Kia ora koutou whānau
Life has been hectic for the School of Applied Business in the last few weeks; COVID has once again disrupted our lives and teaching for our programmes was quickly shifted online when Level 3 was announced. As always the School team did a great job and spent last week online welcoming our new and returning students.
The difficulty level for our team has been ramped up with the first time delivery of a number of new programmes, including the Level 4 New Zealand Certificate in Business (Accounting Support), Master of Applied Business (plus the nested Postgraduate Certificate and Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Business) and the Master of Professional Accounting.
I have been really delighted by the number of our Unitec whānau who have decided to take up the School’s fees free offer for postgraduate study for permanent domestic staff (10% cost for permanent international staff). My own experience of postgraduate study was so great; I met some wonderful people who are still friends, broadened my world view and gained knowledge, skills and qualifications that have been invaluable ever since.
Initially, I was worried that I wasn’t smart enough or that I couldn’t fit it around my work and kids – I was a solo mum and we didn’t have much money. But I was determined to do it – it had been a dream for a long time. It really helped that I loved my teachers and the journey I was on –most of the time…there were definitely times I wanted to give up. But constantly sitting on my shoulder was the knowledge that I was setting an example to my girls and I could not bear the thought of telling them I had quit.
In hindsight, one of the biggest benefits of my postgraduate study was the major influence it had on my then teenage daughters. Study became real for them and just another part of our lives. They got used to the campus I was based on, the people I was studying with and my teachers. Postgraduate study was normalised for them, they knew who and what was involved – it became part of the furniture of their lives. I believe this ‘normalisation’ has had a big impact on what they have achieved in their own careers.
So I am an absolute and unashamed advocate of postgraduate study. I believe the best postgraduate study should challenge you and take you on a journey of self-development and achievement. I will leave you with a quote from Seth Godin: “Either you defend the status quo, or you invent the future.”
If you are interested in exploring postgraduate study in the School of Applied Business you still have time – enrolments are open for another week.
Please contact myself or Associate Professor Liz Rainsbury if you would like to know more. There is some good information on the website plus the terms and conditions for the offer on the Nest.
Kia kaha in these challenging times.
Kay Kirkland
Head of School – School of Applied Business
02 March 2021
Kia ora e te whānau
I’d been expecting to write a post about how we’d just welcomed our Supported Learning, Bridging Education and Language Studies tauira in two large pōwhiri, and about how we’d enjoyed seeing the activity and energy that our learners bring on to campus.
While there has been a flurry of activity in the last few days, this is not quite the start to the semester we were hoping for.
Despite the circumstances of our somewhat unexpected and certainly unwanted lockdown, I continue to be impressed by how you put our learners at the centre of your mahi, and Te Noho Kotahitanga at the heart of what you do.
The first few weeks of any semester are critical to the success of our tauira, and this is especially true now during Alert Level 3. We’re in for a particularly busy week as we work together across Unitec to engage and support our learners.
As with previous lockdowns, we have staff supporting access to campus for essential equipment requests, a core team on campus ensuring that critical systems and services are up and running, teaching and support staff reaching out to learners and teaching online, and staff across our institute contributing to our mahi in TKK, TPA, IMS, IMT, ARC, and in many other teams.
Three letter acronyms aside, one of the things I truly appreciate about being here at Unitec is how we come together to support each other, our values, and our learners.
Kia kotahi, kia tapatahi, kia kaha whānau!
Ngā mihi nui
Chris King
Head of School, Bridgepoint
22 February 2021
Kia ora koutou
We were reminded again last week that COVID-19 is unpredictable. Our response as an organisation is a heartening reminder of our ability to collectively support each other, our students, and our communities. We know how to do this well!
Many thanks to everyone – for adapting to the latest lockdown and adjusting your ways of working.
While we’re at Alert Level 2 it’s really important that all staff review the Level 2 Health and Safety Refresher. Teaching staff, please run through it with any students on campus this week.
Another way we demonstrate our care and commitment to Te Noho Kotahitanga is how we welcome students onto Te Whare Wānanga o Wairaka. Guidelines for the Pōhiri at varying alert levels were emailed on Friday and can be found in Dan and Toni’s message. It is an honour to support our learners and I know it is a key motivation for many of us at Unitec. I am really looking forward to the special excitement students bring and the satisfaction of knowing we make a difference.
In Community Studies, we have strong orientation programmes that we have been refining for years. Our Early Childhood programme starts every semester with a mihi whakatau in the whare tapere. The whakawhanaungatanga establishes key principles and relationships to sustain students during their degree.
Some of our welcome activities include:
- Sue Emerson is well-known in Sport, Recreation, and Exercise for her inspirational and aspirational welcome speeches, which are always accompanied by a dusting of glitter
- Osteopathy staff and students have a shared BBQ
- The Police team have been developing ways to enhance on-boarding for their online course through Zoom breakout rooms
Community Studies staff continue to be champions within our communities, regularly connecting with our professions by serving on boards, conference organising committees, researching, and delivering workshops. Recently Chantel Bakersmith was featured on Radio New Zealand for an oral-history project she is doing about the history of women’s rugby in Aotearoa. I am sure the students will love hearing these stories in class.
All the best for the week ahead.
Ngā mihi
Katie Bruffy
Head of School – School of Community Studies
15 February 2021
Kia ora koutou
I’ve been enjoying being back on campus, seeing friends and colleagues refreshed after a good break over the summer and with renewed energy for the year ahead. Let’s hope this lockdown doesn’t last long.
Nick, Simon and Paul have already picked up on some great early highlights (enrolments, EER, and Moodle!) and I have seen the energy bubbling away on campus as everyone prepares to welcome students in our warm way very soon.
I’m always proud of the activity in the School of Architecture and get great pleasure seeing the achievements of my colleagues and our students. Toward the end of last year and over the summer we have completed several community-based projects working with a range of partners and collaborators, including a community facility at Ihumātao as part of our Te Hononga Māori Design Research Studio, the opening of the viewing platform, Te Rite o Taranaki, at CUE Haven, and the unveiling of a new pavilion in Avondale that will see a new artist expression every month for the next six months. Two of my colleagues, Dr. Christoph Schnoor and Dr. Matthew Bradbury each published books at the end of the year. Our long-standing student-led Asylum publication took on a new life in 2020 incorporating refereed research outputs, receiving submissions from around New Zealand. Kahurangi Eruera has been awarded the 2021 He Maunga, He Tangata scholarship, a partnership between Isthmus Group, Te Kaunihera o Tāmaki Makaurau and Te Whare Wānanga o Wairaka that provides the opportunity to undertake post-graduate study alongside placements in a local body design environment and one of Aotearoa’s leading design studios. The inaugural recipient, Ahlia Mei Ta’ala has some great things to say of her experience at Unitec. One of our last activities in 2020 were the examinations of our post-graduate students, a really great way to close out 2020 and you can see here our Māori students owning the experience along with their whānau in Ngākau Māhaki. Seeing Master of Landscape Architecture student Rob Small’s progress of his research project to reality with Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei at the Pourewa Reserve is inspirational!
There always seems to be a lot going on at Unitec and personally 2020 has reinforced to me to value what is important and to make sure I take time to regularly enjoy those things. It also brought to me greater awareness of our lives outside of work and to make sure that I am connecting with people around their whole lives, not just the detail of what is in front of us right now. With ADEPs in view, I’m minded of previous discussions with colleagues and the emphasis they place on their enjoyment of the collegiality that we have at Unitec. I think however we are feeling about the year ahead, it is those connections to each other and our dedication to students that makes this a great place to work and learn. With this as my focus I know that we can continue to elevate the way we manaaki the success of our learners and communities.
Ngā mihi
Peter McPherson
Head of School – School of Architecture
09 February 2021
Kia ora e te whānau
We had some great news last week, which was that our EER Category Two status has been finalised! NZQA will confirm this in the next week or so by publishing the report on their website, but here’s a copy that you can look at.
We’re Category Two, but we’re a really STRONG Category Two – as evidenced by the great feedback and outcomes in the report. What that means is that we can go back to being treated like most other education providers, and we lose the additional restrictions and scrutiny that comes with Category Three status. Perhaps more importantly, we regain confidence that we are a high quality provider of tertiary education.
Three particular highlights in the report for me are:
- The outcome for our Social Practice whānau – you guys are amazing! After a really difficult time at the last EER, you flew through external reviews and accreditations in 2020, and have been rated ‘Excellent’ for educational outcomes in this EER at certificate, bachelors and masters level. And you’ve gone beyond parity so that our Māori and Pacific Social Practice learners have better outcomes than their fellow learners. To Linda and the team: He tino pai rawa atu koutou.
- We were rated Excellent as an organisation for how we lead, reflect on, and continuously improve on educational quality. Throughout Unitec, we are committed to Manaakitia te Rito and putting learners first, and this came out loud and clear for the panel. Thank you in particular to the teams in Te Korowai Kahurangi, Te Puna Ako and our academic governance committees for supporting and leading this kaupapa.
- We’re also rated Excellent for how we support our learners and involve them in their education. We are highly learner-centred. Three big shout-outs go to the Learner Outreach Project, the I See Me initiatives, and the way we wrapped support around our learners during COVID-19 lockdown. While I’d like to take some credit in my new role as DCE Learner Experience and Success … I can’t… This is all down to the mahi from a team of dedicated kaiako, kaihautū, advisors and others, and in particular, our Director Student Success (and Unitec Champion 2020!) Annette Pitovao, Helena Finau and the LOP team, our Priority Group Directors Toni, Andrea and Niko, and our recently-departed Tumu Glenn Mckay.
Lastly, this couldn’t have happened without all of you and your dedication to our learners. We’ve got some big challenges as an organisation right now, but casting my mind back to the Staff Awards at end of 2020, the wairua of Te Whare Wānanga o Wairaka was shining through strongly, mirroring our improved EER status. Whānau, I am committed to our values and direction in Te Noho Kotahitanga, and Manaakitia te Rito, and I look forward to working with you in 2021.
Ngā mihi
Simon Nash
DCE Learner Experience and Success
02 February 2020
Kia ora koutou
It’s great to be back on campus as we prepare for the 2021 cohort of students to arrive in a few weeks. While we gear up for 2021 delivery, it is a good time to think about how we will manaaki our learners to ensure they feel comfortable and safe here. The pōwhiri and orientation that our new learners receive is a great start, but we also need to focus on supporting them for the year ahead, including having our Moodle and delivery resource platforms up-to-date. It’s something we’re getting really good at and this was reflected in our improved NPS scores last year.
There’s a lot going on in the School of Engineering and Construction, and we have a real focus on collaboration this year, both with industry and across the ITPs.
Our Construction team is hosting the first online national moderation event for the BCONs programme on February 11 and 12 as part of our work to create greater collaboration while we move towards Te Pūkenga. Working with Ara, Otago, and SIT, we’re developing national moderation guidelines that will help ensure national consistency in the delivery of BCONs and give all the ITPs a chance to share resources and modes of delivery. After a successful face-to-face event in 2019, we’re hosting this one online.
We’re also working on a digital lab for construction, supported and powered by Microsoft. They offer a micro-credential bank for using their technology and support students or industry partners to respond to important community projects using Microsoft’s AI programme and data fundamentals—exciting stuff!
Our Engineering School is part of the upcoming joint Engineering forum, hosted at MIT. Four of our team will present, and discussions will focus on moderation, the future landscape, and potential future delivery—including input and an opening address by Stephen Town, the inaugural Chief Executive of Te Pūkenga.
The Engineering Alumni gathering is coming up in a few weeks, co-sponsored by Unitec and industry organisations. It’s a great chance to share information with our graduates—we talk about our programmes and the most popular courses, and they tell us about opportunities and buoyant areas in the industry. These discussions often lead to new field trip locations and employment opportunities.
This year we’re stepping up our collaboration with MIT. We’re concentrating on making sure that we’re utilising each other’s resources—both physical and expertise, to ensure we’re maximising our occupancy rates.
And finally, a big focus for me this year is to support and value our people. Guided by the principles of Te Noho Kotahitanga, I aim to ensure staff feel valued throughout the year, especially as we navigate our way through impending changes. It’s important that we remain transparent and open, and by valuing our staff, we’re helping to ensure a positive experience for our learners.
Kia kaha whānau. We’re going through some challenging times at the moment, but I know we can get through this and come out stronger, guided by Te Noho Kotahitanga.
Ngā mihi
Paul Jeurissen
Head of Engineering and Construction
25 January 2021
Kia ora koutou
Welcome back! I hope you’ve all had an enjoyable and relaxing summer break with friends and whānau and have come back refreshed and ready to take on 2021.
2020 was a massive year for us all – despite many challenges, we got through it with flying colours, and ended with a very positive draft EER outcome and significant improvement in staff and student engagement, resulting in all-time high NPS scores.
It’s been heartening to see our enrolment numbers rolling in, with big increases on last year’s numbers. As of yesterday, we have enrolled 3,125 EFTS, or 5,667 students (taking into account full time and part time students) in to Semester 1 and 2 2021 courses. We are currently 11% up on budget for the year, and importantly all priority group enrolments are tracking up on last year, especially our Pacific students who are up 27% on last year.
Domestic applications are up 48% on last year, which is a great reflection on all the hard mahi we have done to grow and strengthen Unitec’s profile in the community. Mahia te mahi, hei painga mo te iwi.
Now that NCEA results have been released, we expect the usual flurry of activity as young learners choose their programmes of study. The next few weeks are vital, and we all need to continue to play our part in enabling our learners to choose the right study programme for them to be successful.
Behind the scenes, our enrolments team is working incredibly hard. The team is going through every application ensuring we are assessing applications against regulations, supporting Schools with interviews, processing cross credits, monitoring class capacity, enrolling our learners within 48 hours of meeting all requirements, and processing requests for change of enrolment. Thanks for your mahi, team! He tino pai to mahi!
I’d also like to acknowledge and congratulate the Marketing team for their amazing mahi on the Semester 1 marketing campaign. It’s a campaign that reflects who we are as Unitec: our people and communities, the diversity of our students and programmes, and most importantly our Te Noho Kotahitanga values and all we stand for. No doubt, it has helped potential students to make the decision to study here, contributing to our impressive enrolment numbers so far.
In other news, Annette Pitovao and I continue our involvement with Te Pūkenga’s ‘Learner Journey and Experience’ work stream and last week we received a report back from Te Pūkenga on the key themes, which we hope to be able to share with staff soon. It is very encouraging to see that many of the key themes coming through from across the sector are already in progress here, or planned for 2021… go Unitec!
Lastly, I would like to acknowledge and tautoko my friends and colleagues, Glenn, David, Mary, and Ali in the Executive Leadership Team, who will shortly leave Unitec to pursue new opportunities. I’ve greatly appreciated and admired their values-based leadership, commitment to our learners, staff and communities, amazing work ethic, vast experience and expertise, and their absolute commitment to Te Noho Kotahitanga. This team of talented and committed leaders have been at Unitec’s helm during very tough times and will leave an important and lasting legacy behind them. I will miss them all very much, thank them for the incredible contribution, and wish them all well in their future endeavours.
Noho iho mai ra i raro i te korowai manaaki o Te Noho Kotahitanga.
Remain here under the protection (cloak) of our kaupapa Te Noho Kotahitanga.
Ngā mihi nui
Nick Sheppard
Executive Director – Schools and Performance
14 December 2020
Kia ora koutou
What a year 2020 has been! We’ve all seen highs and lows in this very unusual year. Considering a year ago not many of us had even heard of Coronavirus, COVID-19, managed isolation and quarantine facilities.
Now here we are at the beginning of our final week of work for 2020. You’ve done an incredible job getting to this point of the year which you should be proud of and embrace. There’s no doubt that 2021 will be another year of constant changes, highs and lows and unexpected random surprises… that’s life and that’s what keeps us guessing about what’s around the next corner.
Talking about surprises, I was certainly taken aback when at the recent Unitec Excellence Awards I was announced as the Unitec Champion winner. Wow, that really was a surprise and I want to say a very heartfelt thank you and again, that for me, it’s always about our team first and foremost. Our mahi is really what this recognition is about so thank you to the whole team – you are my Unitec Champions!
I was also pleased to see that we’ve had the NZQA draft feedback on the EER and are back at Category 2. This is a great outcome to finish the year on and I’m super proud of everyone involved and how we’ve all taken responsibility to work together to raise our game. You’ll hear more from Dr Simon Nash about this today but I’m looking forward to working through what opportunities this may open up, especially for International.
Have a wonderful summer break and well-deserved rest and relaxation. You are awesome, resilient, and 2021 will arrive before we know it! Mauri ora Unitec team!
Ngā mihi
Annette Pitovao
Director – Student Success
7 December 2020
Tēnā koutou katoa
Nō Kirkiriroa ahau
Kei Tāmaki Makaurau ahau e noho ana
Kei Te Whare Wānanga o Wairaka ahau e mahi ana
Ko Marie rāua ko Gordon ōku mātua
Ko Ellerie, ko Matthew āku Tamariki
Ko Susan Bennett taku ingoa
Nō reira, tēnā koutou katoa
This is my first Pou Tukutuku and it’s a great honour to be able to bring you up-to-date with the mahi of the School of Computing, Electrical and Applied Technology, as the Interim Head of School.
Life in the School over the last month has been hectic and very rewarding. Our students have completed this very difficult year with great results. We were able to celebrate with them on Friday at our first full School GradFest event. A selection of our completing students presented their final semester ’Capstone’ project work, posters and physical prototype models, and we presented awards to our top students. It was a great evening and fantastic to see the support for our students from their friends and whānau. After such a challenging year they really appreciated the opportunity to celebrate their achievements.
Coming up next year is the opportunity to work with even more students as our enrolments increase across the board.
We have some very exciting programme development on the agenda as well. The ELT has given us approval to work towards moving our Computing Post-Graduate programmes online in Semester 2, 2021 – a completely new way of offering these programmes in New Zealand and offshore. We will be working with our wider Te Pūkenga whānau during this development. The Bachelor of Applied Technology will be refreshed during 2021 for an enhanced student experience. Also the Bachelor of Computing Systems and our Graduate Diploma in Computing are being fully re-developed with exciting new courses and enhanced specialisations for delivery in 2022. Many of our programmes will have new courses, part of our continuous improvement focus in the School.
We all had a wonderful time at the Unitec Excellence Awards. It was great that our wonderful BA, Angela Hunt was recognised – she really is the glue/oil that keeps all the parts of the School together and working well, and we just could not do without her. Congratulations Angela and thank you to all involved in organising and running the Awards, love your mahi!
I would also like to send out a thank you to all of the staff in our School for their hard mahi and commitment to our students, and to the Unitec whānau in all of the support areas that ensure we are able to provide the very best learning experience to our students.
Wishing everyone a wonderful, restful and safe Christmas holiday – onwards into 2021!
Ngā mihi
Susan Bennett
Interim Head of Computing, Electrical and Applied Technology
30 November 2020
Kia ora koutou
We are nearly at the end of the year; I can’t believe how quickly this year has gone and that it’s the end of my second year with Unitec. The last two years have certainly been action-packed and thoroughly rewarding for me. I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to work alongside the other members of the Executive Leadership Team, the Finance and Legal Team, and with you all.
A large portion of my career has been spent working with organisations that have financial challenges and so I have observed the success and the failure of many organisations to turn around and regenerate themselves. From my experience, the Unitec turnaround, led by the development and implementation of Manaakitia Te Rito, has been a textbook case of how to undertake a successful turnaround, and you all deserve an A+ for the way in which you have got behind it. The reason that so many organisations are not successful is that nine out of 10 organisations fail to execute strategy. Research has found that one of the main reasons for this is what they call the “Vision Barrier – due to only 5% of the workforce understanding the strategy”. Well, Unitec has blown this out of the water. It was fantastic to see the Staff Engagement Survey scores on the Manaakitia te Rito Strategic Direction and Alignment Statements – 95% said “I believe in what Unitec is trying to achieve” and 92% said “I can clearly see how my work contributes to Unitec’s strategy”.
On Friday we had the Finance and Legal 2021 planning day which was a great opportunity to reflect on just how much Unitec has achieved in 2020. It’s been a productive year for the Finance and Legal Team, who in my totally unbiased view has achieved greatness during the year in improving so many of our systems and processes.
At the planning day we worked on our Unitec Action Plan for 2021 and also received some excellent resilience training from Mary Johnston so we are up for whatever challenges 2021 will bring. Last year I admit we struggled a little pulling our Action Plan together for the first time, but this year it was a dream. There were some great ideas coming out of the team on how we could better support the Student Success teams and the Schools by extracting information from data that would help them to support our students.
It is this kind of thinking and innovation that has meant that for the first time in at least seven years, Finance has made the finals for the Staff Excellence Awards for the work that Cathy Zheng and Abhishek Masih have done in using Power BI to create an in-depth insight into the challenges our Priority Groups face. Well done you two, it’s another very proud moment for the Finance and Legal Team – we are just stoked!
In the last few months, we have had three new faces join our team and are pleased to now have a full compliment of staff. Alen Buchevich and Paige Clements joined Moeen Wani and their leader Manasi Khatkul in the Business Performance team, just in time for the 2021 budget work, and have done a great job of getting up to speed. Emily Chen has joined Irene Lee and the Finance Administration team. Thank you Student Finance for enabling this to happen, we are really enjoying Emily’s energy and enthusiasm.
I look forward to seeing you all at the Staff Excellence Awards on Thursday. Have a good week.
Nga mihi
Alison Sarginson
Interim Executive Director – Finance
23 November 2020
Kia ora e te whānau
If I have learned anything from working at a polytechnic in Aotearoa, it is that change is constant and to always expect the unexpected. This year has not disappointed with COVID lockdowns and border closures, the creation of Te Pūkenga, an EER, our election, their election and a myriad of other challenges, trials and tribulations.
Yet that special and unique Unitec wairua has been very evident throughout the year: the wrap around pastoral care for our learners, the strong support we gave to each other with the phone calls, the emails and the virtual social occasions; the upskilling and technical support from Te Puna Ako and others, and most importantly, the kindness we have all shown during this time of adversity.
For me, the biggest triumph of the year is how some of our most practical and hands-on programmes, the ones that we are really known for by our communities and stakeholders, were, through the innovation, passion, commitment and hard mahi of their staff and students, able to carry on teaching through the lockdowns and restrictions to complete their courses. The fruits of this labour are being seen now with successful Gradfests and showcases in Acting, Screen and Dance, end of year projects and presentations, and in my own School, a highly entertaining dog show featuring Jacinda and Ashley.
Next year will hopefully be a little less ‘exciting’. Change is still inevitable as Te Pūkenga begins to develop, new collaborations and developments progress, uncertainty lingers around international students and as we accommodate the surge in domestic enrolments. But let’s focus on getting through grade ratification and other end of year close down procedures, and look forward to the Staff Awards and party, and a well-earned break.
Ngā mihi
Dan Blanchon
Head of Environmental and Animal Sciences
16 November 2020
Kia ora koutou
With only five weeks left until our summer break many of us are looking forward to time out to refresh and recharge after an extremely demanding year. It continues to be challenging as we navigate the extraordinary environment of COVID-19, focusing on supporting our learners in innovative and different ways, through the various levels of lockdown to ensure successful outcomes for them. It’s great to see so many of our learners on campus as they complete their classes and focus on assessments and exams. It has been a marathon of a year.
2020 has been a critical time for the embedding of Manaakitia te Rito, our renewal strategy. In spite of an incredibly challenging global landscape, collectively we have remained focused on our core purpose and have evidence of the turnaround of our organisation, achieving positive results across all key areas. Staff engagement is at an all time high at 84.5%. Our Student NPS is at 23% for returning students and 38% for new students – unprecedented levels that we have not seen before. Key educational performance indicators are on the increase and very positive feedback from the recent EER was heartening as we await the formal report. No wonder we all need a rest! Our next challenge is to maintain and enhance the considerable gains we have made.
It’s important that we continue to stay vigilant and do our part in managing COVID-19. With the recent community case in central Auckland we need to be mindful of using the contact tracing app and keeping close track of the spaces we visit on and off campus. Basic hygiene practices cannot be emphasised enough – regularly washing and drying your hands, and coughing or sneezing into a disposable tissue or into your elbow. We encourage you to practice physical distancing if you don’t know someone, and urge you to stay at home if you’re unwell.
We are anticipating a change to the approach around masks by the end of the week, with Cabinet meeting today to discuss making masks mandatory on Auckland’s public transport and on all flights. Remember that a mask or face covering needs to cover both your nose and mouth. It is important not to touch your mask or face covering and then your face with your hands while you are wearing it. If you wish to wear a mask at work we encourage you to do so.
Many of you have commented on the construction works that have started at the Mt Albert campus. The old trades building, B108, is getting a new roof. After 18 months of planning and discussions the 6,000 m2 roof is being carefully dismantled and a new roof installed. B108 is a great old building, has an ‘A’ earthquake rating and over the two levels we have 9,000 m2 of space. Once we have a weathertight shell we can scope and design the interior to fully utilise the space for our students.
The key risk around the roof work is the removal of approximately 700 tonnes of asbestos. Nikau Contractors are asbestos removal experts and they have partnered with Thomas Consultants who specialise in asbestos management to safely dismantle the roof and dispose of it offsite. If you are interested in the new roof design your will find a visual here. The dismantling work will start later in November and the asbestos removal will be carried out over the summer break while we have a minimum number of staff and students on site.
Clint Hill, our Director of Infrastructure Operations, has been meeting with teams who have shown an interest in understanding the asbestos removal methodology in detail. If your School or team would like to know more about this, please contact Clint Hill..
Next week, our Environment and Solutions Research Centre is hosting an event to mark Asbestos Awareness Week. ESRC will provide an update on their asbestos research and Unitec (Clint Hill) and our partners from Nikau Contractors will be presenting on the B108 asbestos removal project.
A big thank you to everyone for your continued commitment and dedication to your work. We have really appreciated the extra mile you have gone to in delivering excellence, particularly in such a challenging environment.
He waka eke noa – We are all in this together.
Ngā mihi nui
Mary Johnston
Executive Director – People and Infrastructure
9 November 2020
Kia ora koutou and ni sa bula vinaka
It’s been another busy month for all of us but I know it was a month that we all looked forward to – the EER has been completed and we can now sit back and look forward to the opportunity of moving on from Category 3, and to also prove to others that Unitec has progressed beyond expectation.
Thank you to all who took part in EER across campus, it was a huge task requiring a great amount of time invested within our programmes, students, staff and external stakeholders. It’s also an opportune time to make mention of our Executive Leadership team who are to be commended for their direction and support, especially Dr Simon Nash who made sure we made it to the finish line.
Out West, Waitākere campus has remained busy with students continuing to fulfill their hours on placements, having had their hours affected by COVID and the shutdown of supporting organisations. Many are on campus preparing for exams and final assessments for some of our programmes, as we start to see the end of the academic year in sight.
I’d like to highlight how impressed I am with the resilience shown by our students through this year. Some have had to compromise their study, family and work, yet be flexible in the delivery and approach of our courses. I have admired their continued drive to ensure they get the most out of a challenging year.
As Waitākere campus looks to 2021, we will be expanding our delivery by providing a greater number of programmes that sit outside of the School of Healthcare and Social Practice, to support the implementation of the Unitec Waitākere Strategy, further meeting the needs of our community. We’re excited to be able to deliver the Certificate in Business – Level 4, the Certificate in IT and Computing – Level 4 and currently in development, the Certificate in Aged Care – Level 4. This will increase the student numbers on campus, so we have started to re-open building 500, Level 3, to manage our growth and the new programmes. Now that we have built a closer relationship with MIT, we’re looking forward to continuing to explore further shared programmes that will support the communities that we both deliver to.
As it’s my last opportunity this year to wish you well in the Pou Tukutuku, may I say it’s been a year of challenges yet we have accomplished beyond our expectations due to each and every one of you, and your contribution. I wish you all a blessed Christmas with well-deserved time for family and friends over the break.
Ngā mihi
Linda Aumua
Head of Healthcare and Social Practice
02 November 2020
Kia ora koutou kātoa
How fortunate we are to be back at Level 1 and to be able to come together out in our communities. I was privileged last week to attend the Rutherford College Excellence Awards night with a few of our team. A celebration of culture, sports, leadership and academic excellence – celebrating and showcasing the diversity of our communities. It was a beautiful evening and a real reminder of what our team has missed most in this crazy year of COVID lockdowns; face-to-face connection with the community. It’s the first of many events over the next few weeks, where the UPC team will join our extended community in celebrating the success of our young people during a particularly trying year in education.
Our team has been working hard to ensure our young people are able to complete their courses with us this year, and as our work contributes to NCEA we have been pulling out all stops – as have our young people.
I would like to acknowledge the wider UPC team and those that teach for us – staff from our Unitec Schools – for everything they have done to support our tauira this year. Every member of the team has continued to keep our young people and communities at the centre of everything we do and that has not gone unnoticed by our communities.
Our thanks also to Clint Hill, Lee Baglow and the team at Mataaho for the seamless transition allowing us to move into Mataaho to finish off our final few weeks of courses, as the repairs commence on our teaching space, Te Kākatai. Our UPC team hasn’t moved from our office (B111-1011), just the delivery of our learning and teaching for our courses is being delivered in Te Kākatai, so you will still find us there.
In preparation for 2021, the team has been working on the development of a ‘U-Prep’ programme for our Under-25s who begin studying with us in 2021, providing them with an opportunity to come onto both campuses before they commence with their studies, so we can ensure their transition into Unitec is a smooth one – stay tuned for further details! The team is also working in partnership with Te Puna Ako to finalise the Under-25s capability development badge, which will become one of the five parity badges available from next year.
We will be rounding the year off with a few big events in November; Intermediate Big Day Out on on 20 November, and Year 9 and 10 Go Live, on 23-27 November. These two events will see around 1,200 young people visit our campus, with their teachers and parents, to experience what we have on offer. If you would like to support either of these activities, please touch base with me as we would love to have as many of the Unitec whānau involved as possible.
Have an awesome week everyone and don’t forget your nominations for the Staff Excellence Awards – so much to celebrate this year!
Andrea Thumath
Director – Under 25s Success, Unitec Pathways College
27 October 2020
Kia ora koutou
I would like to start by thanking the unsung heroes of Unitec, our Mataaho Technicians. The mahi that these people do in the background goes a long way to ensuring that our lecturers are supported to deliver the best learning experience that Unitec has to offer.
Since I last wrote the intro for Pou Tukutuku Weekly at the beginning of May, the School has become even busier. During the last lockdown in August the New Zealand Certificate in Mechanical Engineering had to submit and present to a consistency review panel. This was closely followed by the New Zealand Certificate in Automotive Engineering, and to make matters a little more complex, Pete Sherwin (he of EER fame) was the lead reviewer. No pressure!
I am so proud of the way Automotive pulled together. A particular note of thanks to Te Korowai Kahurangi’s Eric Stone, Lead – Quality Systems, and Sue Crossan, Academic Quality and Capability Partner, who with their guidance and support, ensured the final consistency document was excellent. Together, they took us all on a journey to understand quality and compliance in education. All we must do now, is wait for the result.
Plumbing and Carpentry have responded to the challenges of 2020 magnificently; both teaching groups have demonstrated that no barrier will stop them from delivering the absolute best for our learners. This is proven by the recent NPS score showing the School has seen a massive up-swing. This is testament to the work of all our academic staff and their learner-centered approach.
Also a big shout-out to John Pepere and his team for the outstanding results in the recent industry exams – Plumbers, Gasfitters and Drainlayers Board – Two of our students earned Merit of Excellence Awards, both achieving the country’s highest mark in certifying, Yirui Miao in Drainlaying and Yongqiang Hu in Gasfitting.
Project Takohanga is now yielding some outstanding results, the mahi by Aroha Lewin and Gabby Paki is quite simply incredible. Together, they have mapped all the School’s processes and created tracking materials that are works of art. This work has been pivotal to the ‘turn around’ of the School – we are unrecognisable in comparison to last year.
Some time ago, I asked if the School’s staff could be moved into a different work room to bring us all together, under one roof. Clint Hill from Infrastructure Operations and his team made this happen – huge thanks from me. We are now based in 180-1120, just across from the food. Fantastic place to be, right at the heart of Unitec, however I’ve noticed a real lack of personal ‘will power’ resulting in an ever-expanding waistline.
Like everybody, we have been catching up on an enormous backlog of work. Last Wednesday 21 October, Tu Nuualiitia, our MPTT Student Experience Partner, and Rakesh Patel, Finance Business Analyst, finally managed to deliver Whanaungatanga day. This is an amazing event where MPPT learners receive a certificate acknowledging success in attaining their scholarship with a MPPT shirt.
My daughter attends a local university and has been off-campus for months. When she finishes her day, she meets me in Te Puna. Last week, she said something that really caught my attention. “Dad” she said, “I would much rather be here (Unitec) than at university, everybody seems so happy”. You have to think about this – somebody, not from the Unitec whānau, has recognised a stark difference between two organisations. This is testament to you Unitec, look at what you have achieved. The collective work of our organisation during the lockdown will be remembered for years to come. And our learners know that we have always put their needs first. Anyway, I tried to sign her up for the Plumbing programme, but my wife said no!
Nearly forgot, EER. Maybe that will be a topic next time, I am all EER’d out.
Gorau Cwarae Cyd Chwarae – Best play is team play.
Ngā mihi
Lee Baglow
Head of Trades and Services
19 October 2020
Kia ora e te whānau
Tungia te ururoa kia tupu whakaritorito te tupu o te harakeke
Set fire to the overgrown bush and the new flax shoots will spring up; clear away what is bad and the good will flourish
Our EER Self-Assessment Summary begins with the above whakataukī. It frames our story, where we’ve come from, and the scale of renewal since the last EER.
A key message for all those participating in the EER, beginning tomorrow (20 October), is to be proud of what we’ve achieved as an institution, and to make sure that the EER panel know how far we’ve come in the last few years. We have a great story to tell and if we don’t tell the EER panel about all our work and achievements, then they may not know it!
Another whakataukī commonly heard during ‘mock’ panel preparation for the EER is:
Kāore te kumara e kōrero ana mo tōna ake reka
The kumara does not brag about its own sweetness
Glenn and I have talked about providing bags of kumura chips as reminders for panellists to brag a bit, but they’d probably be a bit too crunchy for the microphones..!
Anyway, good luck everyone! Panel preparations have gone very well. We are confident and very well prepared and we all know our stuff. Now we just need to share that knowledge with the panel. One of the best things about all our efforts is that we are able to speak genuinely of the quality of learning and teaching and of our academic processes, all of which are just part of business-as-usual now.
A full list of EER Focus Areas and Team Members is available here. You’ll be pleased to see Merran Davis listed on the Executive Leadership Team session on Tuesday. She’ll be online with our ELT, telling our story of renewal for the panel.
I’ll be providing short daily updates over the next fortnight for participants.
Heartfelt thanks from the leadership team to our Unitec community for your huge efforts to get us ready for EER, but more importantly, for your work in putting learners at the heart of everything we do – Manaakitia te Rito.
Ngā mihi
Simon Nash
Executive Director – Ako
12 October 2020
Tēnā tātou e te whānau
It was good news last week that we’ve made it through to Level 1 and I’m looking forward to seeing more staff and students back on campus. Despite the change in levels, please still be conscious of the potential for COVID to reappear in our community, so keep up the hand washing and stay at home if you’re not well, and if you’re using public transport it’s probably a good idea to keep wearing a face mask.
This week is a big one with students back from the break, many in catch-up mode post the COVID restrictions, exams aren’t too far away and we have a large number of staff in final preparation mode for our EER next week. I’m very proud of what we’ve done to get to where we need to be. I want to take this opportunity to remind everyone that the mahi to prepare for EER is now BAU – we need to maintain this commitment and keep a focus on continuous improvement. Already we’ve seen the results from this focus in our best ever Student NPS score in Semester 1 and then again in Semester 2 – so keep up the great work, and as Simon Nash said in his EER Update last week: “Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou, great work folks – be proud of our achievements.”
Our virtual Whānau-Fanau evening takes place this week so please encourage your new students to attend with their families. This is an important event for our Māori and Pacific students to ensure that their whānau are part of their journey at Unitec. It’s an opportunity for them to meet our Unitec whānau, to let them know about all our student resources and to help them understand why it’s important to support their tamariki, with time to complete their study, even during tough times, like this year.
This month we also have a couple of surveys going out which we’d appreciate everyone taking some time to complete. This morning we launched the annual Staff Engagement Survey which is your opportunity to share your thoughts on how we’re doing, so please take five minutes to share your thoughts.
Te Pūkenga (formerly NZIST) has also asked us for our feedback on the learner journey. Our input will be used to contribute to how we can make coming to study more accessible. You can read more about this is on the Nest – The learner journey: Share your input on how to make it more accessible to come and study, where you’ll also find the feedback form and a short video starring Annette Pitovao and Nick Sheppard who are the Unitec representatives for the Te Pūkenga ‘Learner Centred Design Working Group’ – do take two minutes to watch and hear from them on this topic.
We also have the Student Course Evaluation Surveys coming up next week which is another important data resource for making course and programme delivery improvements. All our academic staff will have received a communication about this last week, outlining the process and how you can encourage students to participate to ensure we get a good response rate. Please do what you can in class to encourage your students to participate.
Finally, I’m really looking forward to welcoming the EER panel next week as we look to host them for a two week period. Obviously this one is going to be somewhat different as the whole visit will be conducted virtually. That being noted, I’m really looking forward to the opportunity we have to show just how far we have come in such a short two year period. I’m confident in those representing us, the work we have done, the direction we have taken and our student centric approach that we continue to strengthen. This is a story we have all contributed to and one we should be proud to share. This EER visit gives us the absolute opportunity to do just that!
Nā reira e te whānau kia kaha tonu tātou katoa ki te tautoko i a tātou anō i tēnei wā pukumahi mo te katoa.
Ngā mihi nui
Glenn Mckay
Te Tumu and Executive Director – Student Success
5 October 2020
Kia ora e te whānau
I want to start my column by sending a massive shout out to my team at the School of Applied Business, not only have they endured a tumultuous year but they have done so in style, looking after each other and our students with care and grace. The evidence says it all, our student NPS score is up from 17 in 2019 to 32 in Semester 1 this year and likewise, our overall course approval rating has risen from 8 in 2019 to 8.5. So a big congratulations and thank you to my brilliant SAB whānau.
I also want to extend to the wider Unitec whānau a great fees free educational opportunity… so please read on.
In amongst the anxiety and drama of the COVID lockdowns and rapid transition to online delivery, my team have also managed to achieve an outstanding feat – NZQA approval (verbal with formal pending) of our new postgraduate programmes, the Master of Applied Business (with a nested Postgraduate Certificate and Diploma of Applied Business) and the Master of Professional Accounting.
Programme development in the postgraduate space had been long overdue for the School and involved a huge amount of work for the team. In 2019, they undertook an extensive consultation with external stakeholders, and their expertise, professionalism and connections with industry, and community partners, is apparent throughout the design and development of the programmes. It is noteworthy that the NZQA panel commended the School on the quality of the submissions, the breadth of the consultation and its connections with industry.
In brief, the Master of Professional Accounting (180 credits) is a conversion degree designed to provide an advanced programme of study for people who have an undergraduate degree (or equivalent) in another discipline and who wish to pursue a professional career in accounting. A conversion degree has the advantage of covering core knowledge and competencies, and developing higher level capabilities of graduates over a shorter timeframe and lower cost. The Master of Professional Accounting replaces the existing Master of Applied Practice – Professional Accounting and is accredited with the professional accounting bodies in New Zealand and Australia; CAANZ (Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand) and CPA Australia (Certified Practicing Accountants Australia).
The Master of Business (180 credits), Postgraduate Diploma in Business (120 credits) and Postgraduate Certificate in Business (60 credits) has been developed in the context of a business environment impacted by technological advances, disruptive innovation, shifts in the socioeconomic environment, environmental challenges and changing consumer expectations. These factors are fundamentally changing the way people work, the way organisations design jobs and work environments, and the way businesses deliver value and address issues. Needless to say, all of the above is very applicable to what we have experienced in 2020! The Master of Applied Business suite offers in-demand specialisations including Digital Marketing, Business Analytics, Supply Chain & Logistics, Advanced HR and Leadership.
The School is so proud of its upcoming new programmes that we have recently obtained approval from TEC and our own ELT, to offer Unitec staff the opportunity to study fees free in the programmes. While the finer details are yet to be worked through, this fee free opportunity will be initially offered to permanent tenured staff. It will also be subject to line manager approval and form part of a staff member’s ADEP development plan. Please note that enrolments will also be subject to NZQA and TEC approval and programme admission requirements. As and when the details are all confirmed, we will advice staff on the Nest.
If you would like to register an expression of interest or would like to know more about these new postgraduate programmes and the exciting new courses we have developed for them, please contact myself kkirkland@unitec.ac.nz or Postgraduate Academic Programme Manager Liz Rainsbury lrainsbury@unitec.ac.nz
Ngā mihi
Kay Kirkland
Head of Applied Business
PS: we are currently collecting baby gear for a student in the School who needs our support. If you have clothes, furniture, equipment or supplies suitable for a baby 0-12 months can you please email Lisa Ingledew lingledew@unitec.ac.nz or drop off at B115-3040.
28 September 2020
Kia ora koutou
As we head into semester break a number of staff are taking a well-earned rest after what has been a very busy and challenging year so far. For others the pace is ramping up, with EER just a few weeks away, 2021 student recruitment activities well in hand, and preparation for the Unitec Research Symposium gathering momentum.
The enrolment cart is open for the majority of our larger programmes and we continue to see a major year-on-year increase in domestic applications. While we wait for the borders to open, the International recruitment team has been visiting Auckland schools that have a large international contingent, receiving a very positive reception from both staff and students.
Our Virtual Open Day was a speedy and successful response to lockdown uncertainty and, a week later, we already have a number of enrolments confirmed as a direct result. Initial analysis shows we had 680 visitors on the day visiting our 32 virtual booths, with each booth averaging 25 visitors.
In preparing for the event we mapped the campus virtually and created videos for each School, so we can continue to give students a view of our impressive campuses and insights into each discipline. The next major focus for the Marketing team is our new advertising campaign, which builds on the “Find Your Thing” theme and will be all over digital media in the coming months.
Some programmes are filling quickly and we are working hard to find the space and staff to put on extra classes. Given government funding priorities and the need to help reskill workers into new industries, we’re doing everything we can to meet demand. This includes launching a number of innovative new short courses over the next few months in areas such as cloud computing, welding and other high-need subjects.
The research team has recently been celebrating some major external contract wins, including a $2.2m MBIE-funded project in association with Auckland University. Now the focus is on getting ready for the 2020 Unitec Research Symposium on Friday 9 October. It’s going to be a great event, judging by the record number of abstracts that have already been submitted.
Have a great week everyone.
Ngā mihi
David Glover
Executive Director – Partnerships and Student Retention
21 September 2020
Kia ora e te whānau
It’s certainly been an interesting year. Driving along a mostly deserted motorway past lighted signs saying travel outside of Auckland is restricted due to COVID-19 felt like something straight out of a movie. Then trying to get home at the end of last week with most of the Harbour Bridge closed was an entirely different experience…
Through round one and round two of lockdown, and through everything else the year has brought, I’ve been incredibly impressed with how our teams and people have continued to enact our values of Kaitiakitanga and Mahi Kotahitanga. At every step you’ve put our learners at the heart of everything we do and have drawn on your depth of experience and expertise to support our tauira. Thank you.
I’d also like to acknowledge the creative and responsive way that the team behind our Open Day shifted to a virtual event, and thank everyone who was involved on Saturday. Tino pai.
As we move into week 10 of Semester 2, there’s a lot to look forward to – spring, warmth, daylight saving, and a very well-deserved mid-semester break.
And of course EER.
Over the last few years there has been so much fantastic mahi with Manaakitia Te Rito and our renewed focus on learning, teaching, and academic quality.
We now have a month or so to think about the panel visit itself. It’s great to see teams coming together and preparing to ensure that we’re able to articulate the work we’ve done and what we know about our learners and their success. This is a chance to tell our (evidence-based!) stories with pride, and to shine in front of the panel.
Whatever the rest of the year brings, bring it on. He waka eke noa! Kia kaha!
Ngā mihi nui
Chris King
Head of School – Bridgepoint
14 September 2020
Ngā mihi mahana ki te whānau whaanui i tēnei marama o Mahuru Māori, me te mihi anō hoki mo te timatanga o te Wiki o te Reo Māori. Kia kaha te reo!
September is Mahuru Māori, a challenge for all of us to give te reo Māori a go, every day this month. Anaru Parangi from the UPC team has put together a few challenges for us and kupu (words) to help support and encourage us, so give it a go – check out his post and video on Yammer. Today also kicks off Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori, another great resource to explore the different ways you can learn and embed te reo Māori into your day-to-day life and to support you in the Mahuru challenge. My journey with te reo Māori continues evolve and grow and I am truly grateful for everyone’s ongoing support and guidance. Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou katoa.
It’s great to be back on campus with our tauira and colleagues. Making the transition easier for me has been the return to my ‘day job’ as Executive Director – Schools and Performance, now that we have appointed Susan Bennett to Head of School – Computing, Electrical and Applied Technology. Susan joined us late last year as Academic Programme Manager for the School and has an extensive background in tertiary education, including a role at WINTEC and the NZQA. With her expertise in teaching and learning, strong focus on people, as well as the quality assurance process, it’s great to have her leadership on board. Whakamihi Susan!
I’m also involved in the Academic Recovery Committee and what’s come through clearly in the last few weeks is how quickly everyone has adapted again to lockdown while keeping our tauira at the forefront of our decision-making. We appreciate there is a level of anxiety for many with the move to Alert Level 2.5 and our return to campus, but it’s important to deliver as much teaching, at least the practical and applied elements of our programmes, while we can, just in case alert levels increase again. Many of our students are happy to be back on campus and are keen to interact directly with other learners and their teachers.
Annette Pitovao and I were recently asked to join the NZIST Learner Centred Design Working Group – Ākonga. This is a national working group put together to co-design an engagement programme that reaches across subsidiaries, transitional ITOs and broader communities, and other relative network forums. The group’s role is to activate online and face-to-face engagement with a wide range of students, so they can share the barriers and enablers they experienced at each stage of their learning journey. What we learn from that process will shape the design of the NZIST learner journey and kaupapa. Plans are to roll this programme out later this year. I’ll share more on this with you as the directive develops.
Recently, a number of us were involved in the NZQA accreditation and panel visits for the Master of Applied Business and Master of Professional Accounting, and just last week, Kay Kirkland, Head of Business Practice, received verbal confirmation that both new programmes have been approved. This is a significant and important achievement for the School and Unitec – congratulations to Kay, Liz Rainsbury, Manpreet Malhotra and everyone involved in this development. These two new programmes reflect not only the mahi of the School but also mahi kotahitanga; student input, Industry Advisory Committee, Te Korowai Kahurangi, industry partners, our Success Champions and our Programme Monitor.
Coming up this week is the start of the roll-out of Microsoft Teams to all our Schools, which will be a great resource on and off campus, and will bring together the key tools we use in our day-to-day mahi into one interface. The potential for this platform will grow as we get familiar with the basics.
This week is also the final week of the student NPS survey, an important resource to assess how our students are feeling, what’s working for them at Unitec and how else we can support them. To help drive participation, I ask that our student-facing staff encourage your students to complete the survey. This is their opportunity to be heard so we can make changes to support their needs and improve our resources and service model for students (note – this survey is separate from the Course Evaluation Survey which goes out at the end of semester).
And finally, our Events team have done an amazing job in taking our annual Open Day from an on-site event to a wholly online one in the space of a few short weeks. Our Zoom Open Day takes place this Saturday from 9am-3pm and you can find out more here.
Ngā mihi
Nick Sheppard
Executive Director – Schools and Performance
7 September 2020
E ngā korokoro tūī, e ngā kākā tarahae, tēnā koutou katoa, ki ngā mate huhua o te motu nei, haere, haere, haere atu rā. Hoki mai ki a tātou te hunga ora, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa.
I would like to first acknowledge the two Aucklanders who died from COVID-19 over the weekend. Both were much-loved members of their communities and their losses will be felt strongly.
The last few weeks back in lockdown were probably a little more challenging than the first time around for many of us; impacting our daily lives with whānau and friends, our teaching and students’ learning, and our ability to move around the country freely. As I shared during our first lockdown, I found the lack of face-to-face interaction challenging, so I’m very pleased to be back on campus and am looking forward to seeing more of you back at Mt Albert and Waitākere this week. I know that many of our students, like me, appreciate the direct interaction with our staff.
Along with the fresh new start after Alert Level 3, I also want to take this opportunity to acknowlege Gus Gilmore, our amorangi hou, who joined us as joint-CEO last Monday. We look forward to when we can welcome Gus with a pōwhiri once the alert levels allow us to bring everyone together in our wharenui Ngākau Māhaki.
Through these challenging and unsettling times we’re all doing our best to juggle our day-to-day mahi to meet the needs of our roles and the new environment, so I want to thank everyone again for their reslilience and commitment to supporting our students through their journey. I also want to highlight and thank our EER team who are busy helping prepare relevant staff for the EER panels in October, while also finalising our self-assessment document that we submitted to the NZQA on Friday, for their review in advance of their meetings with us in October. This has meant a lot of additional work for everyone involved and we are all very grateful for the mahi of Simon Nash, Trude Cameron and Cathy Tyler in particular. This is a great example of mahi kotahitanga and while this has meant a lot of additonal work for many, EER is about carrying on with our business as usual, and doing it well to ensure the best possible outcome for our students.
Adapt and respond seems to be a continuing theme lately, and we do it well. Finding employment in their area of study is one of the key outcomes of student success at Unitec and our virtual Industry Connect events have become a very important platform for supporting this. Heather Stonyer, Melinda Chou and their team responded with a series of virtual career fairs last month, being the first ITP in the country to do this. We had over 1,700 registrations for the events and hosted close to 40 businesses.
We’re also taking an innovative approach to Open Day 2020, which will become a virtual event this year on Saturday 19 September. Turning it from an on-site event to an online one is a huge task and our event team has adapted to this challenge with their usual energy and enthusiasm, and pulled together the new format in a short space of time. Check out the new programme here for Virtual Open Day 2020.
One event we haven’t been able to move to online has been Graduation. In line with Government guidelines around mass gatherings and following direction from NZIST and other government agencies, a decision was made a few weeks ago to cancel all of Unitec’s (in-person) Graduation events and celebrations for the remainder of this year, including our upcoming 2020 Spring Graduation event.
Ngā mihi
Glenn Mckay
Te Tumu and Executive Director – Student Success
31 August 2020
Kia ora koutou katoa
Thank you to those of you who have made my early introduction to Unitec warm and welcoming.
Over the last four years while I have been leading MIT, people have told me how different MIT and Unitec are. While there are many differences and these should be celebrated, there are also many similarities.
It is those similarities that will bring us together and build on our many strengths to get better results for students, employers and our communities in Tamaki Makaurau.
I have lived in Tamaki most of my adult life. We first moved from Christchurch, my birth place, in the late 80’s and apart from 11 years overseas with Air New Zealand, this has been our home.
We first lived in Henderson, then West Harbour, Albany and currently in Greenhithe. So I guess you can say I’m more familiar with the Unitec rohe than the MIT one out South. Having said that, I spent a lot of my working life in Auckland based at Auckland Airport.
I’m married to my high school sweetheart Marie-Agnes and we have three children; Brigitte, Marcel and Heloise. We are also blessed with two mokopuna, Elodie and Annabelle. Forgive me if you hear me talk a lot about them, but we love being grandparents and we see our mokopuna most days.
I have been asked to share a few of my working achievements, however I’m reminded of the whakataukī that a kumara should never skite how sweet it is. I can however point to a few career highlights that my teams have achieved.
The most recent is the transformation at MIT. When I arrived the campuses were tired and old apart from the new building at Manukau, that we had just raised $30m of extra debt for, to finish the building after the Mainzeal collapse. Cycle forward to today where we have executed a complete transformation of MIT campuses and repaid all the outstanding debt without any assistance whatsoever from the TEC or Crown.
I’m proud of the new programmes the team has rolled out, including a new Bachelor of Nursing Māori, and? the introduction of Pasifika languages – Samoan, Tongan and Cook Island Māori — to name a few.
I guess I’m most proud of the amazing people I lead and I’m excited to get to know all of the whānau at Unitec and hear your stories and successes. You have many and I know you’re keen to share them and your expertise with your MIT and other NZIST colleagues.
As we move into the new world of RoVE and the national institute, let’s reach out to our peers and share the experiences and expertise for the betterment of those we serve.
Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tatou katoa.
Gus Gilmore
Chief Executive
24 August 2020
A tribute to Merran Davis by Matua Hare and Glenn Mckay
E te puhi taioreore e Merran
Kaore he kupu aumihi kā tūtohutia tō mana nui e te māreikura, hēoi kā ngana māua tahi ko Matua Hare ki te whakatakoto i te paku hīnātore o te aroha mōu.
Kua whakapakari ai te toiora wairua, kua whakarauoratia te mana o Te Whare Wānanga o Wairaka i tō ūnga ki te kaupapa, i tō whakaheke tōtā i ngā tau kua pahure.
Ko koe te kakī maaro kua kumea ai mātou atu i te pouri, kua hīkina te taumahatanga i peehitia nei e mātou, mei kore ake koe hei ārahi i a mātou ki tēnei taumata.
Inā rā kei te kitea tonutia e ngā tauira, e te marea hoki ngā hua kei te puta tonu mai i a Manaakitia Te Rito me Te Noho Kotahitanga.
Ahakoa te pouri, kei reira hoki te harikoa nā runga i te mōhio ka noho tonu koe hei kaiwhakahaumaru i a matou i tō tūranga hōu.
E manawanui hoki ana mātou i tō hokinga tōtika atu ki te awa o Waikato ki te taha tōtika o tō whānau, kua roa nei rātou e noho mokemoke mōu, e mihi ana ki a rātou.
Ki te whānau whānui o te Whare Wānanga o Wairaka, mei kore kei raro tonu koutou i te kapua pōuri, heoi kia mōhio mai koutou, kei konei tonu mātou hei toka tū manawa mo te kaupapa, mō koutou katoa hoki.
Ka whai tonu mātou i o tapuwae Merran ka aru tonu mātou i te huarahi kua para i a koe.
Hāere pai atu rā i runga i te aroha e te tuahine, ehara tēnei i te otinga atu o te whanaungatanga, he whakawhanaketanga kē.
Kia hora te marino, kia whakapapa pounamu te moana. Kia tere te kārohirohi i mua i tōu huarahi.
Mauri ora
It’s difficult to put into words the honour and privilege it’s been for us all to work alongside you over the years, Merran.
However, Matua Hare and I will do our best to shed a glimmer of light on the impact of your leadership and commitment to our Unitec whānau.
You’ve stood at the helm of our waka and guided us safely through some stormy waters. You’ve pulled us out from under a dark cloud through embodying the values of Te Noho Kotahitanga and Manaakitia Te Rito.
As a result, our staff and students, and the wider community, are seeing the positive impact of this approach and despite the difficulties encountered over the years, you’ve remained an unapologetic champion of our kaupapa and our people.
Despite the sadness, it’s heartening to know that you’re joining NZIST where you’ll continue to watch over us and guide us forward.
Huge thanks and aroha to your beautiful whānau who have had to sacrifice time with you over the years, and are looking forward to spending more well-deserved time with you.
You’ve set the bar high and cleared the way forward, and now it’s up to the Executive and Leadership team to maintain momentum and continue on that pathway.
To the wider whānau of Unitec, we want to assure you that we are here to support you on our journey forward and remind us all that this is not the end of our relationship, this is an evolution of our whanaungatanga that will continue throughout the years.
E te tuahine, Kia hora te marino, kia whakapapa pounamu te moana. Kia tere te kārohirohi i mua i tōu huarahi.
Mauri ora
Hare Paniora Glenn Mckay
Pae Arahi Te Tumu and Executive Director – Student Success
17 August 2020
Kia ora koutou
My success is your success
“Te aroha, te whakapono, me te rangimārie…” – as we so often sing in our waiata – Compassion, faith and peace can be difficult to find in these challenging times but are now more important than ever.
This is my last Pou Tukutuku introduction and I’m struggling to know where to start. I’m lost for words, which is not something I usually deal with, and not wanting to add to the challenging emotions and uncertainty many of us are feeling. A number of you have asked me about my new role as Deputy Chief Executive (DCE), Transformation and Transition at NZIST, so I want to tell you more about it so you can see that I will continue to have a keen interest in Unitec and Auckland, ensuring we are successful for our learners, employers and communities.
There are six new DCE roles for NZIST which will be the 35th largest tertiary organisation in the world with around 300,000 work-based, classroom-based and online learners. My role has a particular focus on the changes required to move our sector from the existing competitive model to an integrated network of provision, working in a collegial and collaborative manner across NZIST. A key part of this is ensuring co-ordination between subsidiary ITPs and ITOs, and understanding regional needs. Another is balancing the appropriate independence and autonomy within regions with the need to use national resources efficiently and effectively – supporting regions in the sharing of resources and accountability to deliver high performance. Then there is the connection to the broader RoVE initiative which needs to be strong and aligned.
Honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the commitment to te ao Māori, and connecting individuals with opportunities that lead to positive outcomes for both the nation and regions, are central to the NZIST vision, as is ira tangata – putting people and relationships at the heart of what we do. This is also the basis of Manaakitia te Rito, Unitec’s Renewal Strategy, and it’s why I believe I was successful in being selected for this role. It’s because I am “standing on the shoulders of all of you” that I have been recognised in this way, and through my recognition comes recognition for all the Unitec whānau. My success is your success, so thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your mahi.
Speaking of success, I was delighted and so proud to hear that Yo Heta-Lensen has been selected as a winner of the Kaupapa Māori category of the national Tertiary Teaching Ako Awards. My warm congratulations on your outstanding achievement Yo, you are truly living our values and bring so much to our teaching team.
Finally, thank you for your positive feedback on my new appointment. As I have said to many of you, I’m humbled, excited and sad in equal parts, but will keep my Unitec experience front of mind and in my heart on the journey ahead with the NZIST waka. In my final blog next week I’ll share some of the countless highlights of my last three and a half years at Unitec, so look out for that!
Kia kaha
Merran Davis
Interim Chief Executive
10 August 2020
Talofa Lava
A lot has happened in the Pacific space during the first half of the year.
The beginning of the year saw three new roles added to the Pacific Centre team. These were the new Pacific Success Navigators, who provide professional development support for staff and also assist in the pastoral care of Pacific learners.
Next came COVID and the Pacific Centre team became a call centre assisting the Learner Outreach Project team with welfare check calls to all Pacific learners.
With students and staff working from home, the team celebrated Rotuman and Samoan language weeks online with videos of phrases posted on the Nest and Pacific Centre Facebook page for students and staff to practice. The Pacific Centre also teamed up with the School of Bridgepoint in the online Internal Evaluation Review session and received some very positive feedback.
A reporting line change at the end of the lockdown saw three Pacific Learning Advisors from the Student Achievement team move back into the Pacific Centre team. Their return heralded a new beginning for the Pacific Centre which hasn’t been directly engaging with Pacific learners since 2018. The Pacific Centre now works directly with both students and staff to lead and progress Pacific success at Unitec.
Semester 2 has gotten off to a busy start with a number of events and activities being held. With students back on campus, the Kiribati and Cook Islands language weeks were celebrated in Te Puna with dancing, singing and most importantly, food, shared by these two groups. The Pacific Learning Advisors have been busy engaging with students to provide academic support and our Pacific Success Navigators have been working with the Kaihautū to support the I See Me refresher sessions.
The team is now preparing for more events to come with Whānau-Fanau evenings this week, designed for teaching and support staff to meet our Māori and Pacific learners and their families at our Mt Albert and Waitākere campuses, as well as student meet and greets, academic workshops, community engagement events, the Pacific graduation celebration and more Pacific language weeks to be celebrated during September and October.
Fa’afetai Lava
Falaniko Tominiko
Director – Pacific Success
3 August 2020
Kia ora koutou
I write this in week 2 of the semester and the buzz back on our campuses is palpable. While teaching and learning staff, and members of the Learner Outreach Programme teams were in close contact with learners during lockdown, many of us in support teams felt less connected. We have missed our students!
It was great this week to be part of the official opening of the new Student Council offices in Te Puna. We continue to see fantastic improvements in facilities for students such as this and the newly remodelled ground floor of the Waitākere campus. We know that a good environment is important for a positive student culture, and these and other changes will contribute to increasing student satisfaction and a positive reputation externally.
Our final enrolment numbers are just about in and, while we remain overall around 4% behind target, we have increased our new and transferring domestic student intake for the first time in many years, with a 5% lift.
This started in Semester 1 as our new marketing approach began to take effect, but has really accelerated since lockdown and the government’s various funding support mechanisms for tertiary education began to be widely promoted. For the two months to mid-July, compared to the same period last year, Unitec achieved 44% more domestic Semester 2 applications and enrolled 31% more new and transferring domestic EFTS – equivalent full-time students.
Despite New Zealand’s borders being closed, which means off-shore students cannot join us for this semester, we have achieved 85% of the year’s target for new and transferring international EFTS – only around 40 international EFTS down. This is significantly better than previously anticipated and was achieved by appealing to prospective learners already in the country. Our International recruitment team and UPC are working closely together to reach out to directors in Auckland schools to try and grow this cohort for Semester 1 next year.
An increasing cohort of new students is an exciting prospect, and one of the keys to turning around our decline in future years. The other area where we can all help, whether in the academic or support areas, is working on retention – helping students succeed once they arrive.
Finally, I was pleased to be part of a couple of online discussion panels during Techweek on The Role of Artificial Intelligence in the Future of Education. There are some really smart Kiwis working in this space. Check out the sessions:
- The Role of Artificial Intelligence in the Future of Education – Part 1 of 2 (starts at 3’ 30”)
- Part 2 of 2 – The panel delves into the possibilities of AI enabled learning
Here’s to a positive second half of the year and I’m looking forward to seeing you all at Tū Arotake · Checkpoint on Friday.
Ngā mihi
David Glover
Director – Partnerships and Student Recruitment
27 July 2020
Kia ora e te whānau
What a ride 2020 has been so far. The last few months of pandemic-induced living have reaffirmed for us how to hold close what is most important in our immediate lives; for me, this is family, loyal friends, a hot cup of coffee, a walk along a local beach, a good book, fresh air, and work that I love. I think this sudden re-calibration will have a profound effect on our collective ability to listen and hear with focus, to appreciate corporeal or in-person reality, and hopefully, to harness our instinctive compassion just a bit more. For many, though, this means we now have a re-framed view of how to adapt quickly to not just disruption, but eruption. In a sense we have suddenly become universally aware of what matters most. Crisis forces change to happen and to reset the dial. As they say, good things take time, but great things often happen all at once.
This can be challenging for all of us in ways that we aren’t used to, but as we’re seeing every day at Unitec the current transitional state of living is asking each and every one of us to be creative, resourceful, and highly adaptive. There’s no doubt about it; adaptability, resilience, and pragmatic resourcefulness in tune with sector needs are the vital skills required in this decade. As a recent member of our Design & Contemporary Arts Industry Advisory Committee pertinently said at a meeting, “Our graduates need to be resourceful… and they need to know that if you don’t provide value, then you don’t get value back”.
I think we understand this well at Unitec. It’s humbling to see how we’ve all juggled large degrees of change while keeping student success at the centre. In Creative Industries, this has meant a rapid reframing of our studio-based practice; for example, teaching tactile and face-to-face practices such as Dance, Contemporary Arts and Acting online. Third year Acting students recently completed a fantastic lockdown solo performance showcase which was comprised of individual, filmed, solo works created about characters in isolation. Dance students in China from the Beijing Dance Academy have maintained an incredible level of practice led by our Dance team via online portals. There is no end to the resourcefulness of our teachers and learners alike across the School to ensure that the work can continue with quality at the centre.
In a similar vein, William Shakespeare also experienced eruption on an unprecedented scale. He lived, adapted and thrived through multiple outbreaks of political, religious and of course biological plagues. As we know, the bubonic plague meant that theatres remained closed for several months in 1606. This disease reached the playwright’s house in London with the death of his landlady Marie Mountjoy; as James Shapiro notes, she had probably not yet turned 40 when she was buried at the height of the outbreak on 30 October that infamous year.[1] Shakespeare came uncomfortably close to this pandemic during multiple outbreaks, and no amount of sniffing oranges with cloves could save the cheek-by-jowl anguish that living in such pre-vaccine, pre-Google, and pre-1pm Jacinda/Ashley-updates conditions must have caused Shakespeare and his contemporaries to witness.
Turbulence aside – or perhaps because of it – we know that most of Shakespeare’s wealth came from being a shareholder in the theatre rather than being its writer, so his ability to pivot in the wake of plagues and political tempestuousness was also as a businessman who appealed to an innate sense of democracy and connection in his audience. The topic of the day, if you like. The social disruption that plague brings in its wake plays an oddly significant role in his works. Live theatre has always helped recalibrate a sense of democracy and personal agency, and for us today, this underlying, prescient condition of our pandemic seems to put Shakespeare’s canon into stark relief.
As a result of living in the shadow of the plague, Shakespeare’s works and playing spaces are infused with the immediacy of people who know that to act in the moment is to determine the authorship and destiny of your life. That there is – as the enamoured Acting teacher Konstantin Stanislavsky might also attest – universality through specificity. Choice determines character; we are our choices. There is no second chance for Shakespeare’s characters, since the immediacy of choice is every man and woman’s ‘true north’. Love is both ‘quick’, and compared to ‘the plague’ for Viola in Twelfth Night. Hamlet’s Act I sc. 3 existence dilemma ‘To be, or not to be’ soliloquy is debated with us, the audience, in real time, as if we know exactly what his question means. His individual reality connects us with an eternal predicament, and this is the great value of Shakespeare’s timeless and relevant works; technology changes but human qualities essentially stay the same. It’s exciting to think that crisis can bring forth great works. We will see what comes out of this present time we are living in.
I have also been thinking a lot about the positive feedback from our Internal Evaluation and Review and the shared understanding that exists; we are all on a journey to support our learners – Manaakitia Te Rito. To me, this nurturing of the ‘young shoot’ means we are asked to support and nourish with the knowledge that we weave our differences together with the student at the centre. Some strands are broader than others; our differences bring strengths. Diversity makes the weaving more interesting and bespoke. At the heart of the matter is just that; we teachers have heart, we do it because we love it, and in this time we are really being challenged to keep showing up with instinctive compassion and a full heart. Of course, this is courage, since the word itself is derived from ‘coeur’, French for ‘heart’.
Last week, we saw a great example of this kind of courage in action; close to 200 high school students attended four workshops at Performing & Screen Arts during the Semester break. Due to high demand, the Screen Arts team ran two ‘Screen Bites’ workshops on 7 and 14 July in Building 012. A two-day Introduction to Acting workshop was run by Unitec grads John Tui, Melissa Cameron, and lecturer Will Wallace on 15-16 July in Building 006. The Dance team also ran their annual Takurua dance winter workshop in Building 007 on those same dates. There was great feedback from the students and an emotional haka tribute by some students at the end of the acting workshop. Many thanks to the Unitec Pathway College team for their support and hard mahi behind the scenes to help deliver these workshops.
I encourage you to keep showing up to our students and weaving together the rich korowai that they will leave with. Your generosity, courage and skill are setting lifelong examples to them of what matters most.
Kia kaha e te whānau and enjoy what we know will be a full, but fulfilling Semester 2.
Ngā mihi nui kia a koutou katoa
Vanessa Byrnes
Head of Creative Industries
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/sep/24/shakespeares-great-escape-plague-1606–james-shapiro
20 July 2020
Kia ora koutou
Back in May, nearly 200 of our staff participated in an ‘Internal Evaluation and Review’ in preparation for the October External Evaluation and Review (EER). Three external consultants ran us through our paces, asking questions and providing valuable feedback on how prepared we are for the upcoming review by the NZQA.
Feedback was very positive and encouraging. Here is some of what the panel told us:
- “It is really clear that you are operating as a cohesive team and that students are the centre of focus for your whole organisation… You are leading through the student”
- “Staff commitment is obvious”, “…staff are positive, cohesive, and have clarity of vision and a great sense of connection to strategies that cascade and are owned throughout the organisation” and “Unitec’s response to COVID-19 couldn’t have been stronger and will be an important story for EER”
- “The shift since 2018 in systems, documents and people is amazing”
Well done everyone; this was a very big effort, particularly on the back of COVID-19 and we should be very pleased with the feedback. Obviously, there’s work to do between now and 19 October when the EER visit begins. None of it is new, but some of the key areas to focus on include:
- In terms of our self-assessment, all our academic teams need to benchmark more effectively so that we know how well we are doing compared with the rest of the sector. We also need to continue efforts to really understand our data and how it drives decision-making and actions, for example; around non-completions. Your PEPs are a great starting point. Power BI has much of the data you require, including our new Non-Completions dashboard and Te Korowai Kahurangi can assist with further insights
- In terms of educational performance, we’ll need to look closely at our Semester 1 results and how we are tracking towards our targets, and what tweaks with our approach to student success are needed – particularly in the COVID-19 environment
- The EER focus area teams will also be preparing further for the EER visit and panel sessions, ensuring a high standard of self-evaluation and documentation, and understanding of where we’ve come from since the last EER. Much of the EER is going to remain online
My message is: We are on track and we have the right strategies in place. If we maintain our focus on student success and continuous improvement we will have a good outcome. Keep it up, folks.
Ngā mihi
Simon Nash
Interim Executive Director – Ako
13 July 2020
E ngā manu korokī, e ngā manutaki, e ngā manu tāiko o tēnei whare wānanga tēnā tātou katoa.
Mānawa maiea te putanga o Matariki
Mānawa maiea te ariki o te rangi
Mānawa maiea te mātahi o te tau
Hail the rise of Matariki
Hail the lord of the sky
Hail the New Year
It seems fitting that as we are in the season of Matariki that I use the opening stanza in the book Matariki: The Star of the Year by Dr Rangi Matamua, who was awarded the top communication prize at the Prime Minister’s Science Awards last week. A mantra from his koroua (grandfather) of “knowledge that isn’t shared isn’t knowledge” prompted him to share openly, and with anyone interested, the celestial knowledge he has. Make sure you take a look at his Facebook page when you get a moment, which currently has just over 30,000 followers. It’s suitable for all audiences and is just an absolutely amazing resource given to us with aroha.
On campus, Matariki has seen the opening of Ngā Wai a Te Tūī offices in their new whare in Building 111 and a new space for our kohinga Māori at the Library. We also have coming up; Waiata with Kimoro back on at the wharenui with a new time of 12.00-12.30pm on Thursday afternoons; free te Reo Māori classes for staff start again this Tuesday from 1.00-2.00pm, with Chance Taylor – register here; and we also have scheduled a manaaki whenua working bee on 28 July, starting with karakia in front of Ngākau Māhaki. Dress warmly, wear gumboots and bring in any gardening tools you may have.
If you want to explore what’s on around Auckland for Matariki, go to the Matariki Festival programme, but you’ll need to get out and about now as the Council’s celebrations finish this week.
Alongside the lunchtime te Reo Māori classes for staff, Kura Pō evening classes return to campus this week. If you’re looking for further te Reo PD opportunities then look no further. Level 1 and Level 2 are now full, but there are a couple of spaces left in Level 3 and Level 4 classes. Act quickly if you’re keen, or keep these courses in mind if you’re looking at improving your knowledge of te Reo Māori in future.
Over the next couple of weeks Te Noho Kotahitanga Marae will again provide a space to welcome in our new students. It will be a busy time for everyone involved but we’re looking forward to hearing the buzz of keen students. If you need to make a bookings for the whare, contact Camelia Pirika at Maia and she will help you with you requirements – please do this well in advance as bookings are coming in at a steady rate.
Finally, many have asked about my change of surname. After 22 times around the sun, 4 regional moves and 2 children, my partner and I decided it was time to tie the knot. Sunset Beach, Hawaii provided a stunning setting for us and we managed to fit it in before the borders closed and the country went in to lock-down.
Ngā mihi
Toni Vaughan
Director – Māori Success
6 July 2020
Kia ora koutou
Here we are, half way through the year, semester 2 is looming but semester 1 and the impact of COVID-19 has certainly not faded. What we learnt about ourselves through our lockdown experiences, personally and professionally, and the new ways of having to adjust to blended, digitally-enabled learning and teaching, have shaped us in many different ways.
I’m incredibly proud and grateful for the way everyone has responded and did what was needed to minimise the impact and disruption on students. Your commitment, resilience and agility was above and beyond.
In response to this challenging situation additional mahi continues across a number of programmes so thank you once again for giving your time and showing as much flexibility as possible to help our learners complete their various course work requirements, assessments and final exams into the mid-semester break. Ngā mihi nui to everyone involved in helping our tauira/learners succeed.
Amongst this busy end of semester, we had the additional pressure of the Internal Evaluation and Review, but what a great outcome – another proud moment. The feedback from the evaluators, as Merran mentioned her blog was really positive, so a big congratulations to the focus area teams involved and everyone that has provided their support, expertise and resource. It was certainly a positive outcome but there are still areas for improvement which we’ll keep working on as we move toward the actual EER event in October. As Simon Nash often says, “We’ve got this… as long as we keep focusing on excellent teaching, academic quality and learner support”.
Underway now are our 2020 Interim PEPs. For those not so familiar with the many acronyms we use at Unitec, these are our Programme Evaluation and Plans – a self-assessment and reflective process for programme teams using a targeted and focused approach to key areas of evaluation. They are important as they help us understand how a programme is performing; what is working well and how we know that it is working well, and what actions need to be taken to help improve student success for the following semester. This ongoing assessment process is important for the success of our students and is how we evaluate academic quality. Self-assessment is also a key focus for the EER evaluators.
In the 2020 Interim PEPs we’ve included a reflection on COVID-19, both the pastoral care and a review of our increase in blended, digitally enabled learning and teaching.
Key to PEPs are the Power BI dashboard. There’s a lot of valuable data available, so please ensure you are familiar with using the dashboards and contact Te Korowai Kahurangi if you need any help: tkkinsights@unitec.ac.nz. They are regularly updating and creating new additions to this platform, and last month released the new Non-completion reporting dashboard and this week the updated and improved Graduate survey outcomes dashboard.
Finally, on Friday in Merran’s video message, she expressed the ELT’s appreciation for everyone’s mahi and commitment over the last few months with a koha – a day off work. Thank you to the ELT for recognising how hard staff are working right across the organisation. Please ensure you take this well-deserved time to relax and reflect on a job well done – more details are on the Nest.
Ngā mihi
Nick Sheppard
Interim Executive Director – Schools and Performance
29 June 2020
Kia ora koutou
As we all rush back outside, rubbing our eyes and nursing our backs after being perched precariously over wherever we could in our homes for the ubiquitous teleconferences, I think that we can congratulate ourselves on the remarkable way the entire organisation pulled together to manaaki the success of our learners, as well as support each other through an event of extreme social change.
For all the digital tools available to us, they are not a replacement for our usual social interactions and I’m appreciating seeing students back on campus, and my ‘not so socially distanced’ coffees with colleagues in Te Puna. For me, it was a pleasure to have that time at home and to make the most of a unique opportunity to spend more time with my two-year old son, that long commutes don’t usually allow. The experience certainly made me slow down, pause and consider where and how I can get the most quality from my time.
At the beginning of 2020 the School of Architecture moved from our home in Building 001 and started the academic year in Building 048. This has been a significant change for us and little did we know it was only the start for 2020. So even though we are already halfway through the year, being part of the core campus is still very new to us all, as are our new spaces. We are certainly looking forward to being better connected to the core campus and our students will benefit from being closer to the excellent support resources that Unitec has to offer. So far I hear positive comments from my colleagues and students alike, be it the spaces, technology, food, bumping into old friends, or simply that the roof doesn’t leak! And we will continue to make changes (it’s in our nature) to the way we inhabit and use the building as we grow to learn more about it, and adapt the space to best suit our learners.
The lockdown wasn’t all sourdough and Netflix, we have two community-based projects nearing completion. The first with CUE Haven on the Kaipara Harbour, overlooking Gibbs Farm, which has been a collaboration with the fabulous guardians of a slice of farmland that has been regenerated with native planting. Through a collaboration involving local mana whenua, landscape architecture, engineering, building and our own students and lecturers, CUE Haven is nearing completion of a large viewing platform and pavilion which will allow visitors respite from the elements after a trek up the hillside. The view is spectacular, as is the ambition of Tom and Mahrukh Stazyk who instigated this 10-year project.
The second project is part of an ongoing collaboration with Panuku Development Auckland and is sited near our Waitākere campus, just around the corner at 5 Trading Place in Henderson. This is also a collaborative project with students and academic staff that will see a little used part of the town activated with a pavilion and seating structure, using innovative prefabrication techniques. These projects are part of a wider strategy in the School to engage staff and students alike, in research-driven projects to increase the impact of outcomes for those involved, and for our communities.
Finally, I am sure that nearly all of us are feeling the effects of uncertainty, rapid change and constant adaptation. I hope you all get a moment to look out to the horizon and take a pause over the coming weeks before we blink again and it will be semester 2, EER and Christmas!
Ngā mihi
Peter McPherson
Head of Architecture
22 June 2020
Kia ora koutou
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on the world affecting people’s social and economic lives. Here are some of my musings.
The serious side
My Dad was living in the city of Manchester in England during the second World War which resulted in him being evacuated as an eight-year-old to a farm while his Mum stayed on in Manchester during the blitz, spending her evenings sitting on roof tops as a Fire Warden. Dad had a great time on the farm, loved walking for miles across fields and through the snow in winter to school, and eating quite well compared with those in the city who were all on rations. Grandma who had a fantastic sense of humour had some great stories about her Fire Warden escapades. So what I learnt from what they shared with me was that whatever life throws at you: you learn, adapt and overcome.
COVID-19 has certainly forced us over the last few months to learn, adapt and overcome, and fortunately Unitec and New Zealand are really good at this. We’ve been able to make dramatic changes in every area of life in the space of only a few weeks. Cities and entire countries were shut down overnight, leaders declared national and international emergencies, people and institutions have adapted to unprecedented societal change.
The pandemic is also teaching us the power of “social learning”: we are learning from each other and are changing our behaviour accordingly, picking up valuable lessons in resilience and human adaptability. We are learning how quickly humans can respond when faced with a common enemy, and the most exciting thing to see is the number of new opportunities for innovation happening all around us every day. New relationships are being formed. Old ones are being renewed.
Others before me have spoken about COVID-19 and how to cope. But as the Interim Executive Director of Finance I thought I’d better mention some of the finance lessons we can learn from COVID-19.
- Cash is king and profit is a fact – managing your money is more than just knowing how much you have in your bank account; it means watching what you spend and saving what you’re able to. Managing cashflow is critical. So try and spend less than you earn
- Have a financial plan. Not having a plan is like trying to cross an ocean without a chart: sooner or later you will hit a reef. You need a plan so you can continually improve your financial position
- Stick to a budget – once you have a plan where you are going, stick to the budget. Still be prepared to change the plan if it isn’t working
- Manage your debt – avoid high cost credit such as credit cards. Try and consolidate all your debt into one loan at the lowest interest rate and stick to a repayment plan. Shred your credit cards
- Things will only get better or worse – they will never stay the same. If there is anything that the pandemic has taught us, it’s that nothing is certain. Be prepared to cope with financial ups and downs. So build cash reserves if you can to manage the unexpected
- What gets measured gets managed and what gets managed gets done – so keep good records. That way you can check where your money is going
The not so serious side
I’ve learnt some other things as well…
- Escape to the Country on the Living channel is a great distraction from having to watch the news;
- I need more bandwidth to stop Netflix lagging in the evening;
- Spending some quiet time listening to the native birds is great for the soul;
- I can go without fast food – even Sals Pizza for a short period of time; and
- FaceTime calls are ok but it’s not the same as being able to sit and work alongside someone.
Ngā mihi
Alison Sarginson
Interim Executive Director – Finance
15 June 2020
Kia ora koutou
The ‘crisis response’ to COVID-19 has brought out the very best in Unitec in many ways, showcasing our responsiveness and adaptability, enhancing communication and encouraging innovation. However, this crisis has also shone a light on the significant and ongoing inequities across the system. Terms like ‘digital poverty’ and the ‘digital divide’ highlight and magnify the number of our students with restricted digital access and devices required to support their learning and success.
Our School has kept in close contact with our students and identified those that needed additional support. IT and Student Support have been brilliant in coordinating and responding to help us address these students’ needs. We have also continued to offer our tutorial support classes throughout the lockdown to ensure no student was left behind.
As awful as the coronavirus pandemic is, it was a disrupter that demanded that we do things differently. We have all been challenged to ensure that the decisions we made and the paths taken led us to equitable and excellent outcomes for our students. This often involved challenging ‘business as usual’ tasks and making decisions in isolation.
A personal and moving moment through the lockdown for me was trying to provide guidance, direction and support for students who have been made redundant, and displaced workers into new career paths. We’ve managed to support an airline pilot into a land surveying cadetship role in industry and look forward to monitoring his transition from aviation into surveying. We’re now focusing on working closely with the Industry Partnerships team to host a virtual Industry Connect event in August, and we’re also identifying short courses we can offer to help workers into engineering construction and surveying careers.
During the lockdown period I regularly attended the weekly Karakia, via Zoom, which helped to guide and ground me, and remind me of the principles and values of Te Noho Kotahitanga. The sessions also helped provide me with multiple perspectives that informed my work. Hearing about the amazing extra effort that was being made in the Learner Outreach Programme and the staff welfare check-ins, and that our staff and students were being looked after and cared for, was really encouraging and motivating.
Last week, all of our team was really delighted to see both the Unitec and our School Pulse Survey results, and to also know that our Student NPS score was heading in the right direction.
We’ve certainly all come a long way over the last 11 weeks and it feels good to be back with the Unitec whānau on site.
Just as an aside, an interesting fact that I never knew prior to COVID-19 was the range of diseases transferred through animals. For example, tuberculosis through goats, measles from sheep and goats, smallpox from camels, leprosy from water buffalo, whooping cough from pigs, typhoid from chickens, the cold virus from cattle and horses, and now COVID-19 probably via bats. All these animals are mammals, as are we.
Take care, looking forward to seeing you again on campus.
Ngā mihi
Paul Jeurissen
Head of Building Construction
8 June 2020
E ngā korokoro Tūī, e ngā kākā tarahae, tēnā tātou
Lockdown and finally today’s return to campus is nothing I thought I would ever be facing in my lifetime, but here we are. I guess the last few weeks of lockdown have been different for all manner of reasons and no doubt we have all been challenged either personally or professionally in one way or another. For me, I’m over screens, Zoom and Skype, and have been looking forward to a return to campus for some time now. On that note, it’s only fitting that we held an extra special karakia this morning in the wharenui to recognise the uplifting of the rāhui/lockdown period and a return to normality. We also enjoyed hearing many people share their sentiments and news, either in person or via Zoom, including Clint Hill announcing his engagement and Mary Johnston on her new mokopuna. The karakia sessions will continue back in their regular Monday slot on both campuses, so please do come along.
Although one wonders what our new normal will be like moving forward, we’re going to have to work that out together as we go through the process of returning to campus and any changes to how we work, while keeping students at the heart of our decision making.
I’m confident we’ll continue to find new ways of delivering success for our students. During the lockdown period I heard several stories of how our staff have gone above and beyond to support our students. Notwithstanding some of the challenges, we should be really proud of what we were able to achieve during a time of unprecedented change. I’ve previously highlighted the Learner Outreach Project as something that has really made a positive difference to our students. Likewise, I want to highlight the staff welfare checks that were conducted by our HR team which were widely appreciated by many of our staff, and which was reflected in the Pulse staff survey feedback.
One of the many challenges we responded to was ensuring we were able to continue to promote our programmes during lockdown. UPC recently responded to this challenge by creating our first ever livestream event in partnership with our Trades and Services School. Hosted by Anaru Parangi (UPC) and Lee Baglow (Head of School), they led a tour through Mataaho showcasing plumbing, automotive, electrical, painting and decorating, a construction site and carpentry spaces, to more than 16,000 viewers.The livestream generated so much interest that it also featured on Te Karere (click here to view on Facebook and YouTube) giving Unitec and our School national coverage. This great initiative has opened the doors for other similar concepts.
Thanks to the support from the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC), we were successful with our application for Technology Access Funding for Learners and received $264,000 to support the technology needs of our students during lockdown. This meant we were able to provide additional devices and support for students to have increased access to the internet. We also secured $546,000 from the TEC’s Hardship Access Funding for Learners to support our students who are facing hardship due to COVID-19. If you have students who need technology or hardship funding support, please reach out to the Student Support and Scholarship Team.
Looking forward as we emerge from lockdown, we should all be bouyed by the recent Government announcements of $1.6 billion in funding which will result in a significant boost to trades and apprenticeship trainning across the country. This announcement should provide a number of opportunities for learners in the Auckland region and for Unitec.
Finally, after 11 years with the institution, I want to acknowledge the contribution of Jessica Aranui– Taurima Marae, Maia Māori Centre, who recently announced her resignation. Jessica has been integral to the establishment and running of the wharenui and will be hugely missed by many staff and students alike. Nō reira e te māreikura, tēnei te mihi maioha ki a koe mo tōu whakapau kaha ki te manaaki ngā tauira, ngā kaimai me to tātou whare a Ngākau Māhaki.
Ngā mihi
Glenn Mckay
Te Tumu and Executive Director – Student Success
2 June 2020
Ngā mihi nui ki te whānau o Te Whare Wānangā o Wairaka
Tēnā koutou, Tēnā koutou, Tēnā koutou katoa
These last six weeks in lockdown have been something I never imagined would be one of my lifetime experiences, least of all the impact on our International students and their families. The level of resilience and courage that’s needed by a family to send their child, even as an adult, to travel so far away to live and learn in another country is huge. Wow, I am in awe of how brave our students have been during this time in history as they wait in lockdown for their new world to return to some semblance of normal.
The Learner Outreach team have been awesome during this time. Their calls to our students have reassured them that they are supported and cared for, and that they have a new whānau in Aotearoa. A big shout out to the LOP team and all the staff who volunteered to make calls to every one of our students to check on their welfare. We saw some of this mahi reflected in the fantastic NPS student survey result this semester – Ngā mihi nui ki ā koutou katoa mō tā koutou manaaki mo ā tātou tauira.
For many of us it’s ‘business as usual’ as we continue as best as we can with our newly acquired digital skills. In March we announced our International Academic Excellence Scholarships awardees which we had a great response to.
We have also been running focus groups with our International students to capture how the online learning experience has been for them. I have been really impressed with how adaptable we all have been to this sudden change in circumstance and how, despite the disruption, we’ve been able to continue with our plans and initiatives.
Throughout the various alert levels we have kept in touch with our International students to ensure we know that they are ok with the online learning experience and it’s been good to hear that they continue to be optimistic about succeeding this semester. This really is resilience in action, an important initiative we’ve implemented in everything we do to support their success. I’ve found our International students to be wise beyond their years as they acknowledge the situation going on in the world and the need for on-going changes to ensure we can continue to support their success, particularly the change from face-to-face to online delivery – they have been open to and supportive of the new way for learning and teaching.
Last week was a big win for our International students with the Government’s formal acknowledgement that many International students will be experiencing financial hardship due to COVID-19, and the loss of part-time work for many of them. Government funding has been allocated to help these students out nationwide, and later next week we will be communicating to our International students the details around when and how to apply.
I would also like to mention that coming soon there will be a number of Personal Development opportunities in the International Success space. We will be looking for staff who want to connect with our International community, in a variety of ways, who will contribute to ensuring these students have a positive experience during their time at Unitec and in New Zealand. Check the Nest for story and details due to be posted the week of 8 June.
Finally, our thoughts go out to our students’ families in their home countries. We are privileged to have them here in Aotearoa and will continue to care and support them through their journey with us. As the Chinese say, 儿行千里母担忧 – When children travel far, mothers worry.
Ngā mihi nui
Tracy Chapman
Director – International Success
25 May 2020
Kia ora e te whānau
As I write this, I reflect on the emergency closure of Unitec 62 days ago and my new way of working from my front room. Like you, there has been much to adjust to and ponder as we watch the COVID-19 story play out in our lives and around the world. How fortunate for us to live where we do at this time. Although it has been a rather intense time of work and focus it has allowed me some time to step back and reflect on many aspects of my life and remind myself that matters most. Like many of you, I’ve been surprised how I’ve adapted to this new way of working.
Soon it will be time to transition back to working onsite and at this stage we’re looking to start opening the campuses with a phased approach after Queen’s Birthday weekend. To date, entry to our campuses has been strictly controlled with minimal access for staff and students, and a formal process and approvals overseen by the Academic Recovery Committee and Incident Management Team. Only those activities that are vital for students’ course completion have been allowed onsite. This has been to ensure we keep our staff and students as safe as we can and work within the Alert Level guidelines.
Currently we have around 80 small groups working at Mt Albert – a mix of small classes and staff accessing facilities. Our click and collect services for Te Puna library and the Copy Centre are up and running. The Infrastructure team has been completing refurbishment of facilities and associated moves. Te Puna Waiora has remained open throughout this time and I encourage you to book a flu vaccination if you would like one.
The Health and Safety team is busy carrying out staff inductions. It is a requirement that all staff carry out a COVID-19 Health and Safety induction before starting back onsite. You can book your induction here.
We anticipate that after Queen’s Birthday weekend the campuses will reopen and staff who have completed their Health and Safety induction will start to come back onsite, but this will be a phased return so your manager will discuss and confirm your return to campus date. Some of you may have health vulnerabilities and will continue to work remotely. Others may work partially from home and partially onsite. Your managers will be discussing the transition with you and each School and Support team will be different, depending on the nature of their work. The experience of lockdown has instigated many interesting discussions around the future of work for many New Zealanders, and we look forward to furthering these discussions at Unitec in the coming weeks and months.
When we do return to site we will all need to work together to keep ourselves safe while meeting the needs of our students. Jacinda Ardern recently thanked her “team of five million” for the sacrifices they had made to protect the country’s most vulnerable. It was the banding together that has made the difference. I see the same for Unitec. We are a team of some 1,300 staff and 8,600 students who will be working together, continuing good hygiene practices, physical distancing and taking responsibility for ourselves and those around us. Health and Safety monitors will not be policing us – we all know what we need to do.
There have been some tremendous gains made in our digital learning, and in the ways we have been collaborating across all of our teams. We are well on our way to seeing/implementing/realising a flexible blended delivery model that is more supportive of our students, and one that will enable us to manage our institutions in a different way going forward.
Support staff have also been successfully working remotely and we are having conversations around more flexible ways of working in the future for this group also.
The Unitec wellbeing champions and our Communications team have been very active during the lockdown and provided a wide range of activities to help support and keep staff connected.
Thank you everyone for all your hard work, positivity and focus in ensuring our students continue their studies, and for making the necessary adaptations to enable this to happen. You have truly demonstrated living the values of Te Noho Kotahitanga.
Ngā mihi
Mary Johnston
Executive Director – People and Infrastructure
18 May 2020
Kia ora koutou
Waitākere – Watch this space!
Yay – level 2 – well done everyone!
Waitākere’s School of Healthcare and Social Practice students and staff have learnt to engage in a different way. With great enthusiasm, our staff grabbed the opportunity with both hands to upskill and continue teaching their courses, delivering online with as little impact as possible on students.
There has been a lot of learning on both sides with a few changes to the programmes to adjust for student placements and exams, which we hope to have in place once the country is given the green light to return to pre-COVID learning and teaching practice.
Healthcare and Social Practice is a School that loves working face-to-face with our students, we love their presence and laughter, and being together on campus – that’s been the hardest thing about COVID-19! However, we have been able to continue to support and engage with our students through online support groups, meeting on a casual basis to keep conversations and shared learning going, as well as having great wraparound student support in place.
We’ve been collaborating with all the Schools and industry to provide greater provision for Waitākere and the North West through the Waitākere Strategy. Thanks to the School of Computing and Information Technology, Waitākere campus will be delivering the Certificate in Computing and IT – Level 4 in Semester 2. We also hope to deliver the School of Applied Business’s Certificate in Business – Level 4, in Semester 2. Both of these programmes will provide greater opportunities for our community to enter into tertiary and enable strong pathways into diplomas, degrees and employment.
Also in progress is the development of Level 3 and Advanced Level 4 Certificate in Aged Care. The development of these programmes has created a huge interest in the community and with industry organisations such as Career Force and Selwyn Foundation who have responded positively and expressed an interest in developing the qualification in partnership with Unitec.
Research projects include the development of a tracking application – which traces an individual’s activity for up to four weeks – being developed with staff from Medical Imaging and Ngā Wai a Te Tūī. Other projects include: Predicaments of undocumented Tuvaluan immigrants in West Auckland; Decolonising and democratising Social Work education; and Transforming Pacific communities through the study of youth suicide prevention (amongst young Tongan women).
We also have staff in Nursing doing research about working with the older adult population and the number of nurses who work in the sector. Expertise in this area is shrinking so we have crafted our research to start a conversation about future proofing skills and talent. Our Medical Imaging team is continuing to progress their work on exploring the relationship between respiratory diseases and building better homes.
We’re revamping Student Central with a corner of our campus being opened to the public. This allows an easy view of our campus for people walking to the library, bus stop, train station and Henderson, providing an opportunity to create greater awareness of our programmes and initiate enquiries. A student learning space is also being revamped to provide a bigger study area with alternative learning spaces.
We’re happy to be in Alert Level 2, it’s been tough. Zoom and Skype sessions have been our only connection with each other, but we have a little while to go yet as Waitākere campus will remain online until early June.
Ngā mihi
Linda Aumua
Head of Healthcare and Social Practice
11 May 2020
Kia ora koutou
We now have a better idea of what life and work under Alert Level 2 looks like, and later today we’ll know when we’ll be moving to the next stage of the country’s pandemic response. We’re getting closer to returning to campus for our everyday work, although many questions still remain – at this stage we’re looking at a phased transition back to campus – more on this when we can confirm the plan. With the country’s borders closed for some time to come, it’s unclear when we will be able to welcome back our students from overseas. We do know, however, that entire industries are being reshaped, and the employment market for many of our students will look very different from recent years.
Most of Unitec is rightly focused on solving today’s problems and delivering an outstanding experience to students within current constraints. All the signs are that we are doing a great job. Many thanks for the extra effort, imagination and innovation that you have successfully brought to the challenge.
Alongside this it’s not too early to start thinking about how Unitec can adapt existing programmes or develop new initiatives to meet the changing needs of both learners and employers. School leavers will want to know we can continue to help them study towards an exciting, viable new career, and there is likely to be a new group of in-work learners who through choice or forced circumstances need to upskill or retrain.
These opportunities are being explored weekly by a new Portfolio Leadership Group which is engaging with each School to understand what is possible in the short and medium term. One area that is currently receiving a lot of focus is short courses – a broad term that includes Certificates of Proficiency, Training Schemes, micro credentials and more – and we aim to create a more agile and responsive development approach to get to “market” quicker than we have been able to do in the past.
We are also working with MIT to see how we can offer a more joined-up solution to Auckland’s skill needs. We both have our specialisms, as well as common areas of industry expertise, e.g. Construction and Health, and are reaching out to our industry and government contacts to better understand the opportunity. As Merran said in Friday’s video message; He ngākau takitahi, e kore e nuku – together we’re stronger.
During difficult times of social and economic change, innovation is needed to solve new and complex problems. Unitec is ambitious to make a positive contribution and prepare and support our students for the new environment.
Ngā mihi
David Glover
Executive Director – Partnerships and Student Recruitment
4 May 2020
Kia ora koutou
Congratulations Unitec and New Zealand, we made it to lockdown Alert Level 3! My waistline has expanded and I‘m sure my eyes are now square from looking at a computer screen all day instead of getting out and about around campus. I also have to confess to using lockdown to binge watch nine seasons of Scrubs on TVNZ and have finished most of my PlayStation games.
We have all swallowed a very large and bitter pill. Personally, I’m feeling anxious, frustrated and very concerned for friends and family overseas. Does that sound familiar? Now, put yourself into our learners’ shoes and imagine what they are going through. Collectively, we have pulled out all the stops to support them and that level of commitment must continue when all this is over. That support will also need to extend to our industries and communities who will find themselves in a different economic landscape post COVID-19. We might find ourselves central to the recovery, and we’re ready for that – we’ll respond to the needs of all of our stakeholders.
The pace continues at the School of Trades and Services. I’m pleased to announce our leadership team is in place and boy, have we been lucky in our recruitment of two new Academic Programme Managers. Jake Curran, who looks after Plumbing and Carpentry, joined us at the beginning of the year. Jake has made amazing progress with his portfolio, and his experiences from working in Australia has really helped me to look at issues through an alternative lens. Our most recent appointment is Bryan Davis, who has joined us from Honda New Zealand, with responsibility for the Automotive and Mechanical Engineering portfolio. Bryan has been in the job for two weeks – talk about being thrown in at the deep end, but he has still managed to put together some tips for us on looking after our vehicles while in lockdown which you’ll find on the Nest. And then we have Aroha Lewin who has taken over the leadership of Project Takohanga (a review of our School). All I can say is ‘wow’ – Aroha is really laying the foundations for the future.
Our immediate future indicates a massive amount of work that we have to do and do well. The School has to prepare for IER (an internal version of EER), the actual EER and a couple of consistency reviews.
We’re beginning to get an idea of what the employment landscape is starting to look like post-COVID-19 and for us this will mean not only having to support our own learners and apprentices, but also anticipating and responding to industry needs. At the same time, we may need to consider supporting learners and apprentices from other organisations, potentially hosting them at Mataaho, to ensure they are able to complete their qualifications or to assist a change in career path. It will be important for all the ITO’s to work together to support this and for the tertiary sector as a whole, so we can respond quickly to whatever the economic impact brings.
So while we’re hopefully coming to the tail end of the current health crisis, we’ll soon be deeply embedded in the economic repercussions. For Unitec, this is our opportunity to shine – we know our capabilities and our commitment and responsibility to all our communities and stakeholders. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be than at Unitec. Why? It’s the people – he tangata, he tangata, he tangata.
See you all real soon.
Ngā mihi
Lee Baglow
Head of School – Trades and Services
28 April 2020
Kia ora koutou
The last few weeks have been huge for Unitec staff, as we deal with being at home and trying to work, adjusting to our bubbles and trying to maintain the best outcomes for our learners. It’s been gratifying to see how the Unitec community has pulled together and continued to put students at the heart of what we do, so I’d like to extend my heartfelt thanks to you all for your efforts.
Our approaches to learning and teaching have had to shift considerably, and I’m very pleased with the early indications that our online innovations are working well, with good feedback overall from learners. Thank you to all teaching teams, and a shout-out to Te Puna Ako and Te Korowai Kahurangi for your amazing support efforts, and to the Learner Outreach Project’s extended team for rallying around to stay in touch with learners.
Teaching under Alert Level 3 and Alert Level 2
As we move into COVID-19 Alert Level 3, and then Level 2, we are governed by detailed Government rules on what we can and can’t do. I’m also applying these principles to our decisions on course changes, learning and teaching, as well as related activities.
- Stay closely connected to our learners, to communicate clearly and best manage the risks of their disengagement and ‘drifting away’ from study, and to provide the right support
- Minimise disruption to learners where possible, by avoiding unscheduled gaps in delivery and staying within the existing semester timeframe
- Be agile and ready to respond to changes in Alert Levels and advice from the Government
Tuesday 28 April is the first day that any teaching begins on campus under Alert Level 3. On-campus teaching will be of a very restricted nature and for just a few dozen courses at the most, prioritising courses where completion is not possible without on-campus activity. Planning is also underway for Alert Level 2, which we hope will allow at least three or four weeks of delivery at a somewhat larger scale in this semester.
A full set of protocols for a safe return to campus is being developed by our Incident Management Team. Please rest assured that the IMT are being scrupulous in their planning to ensure staff and student safety. Merran shared more details on this in her message to all staff message on Friday, and a communication also went to our students.
Academic Recovery Committee
A temporary Academic Recovery Committee has been established as a subcommittee of the Academic Board, to support decision-making on those matters specific to learning and teaching, EER and academic quality, that are impacted by Covid 19. Again, thank you everyone for all your efforts. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me if you have any questions, need advice.
Ngā mihi
Simon Nash
Interim Executive Director – Ako
21 April 2020
Tēnā koutou katoa
By now you’ll be across the long-awaited Government decision to move to Alert Level 3 in a week’s time. It’s heart-warming to see the result of everyone taking what’s been required seriously, and we can now see some ‘light at the end of the tunnel’. Thank you whānau for your commitment to following what’s been required and supporting this journey.
Now we have a clearer picture on where we’re heading, the ELT and IMT have been able to do more planning on what this means for us at Unitec – our staff and students – and how to shape our teaching plans, which we outlined in Merran’s all-staff message yesterday.
Looking back over the past four weeks, I also want to acknowledge our staff for the way in which everyone has come together during these unprecedented times – Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini. My strength is not that of mine alone but that of many. As an institution we should be really proud of how we’ve responded to ‘moving’ our programmes and support online, while ensuring the least amount of disruption to our students’ learning and their future success. Undoubtedly, each School and support area has faced its own challenges, but the commitment and dedication of our staff has been exemplary, especially in the way teams from across the institute are supporting each other.
The Learner Outreach Project (LOP) is a great example of this and has been a real highlight, showcasing the team spirit across Unitec.
The establishment of the LOP couldn’t have been timed any better. It was implemented at the start of the year as way of tracking and monitoring our students’ attendance so we can better understand retention issues and how we can make improvements. With the impact of the rāhui (lockdown) we have since ramped up the number of staff involved and now have more than 50 people from across all our support teams who have stepped up to help out with making calls to students. Much of the early LOP work was focused on the overall wellbeing (mental, academic and technological needs) of our students, so we could better understand their immediate needs and work towards providing solutions. The feedback from our students continues to shape the way we support and provide for them, and how we interact and communicate with them.
While none of us know what the future will bring, we are guaranteed to get through this. I’m confident that our achievements of the past few weeks will mean we return even stronger, if not a little different than before.
Ngā mihi
Glenn Mckay
Te Tumu & Executive Director – Student Success
6 April 2020
On 1 April 2020, Annette Pitovao crafted this heartfelt message of support and appreciation in these challenging times, for this week’s edition of Pou Tukutuku Weekly.
Kia ora koutou
Amazing to think that April is here already. I am mindful of where we are as I write this on the first day of April, 2020. We are individually and collectively in lockdown as a nation due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. We enter this day as a newly-formed subsidiary of the new national institute for vocational education and training governed by a new Board of Subsidiary Directors. We started this week teaching fully online due to lockdown conditions in the midst of the semester continuing. Easter is around the corner thank goodness.
There’s a lot going on! It’s exciting, exhausting and energising all in one. What a humble honour it is to serve in our sector. To support the hopes and dreams of learners who are striving for more in their lives and work through tertiary education and gaining a qualification. Education means a lot to me. My parents came to Aotearoa New Zealand as migrants during the first Pacific wave in the 60’s.
My Dad never went to school, not even primary school, so he didn’t learn to read or write – instead he was sent out to the sugar cane plantations to work. Dad was born and raised in Lautoka, Fiji and arrived in Auckland in his late 20’s for an arranged marriage to my Mum. She was being sent from Tonga as a nineteen-year-old who didn’t speak a word of English and knew no one in Auckland. Mum was the first in her village to be sent here. She was on a boat for three days before arriving at Ports of Auckland. The hardships they endured working multiple cleaning and factory jobs to make ends meet whilst experiencing daily racism, low socio-economic biases and very limited opportunities has instilled in me a very strong work ethic, a humble gratitude for every opportunity and an unquestionable loyalty for the power of education to offer choices and access.
Effort is important but don’t mistake effort for results. Results are critical. Education is about results. Assessment marks become grades which turn into courses completed and then ultimately the qualification is achieved. A great education equals getting a great job equals having a great life and great family, who contribute to a great community and country. I am a living example of this.
It’s even more important to look after yourselves at a time like this, so please, be kind to each other. We’ll get through this together.
Kia kaha team!
Annette Pitovao
Director – Student Success
1 April 2020
Kia ora e te whānau
Firstly, I would like to pay my respects to the family of New Zealand’s first COVID-19 victim and to acknowledge those people, both in New Zealand and beyond our borders, who are currently suffering with the virus. I would also like to pay tribute to the incredible group of essential workers, including our own staff on-site at the Mt Albert campus, who are ensuring operations continue to run smoothly during these challenging and unprecedented times.
For all of you, this is Day #7 of the lockdown. For me, however, it’s been more than three weeks of home confinement as I’ve already had two and half weeks at home recovering from knee replacement surgery – terrible timing, I know, but I had already put it off a couple of times due to Unitec commitments and had no inkling we would be in the midst of a global pandemic. I’ll confess that although I was meant to be on sick leave and ELT had everything well in hand, there was far too much important Unitec stuff happening to stay out of it. So remote working has become the norm for me.
How does that feel? I’m sure it depends on the individual and we are all different but this is my journey to date. I’ve really missed the:
- Sense of anticipation driving into the carpark and walking to B110
- Face to face interactions with my teams
- The motivation of the buzz of activity across the campus
- Smiles and chats with staff from lots of different areas
- Monday morning karakia
- Morning coffee from Long Black
- Back-to-back meetings of all different kinds and people that challenge and make progress
- Sense of achievement at the end of a full day’s work
I know the current situation is tough for everyone but we know it’s the best option for all of us at the moment. And it’s comforting to know we’re all in the same waka on this.
My return to work on Monday was back to business as usual, and it’s already been a big week governance-wise. On Monday we had our last Advisory Committee meeting, yesterday was Murray’s last official day as our Crown Commissioner and tomorrow we have the first meeting of our new Subsidiary Board, so there’s lots to be done to get ready for that. Today, we officially became a subsidiary of the new national institute for vocational education and training – with the working name of New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology (NZIST). While the current situation with COVID-19 is uppermost in everyone’s minds, it’s also important to acknowledge this historic change for New Zealand’s ITP sector.
A number of you have asked what we are doing to acknowledge Murray’s farewell, so let me assure you we will be doing something appropriate in due course and will make sure you have the opportunity to attend if possible.
So, as we come to the end of an era at Unitec with our Commissioner finishing and the start of governance under our new Board, I’m feeling a mix of sadness and nervousness but overall anticipation and excitement for what comes next. I still wake up every day appreciating the incredible privilege it has been to lead Unitec through the last 18 months and what it will be to lead Unitec into a bold new future.
We are so rich in our history, whenua and people and will continue to be in that future.
Look after yourselves and your whānau.
Ngā mihi
Merran Davis
Interim Chief Executive
16 March 2020
Kia ora koutou
In Community Studies I am forever impressed with the care we provide our learners and the impact we have within our communities. The outcomes of this is evidenced in hearing our student stories. Celebrating our success stories is a priority for our School this year. We want to share with others the significant contribution our staff and students make to the communities in which they live.
Why we do what we do
Two weeks ago I had a ‘moment’, you know the kind of moment that stops you in your tracks and makes you feel something special. A student starting her first semester approached me by name in Te Puna gushing with enthusiasm to be studying at Unitec. She clearly articulated the impact of the whakawhanaungatanga we embedded into our orientation and how it reassured her that she made the right choice of study. She knew who I was, which in the past may not have been the case. She is the first in her family to attend tertiary and is committed to using her future qualification to impact her community.
That moment is now etched in my heart as ‘the way we do things around here’. It’s what Unitec is all about; we manaaki the success of our students and communities. It’s about more than a qualification. With the days and weeks flying by as quickly as they have been and with frightening global challenges, it is easy to lose sight of the important things. This moment was a great reminder of who we are at the core and why we do what we do. These student stories are numerous across all of our programmes. Unitec changes lives. It is privileged and challenging work.
We support our learners to succeed and we need to celebrate their success more often, so here we go, I’ll share some outstanding Educational Performance Indicators (EPIs). Our 2019 course completion rate in Community Studies is 89.67% (an increase of 1.3% since 2018) and 91% of our graduates are employed. I know!
A couple of highlights
A highlight towards the end of last year was Master of Osteopathy student Kate Martin’s win of the 3 Minute Thesis competition, summarising her fascinating – and topical – study about the attitudes of first year health students in New Zealand regarding immunisation. Congratulations to Kate for her achievement, and also to her supervisors and the team of staff and student supporters who critiqued and helped her to polish her presentation.
The Sport, Recreation and Exercise team established a partnership with Auckland Council last year to become Council’s preferred professional development partner for their staff who work in the gyms and recreation centres across Auckland. Ten staff have been enrolled in either the Certificate in Community Sport and Recreation or the Diploma in Sport, Recreation and Exercise. The first of these students will complete their Certificate this Semester. Exciting!
Early Childhood will be hosting a two-day play therapy symposium in May. It is designed for parents or people working with children in education, health, sport, recreation or other related fields who want to find an effective method of enabling better communication, expression and emotional regulation through play. Delivered by Lisa Dion, creator of Synergetic Play Therapy, entrepreneur, coach, and mother, the workshop will take attendees through some of the most cutting edge developments in the field.
Serving communities
Working with our communities seems like second nature to us. It is embedded within our programmes. It is easy to forget the significance of this. Below are snapshots of our impact within our communities.
- We run a full Osteopathy Clinic on site, with students working alongside staff to provide an outstanding service to the community; our students, staff, and the general public
- It’s equally easy to forget that each Early Childhood student works 12 hours per week in an Early Childhood Centre. Another outstanding service to tamariki and our community. Time and time again, employers tell us that they prefer to hire Unitec graduates because of their proven ability to excel as teachers
- Our Youth Development students work at the coalface with youth in groups and programmes in hours outside of their day at Unitec
- Contributing to healthier communities, our Health Promotion students connect with initiatives that drive better lifestyles in small local communities
- Our Sport, Recreation and Exercise students can be found in community gyms, coaching kids at clubs, leading community events and encouraging us all to get active
- And last year, 1,400 Police recruits enrolled at Unitec as a step towards a career in the Police. Yep that many people are training to become NZ Police!
It is true that there is much to celebrate, especially when one considers the individual lives we are privileged to connect with and the collective difference it makes.
Ngā mihi
Katie Bruffy
Head of Community Studies
9 March 2020
Kia ora koutou
With semester 1 2020 now underway I have been reflecting on what has been a very positive start to the new year. It’s great to see our students engaged in their learning and working towards achieving their goals. Thanks to all our learning and teaching staff, and support teams, for the way you all reached out to our tauira, made them feel welcome and supported them right from day one. I’ve had the pleasure of attending a number of School pōhiri over the past three weeks and each time the manaaki and aroha shown by staff to our tauira is incredibly heartening. Welcoming our new students to Unitec through our marae Te Noho Kotahitanga is very special and unique – this year we experienced an outdoor pōhiri on the ātea, a precautionary approach made to safeguard our staff and students in light of the coronavirus situation- luckily the sun shone for each event and it was very memorable for all involved.
At the end of last year the School of Engineering and Applied Technology was merged into two existing Schools, effective 1 January 2020. The first of these Schools is still currently known as Building Construction but now includes civil engineering and land surveying (discussions are currently underway regarding a new name for this School), and last week we announced the newly-named School of Computing, Electrical and Applied Technology. Over the past two months the staff and support team specialists have met on a number of occasions to build key relationships and get to know each other better – an important approach to ensure we can provide the best possible learning environment and support for our tauira. Thank you to all the learning and teaching, and support staff, across the new School of Computing, Electrical and Applied Technology, for the professional, committed and friendly manner in which you have all embraced this change. We are excited by the opportunities and innovation that lies ahead for our programmes and the industries and sectors we serve.
Please do make sure you take time to read the regular coronavirus updates on the Nest. These cover the latest updates from the Government as well as specific actions we need to be following on our campuses to look after ourselves and each other. There has also been some important messaging from Te Puna Ako covering the work we need to do on Moodle to continue to support our students on our digital platforms, so thank you to everyone involved in this important mahi.
Finally, next Monday 16 March at 9.00am we will be holding a Commemorative Reflection in remembrance of the tragedy that took place in Christchurch on 15 March 2019. Led by our Chaplaincy and Multifaith Coordinator, Ricky Waters, this is an opportunity to share readings and also prayers from various faith communities on our campuses, by students and staff. I look forward to seeing as many of you there as possible.
Ngā mihi
Nick Sheppard
Interim Executive Director – Schools and Performance
Interim Head of Computing, Electrical and Applied Technology
2 March 2020
Kia ora koutou
2020 has already brought with it a number of exciting opportunities for the Unitec Pathways College and the Under 25s from our communities. Our secondary school and community events got underway in January with us hosting the Polyfest Leaders Conference for the first time and Mt Albert Grammar Teacher Only Day, bringing over 350 members of our communities onto our campus. We also spent time in the community on Waitangi Day with a strong Unitec presence at Waitangi@Waititi and hosted our annual Careers Advisor Update Day.
We are currently in countdown mode for Polyfest from 18-21 March as the proud sponsors (and MCs!) of the Diversity Stage and are in preparation mode for school expo season, stage one, and school holiday workshops.
Meanwhile, we are incredibly proud and grateful to now be in our beautifully refurbished space in Te Kākatai (B108) where a large proportion of the learning and teaching we deliver takes place. The name Te Kākatai makes reference to the history of our land as in ancient times it was a nursery and sanctuary for multitudes of grey heron, a narrative shared with Matua Hare by Unitec Kaumātua, the late Sir John Turei – A nursery to nurture, strengthen and care for their young. In our context, Te Kākatai becomes a place of nurturing, caring, guiding and preparing new students for their future.
The move brings our young people out of the old barns down the back of Mt Albert campus, into a space that is fit for purpose, close to Te Puna, other students and our team, and brings together our pathways of Automotive Engineering, Carpentry, Mahi ā Toi and Design.
This year we are expecting well over 400 secondary school students across eight pathways, here and at Waitākere campus. Having all of our pathways in spaces of which we and our students can be proud is already making a huge difference. We are now four weeks into the majority of our learning and teaching for the year, and the impact on experience and reputation with our secondary schools and kura already has been astounding. With 20 secondary schools and three kura kaupapa Māori now partnering with us on this activity, the space also gives us opportunity to continue to grow and better serve our communities. These opportunities for our young people are vital to their decision-making when it comes to further education and employment, and a major contributor to our increasing transition rates, so a massive thank you to everyone involved in our own transition to this fabulous revitalised space.
Ngā mihi
Andrea Thumath
Director – Unitec Pathways College and Students Under 25 Success
24 February 2020
Kia ora e te whānau
Our campuses are abuzz with returning students and it’s great to feel the energy this generates in the midst of our never-ending summer. Many of you have been busy over the last few weeks preparing for the start of semester and attending the pōhiris welcoming our students. At our recent Aronui-Focus 2020 event the theme of working together as part of our Renewal Strategy – Manaakitia te Rito – came through strongly. Merran reminded us all of the key achievements accomplished during 2019, and it was timely to reflect on these as it is easy for this to be lost when the going gets tough. We are looking forward to the year ahead, one which focuses on growth and opportunity.
Last Monday morning the new Unitec Pathways College learning spaces were blessed and our secondary school students commenced their studies. Having a dedicated space for our students in building 108 helps provide them with the best possible experience as they venture into learning within a tertiary environment, and transitioning to tertiary studies in the future.
Architecture has moved into building 048 and all of Design and Contemporary Arts have now moved into building 076. There has been a significant focus over the summer months on refurbishing spaces and moving staff and students into new buildings. Other significant infrastructure projects include the recladding of Pūkenga and the installation of new windows, along with the refurbishment of the front of the Wharenui. Our facilities team has been very focused on maintenance activities over the break, readying everything in time for our students’ return.
Many of you have already completed your 2019 ADEP reviews and are discussing your 2020 individual goals and development plans. With coordinated action plans across all schools and support teams, linked to the Unitec takitahi, we are in the best position to be able to deliver on our Renewal Strategy.
February and March are some of the busiest months of the year with multiple demands on us all. I do encourage you to be mindful of your own wellbeing and of those around you. The coronavirus situation has added to the stressors at this time and we appreciate your commitment to supporting our students who are in self-isolation or engaged in distance learning. It’s important that we take care of each other and demonstrate generosity of spirit in our daily dealings. I recently attended the Mental Distress Workshops that are on offer as part of our Wellbeing Strategy. Mental Distress workshops are open to all staff and are designed to increase your awareness of different aspects of mental health, assist you to identify if someone needs help and give you tools to point them in the direction of the support they need. To date, 207 of our staff have attended, and we have 13 sessions coming up in March and April, so check out this opportunity as the feedback from participants has been very positive.
2020 brings another year of change within the sector, and dealing with ambiguity and uncertainty has become part of our lives here at Unitec. More than ever it is important to keep our purpose front of mind… “Led by Te Noho Kotahitanga we manaaki the success of our students and communities”.
Ngā mihi nui
Mary Johnston
Executive Director – People and Infrastructure
17 February 2020
Kia ora koutou
With the new semester, and a new year, we’re all extra busy; enrolling students, encouraging that late flurry of applications, joining in at Aronui-Focus 2020 and other events, writing PEPs, getting classrooms ready and generally bringing things on line for semester 1. And then there is the work underway to support everyone impacted by coronavirus, with some staff and students unable to travel to New Zealand or in self-isolation.
So many people across campus are supporting everyone impacted and currently our Te Puna Ako team, alongside teaching staff, are preparing extra student resources on Moodle, and Te Puna Waiora have been creating care packages for delivery to students in self-isolation in Auckland. This is a unique environment and a time where going the extra mile really makes a difference.
At the School of Environmental and Animal Sciences we are already underway and in the midst of teaching as we offer many of our programmes in a blended format, with a mixture of online learning and on-campus block courses.
Over the last few weeks we’ve had cohorts of the veterinary nurses (NZ Certificate in Animal Technology and NZ Diploma in Veterinary Nursing), the zookeepers (NZ Certificate in Animal Management – Captive Wild Animals) and the final block course of the 2019 NZ Certificate in Animal Care.
Just to make things even more interesting, we also hosted a Science and Technology workshop for a group of 28 Girl Guides (aged 10-15 years), where they learned about DNA extraction from insects and spiders, sensory ecology, animal first aid, how to handle goats and how to train chickens. I’m not sure if they received badges for their efforts, but I will be asking Te Puna Ako for badges for ours!
This week we also welcome students from the Green River Community College from Washington State, USA. The twenty students spend five weeks in Australia and another five weeks in New Zealand where they learn about local culture, biodiversity and ecology. For a number of years Unitec has hosted this annual trip, with noho marae and a mātauranga Māori wānanga at our Te Noho Kotahitanga marae, and the biology and ecology components taught in the field and by Environmental and Animal Sciences staff.
Remember to pace yourselves at this frenetic time of the year. Take a breath, go for a walk in the sun, ask for help, offer help, or maybe even come and visit the animals in Te Puna Kararehe. We will be putting in place regular opening hours for visits soon, but in the meantime there is the opportunity to visit the animals and farewell our Te Puna Kararehe technician Felicity Bowden, who is retiring at the end of February, at a special ‘open hour’ on Wednesday 26 February at 10.30 – all welcome.
Ngā mihi
Dan Blanchon
Head of Environmental and Animal Sciences
10 February 2020
Kia ora koutou
Now February’s underway the summer break feels like an increasingly hazy memory, but I’m trying to sustain some of the residual positive feelings by commuting via e-bike and swimming at my local Pt Chev beach. I hope you’re hanging on to some healthy pastimes too!
We are now in our final busy few weeks of enrolment activity for semester 1, while continuing to respond to early enquiries for semester 2. Many people across the organisation from Marketing Communications to Academic Operations to the Schools are making a vital contribution to this work.
While we are at this stage still around 7% behind year to date budget we are seeing a number of positive trends. New applications are being processed more quickly than in recent years, and we have stepped up our quality of communication to prospective learners. This appears to be contributing to a higher conversion rate, which makes sense, as we know there are alternate choices people can make. Surveys have told us that speed matters – if we respond first, and keep each step of enrolment moving along, we are more likely to get a positive result.
With a few weeks still to go, here are some other highlights:
- We are ahead of last year for both new and transferring Domestic and International enrolments
- We are doing better than last year in terms of priority groups
- Our new programmes including the Bachelor of Veterinary Nursing and the Diploma in Cybersecurity are creating a healthy level of interest
- The recent Enrolment & Information day boosted re-enrolments, although there is still some ground to make up
The outbreak of Coronavirus is obviously an unplanned and challenging event that will affect our ability to enrol some new and returning students. The organisation has swung into action quickly, and we are doing our best to mitigate the impact both on our students and the organisation as a whole. Please ensure you read the daily bulletins on The Nest to keep up to date with this evolving situation.
Finally, I’m looking forward to the two events on tomorrow, Tuesday 11 February. In the morning, our Aronui-Focus 2020 event is important to get a sense of the year ahead for all of us at Unitec, and the afternoon visit from NZIST management (Establishment Board) will tell us more about the future of the national institute. Please make every effort to attend both.
Ngā mihi
David Glover
Executive Director – Partnerships and Student Recruitment
3 February 2020
Kia ora e te whānau
It’s been lovely to see everyone back at Unitec and to catch up on summer holiday stories. For Bridgepoint and in fact all Schools, the start of the year is a time to focus on programme and course improvements, enrolment and pre-study pastoral care, and on ensuring we have everything ready for our learners.
A significant piece of work for Bridgepoint is the collaborative mahi on our new Nursing, Sport, Applied Science, Social Practice, Construction, Engineering, and Architecture pathways for the Level 4 Certificate in Study and Career Preparation programme. I continue to be impressed with how staff from across Unitec have demonstrated the values of Mahi Kotahitanga and Ngākau Māhaki to create, set up, and support options that will better enable our learners to progress and be successful in Unitec diploma and degree programmes.
This month, I’m looking forward to seeing our new and returning learners, and to welcoming our Supported Learning, Bridging Education, and Language Studies tauira through our pōwhiri, on to our campus, and into our classes. The first few weeks of semester are always full of energy, and are a critically important part of setting up our learners for success. I’m particularly excited this year about the Manaakitia Te Rito, the ‘I See Me’ initiatives, and how we can work together to ensure success for all our learners.
He waka eke noa!
Ngā mihi
Chris King
Head of Bridgepoint
28 January 2020
Kia ora koutou
Poipoia te kākano kia puawai – Nurture the seed and it will blossom
Welcome back! Week 3 for me and still managing to hold on to some holiday feeling with a short week ahead. I definitely needed the three week break which was split between rediscovering the joys of switching off and staying home with whānau, holidaying at the beach with extended whānau and a few days enjoying the beautiful outdoors at Mt Ruapehu. I found lots of sunshine and relaxation time for reading, yoga and walks and managed to avoid too much traffic, rain and stress so I hope you had a nice break wherever you were.
Workwise, 2019 is already receding into the distance with 2020 full of opportunities to ensure we continue the steady progress to date, but take a more positive and confident approach in everything we do. No more major whole of organisation changes are planned for this year with our focus being on implementing Manaakitia te Rito as our Renewal Strategy and embedding the changes we have already undertaken. Of course our EER in October will be a highlight and very important, but all of the key workstreams are well underway and it is very much around getting the basics right, doing what we say we are doing and ensuring learners are at the heart of everything we do.
For inspiration and a clear refresh on Manaakitia te Rito as our Renewal Strategy and our Takitahi with our Purpose, Priorities and Values, make sure you get along to Aronui-Focus 2020 on Tuesday 11 February at 10.30am. It is shaping up to be another highly memorable event with great speakers, an external panel and an amazing interactive event.
As an added bonus, a couple of people from the NZIST Establishment Unit will be running an information session for staff in the afternoon to talk about the new brand and design, what is happening through to 1 April 2020 and to provide an opportunity for Q&A. They are making good progress so come along to find out what’s ahead and ask any questions you have.
See you at Aronui!
Ngā mihi
Merran Davis
Interim Chief Executive
16 December 2019
Kia ora koutou
Well, it’s nearly 2019 the year that was, and what another big year for Unitec. I think we’re all more than ready for a decent break but you should be proud of what we’ve achieved so I sincerely acknowledge and thank you all. I would also like to acknowledge the loss of lives and injuries from the Whakaari tragedy. I recognise how difficult it is for whānau, hapū and iwi at this time, some of who are part of our Unitec whānau. Our thoughts are with you.
Landing Manaakitia te Rito, our Renewal Strategy, with its clear, simple purpose and strategic priorities expressed through our Takitahi, as well as the Waitākere Strategy, was critical this year to provide a future-focused and balanced growth basis for moving Unitec forward in 2020. Next year, there will be an increased emphasis on taking our improving academic performance and external reputation and turning it into more profile, more learners and more revenue for Unitec. On the other hand, I’m sorry that we had to enforce an additional reduction in expenditure late in the year – I appreciate it was very difficult and unexpected for most. We had initially done well to absorb the revenue decline this year, but based on further sector forecasts we’ve had to take further action, including drawing down more of the concessionary loan, to ensure we can focus on implementing our growth strategy in 2020.
Being downgraded to Category 3 was a big disappointment after everybody had worked so hard to address legacy issues, but it’s also further galvanised significant action around our academic quality. You will have seen from the EER update last week that we are making good progress with implementing our Academic Quality Action Plan and preparation for our next EER in October 2020. I’d also like to acknowledge the important work undertaken by the Academic Board to ensure we have the appropriate academic framework and oversight of our academic processes.
Given our renewed commitment to Te Noho Kotahitanga and the new staff-led development of Ngā Tikanga Whakahaere, our Code of Conduct, I was pleased to see strong progress in our Pulse Surveys and Annual Staff Engagement Survey results, but we still have a lot of work to do in the ‘Speak Up’ area so everyone feels supported and safe. Hopefully, our new Diversity and Inclusion Rōpu will help with this, as do our positive partnerships with TEU and TIASA when everyone communicates honestly and respectfully.
It’s fantastic to finish a year of many moves within the Mt Albert campus, fixing long-standing building issues, painting B110-115, getting B108 painted and repurposing some of it for the Unitec Pathways College and studio areas for other Schools. It’s amazing how it revitalises the whole central campus despite the financial constraints we are operating in. Similarly, our Waitākere campus looks better every time I visit and we have exciting plans to make it more learner, staff and community-friendly for 2020. This is testament to the passion and commitment of those championing this work, as well as what we’ve been able to achieve with our modest budgets.
The proposed Reform of Vocational Education (RoVE) which became a reality in August and led to the current establishment of NZIST has provided an interesting backdrop to the year. The upshot is that on 1 April 2020 we become a subsidiary of NZIST and our Commissioner, Murray Strong, will be replaced with a new subsidiary board appointed by the government through to the end of 2022. For our staff that means it’s business as usual and there is no need to worry about things being significantly different from what they are now. My understanding is that there will be the opportunity to provide feedback on the initial recommendations from the work groups in February and we’ll start to see an increase in regular communication which will be helpful.
Don’t forget tomorrow to show your support for Mūmū mo Samoa – Red for Samoa fundraiser in aid of the measles outbreak. Wear something red to show unity, make a donation in one of the red tins or online and attend Dr Falaniko Tominiko’s (Niko) public lecture, A Brief History of Samoan Tragedy and Resilience, at 12pm in the Red Lecture Theatre. Light refreshments will be served after the lecture.
Please look after yourselves over the break – try and switch off and spend time doing those things outside of work which relax, lift your spirits and motivate you!
Again, my sincere thanks and warm wishes to you and yours.
Meri Kirihimete me ngā mihi o te tau hou!
Merran Davis
Interim Chief Executive
9 December 2019
Kia ora koutou
As I was walking along the waterfront last Sunday admiring all the Pohutukawa trees in bloom I reflected on how quickly this year has gone – December already.
I’ve really enjoyed my year at Unitec and it was great to get a chance to celebrate some of our achievements this year at the Staff Excellence Awards last Thursday. A big thank-you to the Communications team for all the hard work that went into organising such a fantastic event. Also, congratulations to all the winners and to all the people who were nominated, and those of you who took the time to nominate your colleagues!
Over the last few months, our Finance Administration Manager, Irene Lee and her team, have been working with Julie McGregor in Learning and Development to develop an online tool to make it easier for managers and staff to navigate some of our core finance processes.
We’ve started with a module on reviewing and approving expense transactions, as this is a process that we receive lots of queries about. The module takes you through the process step-by-step and provides all the links and resources you need in one place. This process is the Managers’ Toolkit which can be found on the Nest > Working @ Unitec > Managers Toolkit. It can be accessed and used by all staff members or you can launch the Toolkit directly here.
The idea is that we will continue to build the Toolkit up over time, adding more finance processes, so if there are particular systems you would like to see, please email the Learning and Development team with your suggestions. In the meantime, if you have any other queries on managing expense transactions, please contact Irene and her team – they are always happy to help.
It is also worth noting that the Managers’ Toolkit already contains modules on several key Managing People processes, providing very helpful resources and information to assist with recruiting and on-boarding new team members, and managing personnel including leave, remuneration and more.
The Learning and Development team will be building a similar toolkit resource for staff early next year – so you’ll hear more about this soon.
I hope you all have a relaxing and enjoyable break over the Christmas and New Year holiday period.
Ngā mihi
Alison Sarginson
Interim Executive Director – Finance
2 December 2019
Kia ora koutou
As I reflect on another busy and very productive semester I am delighted with the progress, collaboration and innovation that is occurring across so many areas of our organisation. Over the past few months there’s been several highlights for me:
- Last week I attended the Ako Aotearoa ‘Talking Teaching 2019’ Conference here at Te Whare Wānanga o Wairaka, which had a spotlight on tertiary teaching best practice. I was really impressed with the learning and teaching sessions, particularly the focus on supporting learners to achieve, diversity of learners and innovative ways to help support their journey, and developing future-focused teacher capability opportunities
- It was great news last month to hear that our Unitec Student NPS score had surpassed expectations and was at 12 for semester 2 (in semester 1 it was 8). We’re looking on track for meeting our target of 20, the industry standard, by 2022! Congratulations everyone. I’m also very proud of our Engineering and Applied Technology School, who jumped from an NPS score of 8 in semester 1 to a score of 26 in semester 2. Ka mau te wehi! Our students are telling us that overall they are very satisfied with the quality of teaching and learning, the relevance of our courses, and the communications they receive from Unitec
- The Staff Engagement Survey results, which Merran shared with us on Thursday, were also great news. We had our highest ever response rate, 70%, and an engagement score of 79.3%, another first! The engagement score is the result of a series of questions that look at how positively you feel about Unitec and it was good to hear that so many of you are happy to work here and are proud to work at Unitec. Well done team – this positive result reflects the great work occurring right across our organisation
- In October I was very fortunate to spend three weeks in India and China, meeting with current agents as well as current and potential future partners. It’s important that we travel to these markets to develop our international partnerships and agent relationships, in person. These people are a key part of marketing Unitec to potential students. They help us to drive our international recruitment, and secure and support student enrolment. We are looking at ways to further enhance these relationships and how we can add value in new and innovative ways, including developing teaching and learning ‘communities of practice’ with Unitec and international partner staff. One concept is to invite members of teaching staff from these partner organisations to attend our annual ‘Learning and Teaching Symposium’ and create the opportunity for them to spend some time in our classes with our teaching staff and students. We’ll then be able to share great practice, while also learning from each other and gaining a better understanding of each other and our organisations
- Then there is a more personal highlight, my new role as Interim Executive Director – Schools and Performance. I look forward to representing each teaching team, programme, discipline and School, on the ELT moving forward. I want to hear your ideas of how we can support you and your teams, so please feel free to reach out, stop me at the Long Black Café (I’m there most mornings), or via email for a kōrero about your students, their success, your programmes or professional practice.
Finally, I’m looking forward to seeing you at the Staff Excellence Awards this Thursday and celebrating our talented people. Like you, I really enjoy celebrating the many successes of our wonderful staff and learning more about their mahi and how this helps students succeed. I wish you and your whānau a safe and enjoyable festive season, and hope you have a relaxing and well-deserved break over summer.
Here’s to an exciting 2020…
Ngā mihi
Nick Sheppard
Interim Executive Director – Schools and Performance / Interim Head of School – Engineering and Applied Technology
25 November 2019
E ngā korokoro tūī, e ngā manu kākā tarahae tēnā koutou katoa
Earlier this month, Merran introduced us to Takitahi which reflects our renewal strategy Manaakitia te Rito 2019-2022, and captures our purpose, strategic priorities and values. We chose the Takitahi weave as a visual representation of how our goals and values need to be woven together in unity, and that we too need to work in unison if we are to truly serve our students, each other and our communities. Takitahi is a symbol of strength, representing synergy and cohesion.
We are all woven together through our partnerships with our students and the industries we serve, so let’s ‘manaaki te rito’ – put our collective interests first, nurture and care for each other, and build a strong culture of success based on enhancing one’s mana. Collaboration is key to our success and is a practice we should be adopting in our everyday mahi.
Last Friday, I was privileged to attend Whai Ake I te Ara Tika Pō Whakanuia, a special celebration for our Whai Ake students; a scholarship initiative that empowers and supports Māori students enrolled in the programme. The students are each paired with a tūākana (senior Whai Ake mentor) from within their own programme and have to provide two sets of achievable goals, which are monitored and supported through the year.
It was very uplifting to meet the whānau of these students at the event and hear their parents’ wonderful feedback, and their gratitude for the support provided by the Whai Ake programme.
Another important event I was involved in this month was last week’s Māori & Pacific Trades Training graduation (MPTT), the first time we have hosted their graduation ceremony. The students, from Unitec, MIT, NZMA and Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, were well supported by whānau and friends. Everyone enjoyed the MC, comedian Pio Terei, and the Māori – Pan-Pacific haka to honour all the guests. The opportunity to have this event at Unitec is a reflection of the great MPTT ‘Whanaungatanga Day’ we hosted earlier this year, which received very positive feedback and is a wonderful example of our people working together and collaborating to provide great outcomes for our students and communities.
Talking of ‘greatness’, check out the video series, Redefining Stories, which promotes the great resources available through Student Success. And make sure you vote for your favourite finalist in the Unitec Excellence Awards People’s Choice. You’ll have an email from Merran (21 November) that includes a link to the voting form – don’t miss out on the opportunity to show your support for a colleague. I look forward to seeing you all at the Staff Awards on Thursday, 5 December – please make sure you have registered.
Ngā mihi
Glenn Mckay
Te Tumu & Executive Director – Student Success
18 November 2019
Kia ora koutou, Ni sa bula vinaka
The School of Healthcare and Social Practice at Waitākere Campus has had a busy semester 2 with a number of events including engaging our students in Pacific language weeks, cultural events, spiritual faith days, Diwali and staff cooking BBQs for students, which has kept our campus buzzing.
Students and staff have also started combined Kapa Haka on Tuesdays with the support of Maia and karakia every Monday morning. It’s a great time to bring our campus together and create a sense of unity.
Alongside this event activity, our people have been busy with NZQA Monitor visits across our programmes which include the Bachelor of Nursing, Medical Imaging and VTNCA, which all received feedback that reflected the high quality of programmes and staff capability. Social Practice had a five-year review with the Social Workers’ Registration Board which also received excellent feedback and continued registration to deliver.
The development of the Waitākere strategy has kept us all busy, especially Heather Stonyer and David Glover. We have carried out over 300 consultations with community, industry, schools, Pacific communities and iwi and we are in the final stages of going back to the community to receive feedback on the draft strategy. These consultations have also supported our re-engagement with the community and to gain an insight into what the community needs are, and how Unitec can be a part of the growing West Auckland community.
Medical Imaging and Nursing students are now in exam time and Social Practice students start on their last assessments. We wish them all the best.
Ngā mihi
Linda Aumua
Head of Healthcare and Social Practice
11 November 2019
Kia ora koutou
I’ve found every month at Unitec to be action packed and the last month has been no exception. Thanks very much to everyone who has been involved working with the Finance team in preparing the budgets for 2020 and for all the hard work that has gone into looking for ways we can reduce costs. This work will support us to meet our financial sustainability targets for 2020, while still ensuring we have resources in the right places to deliver on our further Manaakitia te Rito goals: improved success for all students and parity for Māori, Pacific and Under 25 students; to be highly confident in education performance and self-assessment and return to Category 1; and all staff are proud to work at Unitec and highly capable.
The Finance team recently added some light and colour to the office. Thanks very much to Satinder Kaur for organising our team’s Diwali festivities. As you will see from the picture, we have a few new faces in our team, since filling some of our vacant positions. We are pleased to welcome to our team:
- Dale Packer (back row third from the left) has joined in a new position of Manager Financial Systems and Reporting
- Cathy Zheng (front row left) has filled our Business Intelligence Analyst role
- Trevor Craig (the tallest person in the back row) has filled a big gap left by Eric, the Financial Systems Analyst
- Arati Danji (back row left) has temporarily filled a gap in the Financial Performance team
A couple of weeks ago I was in Wellington to meet with the NZIST and other sector Finance representatives from around the country, to discuss unifying from 1 April 2020. Basically it’s business as usual, but there will be additional work for the Finance teams over the next six months as we share information and work out how we can enable greater uniformity in the way we account, and report on, financial performance.
Ngā mihi
Alison Sarginson
Interim Executive Director – Finance
4 November 2019
Kia ora koutou
One of the key reasons I like working at Unitec is the interaction I have with a lot of smart and talented people, both on campus and through our industry communities of practice. Each year we get an opportunity to acknowledge the mahi of our colleagues through the Unitec Excellence Awards. It’s a great way to sit back and reflect on why we work here. The Awards allow us to pay tribute to all nominees for the contributions they’ve made to Unitec and our students.
Teaching and learning is our core business and it’s at the heart of what we do. It’s therefore no surprise that four of the nine Excellence Awards are dedicated to teaching. I’m looking forward to seeing who the finalists are on 20 November, and then the winners when they’re announced at the celebration event on 5 December. Simply being nominated and acknowledged is a huge accomplishment – and it also reinforces that our staff are valued, needed and help make Unitec a special place that we can all be proud of.
Our School of Building Construction has had a fantastic year. We’ve not only been recognised nationally for our students’ achievements, here and within the industry, but also internationally. Megan Smith was our first female Quantity Surveyor graduate (2014) and has been nominated by the Royal Society of Chartered Surveyors in the UK for a prestigious international award (look out for a profile on Megan and her work at the Battersea Power Station apartments project, coming up soon on the Nest).
While I am very proud of the significant achievements made by these students, I’m equally proud of the staff at Unitec who quietly go about their mahi. These are an amazing bunch of people who support our School to help make a significant contribution to the changing world of construction.
Recently, Te Puna Ako hosted the Unitec Learning and Teaching Symposium. A lot of careful thought and planning went into selecting the theme and identifying presenters at this year’s event. Some of the highlights and take-home tips for me included the reference that keynote speaker Dr Brian Evans made to the ‘web of influences upon student success’ – a reminder to be mindful of the juggling that students face in their endeavours to complete a programme of study as they strive to balance family, and work commitments, with their studies. Our Student Success team reinforced this, reminding us of the importance of the initial welcome for new students and how important it is for them to quickly form relationships with both peers and staff.
Engagement starts with the powhiri for new students, acknowledging their diverse backgrounds and Orientation also captures the key support resources. A third of our students consider withdrawing in the first 12 months of a programme but retention rates increase if student support services are utilised. Our statistics show that 27% of the students using our support services continue on to complete their courses. It’s therefore vital that we promote these resources to our students and ensure we identify those in need of guidance.
We’re particularly proud of our ‘Developing Learning Achievement and Success’ support class, which was initially created for priority group students but has now been broadened to include all students who need support. We implemented the concept in semester 1 and the initiative is so popular now that we had to offer two separate classes to cater for the 55-60 students using the service (Friday mornings and Wednesday evenings). This is a vital and valuable resource that helps ensure that we’re setting our students up for success in every aspect of their Unitec lives.
Ngā mihi
Paul Jeurissen
Head of Building and Construction
29 October 2019
Kia ora koutou
The campaign for 2020 student enrolment is well under way. While we are predicting a further drop in numbers for a wide range of reasons, including work visa settings affecting international applications and reputational issues and sector uncertainty clouding the domestic story, it’s all hands on deck to do what we can to get a good result.
International students generally apply earlier for their programmes, and we’ve already been busy for several months raising our profile overseas. We have appointed an in-country manager for India, Puja Malik, who has been attending agent fairs and dealing on the spot with individual student enquiries. Recently she’s been joined by Head of Engineering and Applied Technology, Nick Sheppard, and our Manager – International Market Development, Farhana Nalar, who met with local partner institutions then Nick travelled on to China with International Relationship Manager Toby Yin.
Other academics have been lending their voice and credibility to the Unitec story. Niranjan Singh, a Lecturer from the School of Engineering and Applied Technology, visited Sri Lanka and Malaysia to support local partner negotiations, while Maryam Erfanian Sabaee, a Lecturer from the School of Computing and Information Technology, attended student education fairs in India. Head of Creative Industries, Vanessa Byrnes, and China Partnerships Manager Liang Luo are meeting with the Beijing Dance Academy and others in China this month.
While India and China remain our largest international markets, SouthEast Asia is an area of growing opportunity. Our International Relationship Manger for that region, Ben McNally-Burn, just returned from three months based in Vietnam, from where he also visited Malaysia, Korea and the Phillippines. It’s a long time since we have had this level of co-ordinated, focused activity and we look forward to seeing the enrolments coming through as a result.
Closer to home, right now is the time for Schools and others with direct contact with existing students to encourage them to re-enrol as soon as possible. The bulk of our students each year are returning students, not new arrivals, so this is a critical contribution to make if you can help out.
Our semester 1 pre-Christmas advertising campaign has launched on radio, buses and at bus stops. It builds on our recent “You Can” message and clearly spells out a range of study areas available – the result of a research insight that many people just don’t know what we offer. More messages will go out in the new year.
While the enrolment cart awaits finalised timetables to open for most programmes in mid-November, we already have several hundred students with accepted unconditional offers in the system. We recently contacted each one to keep them close as part of our new “nurture” strategy. With fewer prospective students applying, we need to improve how we guide them through the application process, and demonstrate from the beginning our commitment to their success.
Finally, many of you over the last few months will have attended a presentation from our Director of Marketing, Viv Merito and myself, about what we know about our domestic student base and local perceptions of Unitec. We made the point that the most effective marketing is something we can all contribute – positive word of mouth. This is a good time for all staff who care about healthy enrolments to raise awareness though their local networks of what’s great about Unitec and the programmes we offer.
He moana pukepuke e ekengia e te waka — A choppy sea can be navigated by a waka.
All aboard!
Ngā mihi
David Glover
Executive Director – Partnerships and Student Recruitment
21 October 2019
Kia ora koutou
Earlier this month a number of our team had the opportunity to attend and present at the Learning and Teaching Symposium which they found really valuable and inspiring. I thought this year’s Symposium theme, He Toa Takitini: Success of all Students was clever and meaningful as it aligns with Unitec’s 2022 student parity targets for priority learners, and our purpose, to manaaki the success of our students and communities.
Community Studies was lucky to have two teams present at the symposium sharing examples of their great work:
- The Early Childhood team presented on supporting learners using Te Noho Kotahitanga – Manaakitia te Rito: Supporting Māori aspirations in education. This work explores our emerging understanding of how the notion of awhi rito, support for our learners, is fostered through Te Noho Kotahitanga
- The Sport team presented Te Waka O Te Whānau Hakinakina – a learning model designed for the delivery of our new Diploma in Sport, Recreation and Exercise. The impact of this model is evident in the stunning results outlined in the student course reports, achieved within the first year of delivery of the programme – more on this below
I was delighted to get some very positive feedback on how much our students have enjoyed engaging with our Te Waka model. This is evidenced in the semester 1 course evaluations. The new Diploma received nearly perfect scores and topped the institute course content, course teaching, course assessments and course practical components. This is an outstanding achievement.
Another highlight was the Osteopathic Master’s programme which was runner-up in the course teaching category. I am looking forward to seeing more of the healthy competitive spirit within our School to keep motivating each other in the interest of great outcomes for our students. I know the ‘sportees’ love a good competition.
Alongside the student feedback, I am really proud of the School’s graduate survey results. Our graduates are some of our toughest critics and our best advocates. It’s amazing to hear that 100% of graduates think their learning needs were met. It is also incredible that 97% of graduates think the teaching was effective, that 91% of our graduates are employed, and that 91% of the respondents were promoters of our programmes!
What our School continues to achieve in the classroom is remarkable and I have so much respect for our teachers’ ability to soldier-on despite navigating teach-outs and continual change.
Our stakeholders are also an important part of our success. We have regular stakeholder engagement forums and a recent highlight was the Associate Teacher Symposium for Early Childhood Teachers that we hosted last week in the wharenui.
The event is a collective of ITEs including AUT, MIT, Open Polytechnic, Te Rito Maioha, New Zealand School of Education, Massey University and Unitec, who organise an annual symposium to celebrate the role that Early Childhood Associate Teachers play in teacher education. It was an honour to have Matua Haare Williams as the keynote. He shared his life story and inspired current early childhood education teachers to connect with tamariki and their whānau. The group considered ideas about culture and its connection to well-being.
As part of this on-going commitment to stakeholder engagement, Community Studies will also be hosting an ITP sport, recreation, and exercise meeting on 1 November with most of the ITPs to discuss RoVE, the sector, and collaborative approaches. Osteopathy will be holding a similar meeting with the Osteo Council, Society, and education providers in 2020.
Ngā mihi
Katie Bruffy
Head of Community Studies
14 October 2019
Kia ora koutou
At last the Spring warmth has arrived and there is considerable bustle around the Mt Albert campus readying spaces for moves. With the consolidation of this campus being a priority so that we can exit land the Crown purchased, several projects are underway to change and enhance spaces for upcoming moves.
A number of staff from Applied Business, who currently are located in Oakridge House, will join their colleagues on the top floor of B115 by the end of the year. To enable this, level 2 of B115 has been changed around and Environmental Sciences moved down a floor so that they too are co-located with other members of their team.
Building 48 has now been reconfigured into learning spaces on the ground floor and our School of Architecture will be moved from Building 1 over December and January, fully exiting the Northern Precinct. Changes in timetabling and teaching pedagogy will enable this school to operate in a smaller space. They will also have full access to the nearby lecture theatres and classrooms. The Architecture and Design Library will be moved to the top floor of Te Puna along with a number of desktop Macs.
Design and Contemporary Arts (DCA) are also on the move, joining the remainder of their team in B76. This will be a two-year solution while we work on a permanent home for this group.
With the move of Architecture and DCA, several workshop areas and maker spaces are being refurbished within the old trades building, B108, and the old Barn workshops will be closed.
The Unitec Pathways College (UPC) will also move from the Barns and other ad hoc spaces to a dedicated space at the end of B108, the old Marine Technology area. UPC will have a wood workshop, automotive workshop, a space for Mahi a Toi plus some classroom spaces. This will enable them to provide a quality experience for their students and grow their numbers.
The ground floor of B112 is being readied for Security who will be located in the heart of the campus opposite Te Puna from the end of the year. Inward Goods will also move into the core campus area and operate from B107.
The majority of B108 will be ‘mothballed’ for the foreseeable future. By March 2020 we will close out Building 1 and many of the buildings on the Norther Precinct. Performing and Screen Arts (PASA) will continue to operate from B6, 7, 12 and 202. The PASA library will be moved into B202. Discussions continue around the relocation of Creative Industries. PASA in particular requires considerable specialised spaces (e.g. theatres, dance and acting studios). Refurbishing the current space or building a new facility would cost upwards of $30 million. With the changes we are anticipating under RoVE we need to take a strategic view and are exploring a number of options for this team. Conversations with industry, at ELT and with the Commissioner are being held and also with the TEC.
At Waitākere we have trialled a temporary relocation of the Security team from level 2 to the ground floor entrance so that we can better manage the public entering our building. Shortly, some of the administrators will be moved to a new space on the ground floor to free up a large space for a refurbished student central area to give our students a better experience.
Meanwhile the Infrastructure team continue to maintain both campuses, respond to requests and complete deferred maintenance as cost effectively as possible. Shortly the refurbishment of the north face of Puukenga will start along with repairs on the exterior of Manaaki (the wharekai). Air conditioning continues to be a repeat conversation. Considerable enhancements have been carried out both at Waitākere and through some buildings at Mt Albert. We get daily feedback on the temperatures. People sitting side by side can find it too hot or too cold and they sit within a metre of each other. In these situations, the only way to manage temperature preferences is through layering of clothing. The FM team are carrying out spot checks with a laser temperature gauge, adjusting fan units and providing fixes when there is an agreed issue for an area.
Next month we will be setting up a place on The Nest to keep you updated around the moves and refurbishment works so that you can stay abreast of the plans and changes as they are occurring.
Ngā mihi nui
Mary Johnston
Executive Director – People and Infrastructure
7 October 2019
Kia ora e te whānau
In the best traditions of the polytechnic sector, things continue to move at breathtaking speed. Since my last post for Pou Tukutuku, we have had the formal launch of RoVE, a massive project undertaken in the School of Trades and Services and of course, the start of the Rugby World Cup. Go Wales!
So, I’ll take a deep breath and try not to bore you. Let’s start with TCD digital credentials (badges). I look at badges as continuous professional development (CPD) for all lecturers, including those who hold teaching qualifications. Those of us with an industry background have engaged with CPD throughout our careers. Now we are working in the polytech sector, the requirement for CPD has not changed. The difference is the content, but the need to continuously upskill remains the same.
Operationally, the School of Trades and Services has faced several significant challenges. We have just emerged from a rather large project involving our Plumbing Portfolio. Resolving the issue required a lot of people to come together. It was so inspiring to witness Te Korowai Kahurangi, Te Puna Ako, Enrolment and Academic Operations and of course, the Plumbing team working together. I extend my sincere gratitude to all involved.
The School has been moving forward and improving our practice, however, there are some embedded issues that require focused attention. In August, we commissioned a review titled Takohanga to look into these issues. I am excited by the report’s content because when we drill down, we are finding a significant number of items and recommendations for improvement that we have already put in place.
And the good news does not stop there. Several of our students have achieved spectacular successes, winning high profile awards. We have also made significant progress in attracting industry to our excellent Mataaho facility to deliver their own training with our staff in attendance. This has been priceless. A big thank you to all who made these sessions happen.
Enjoy the remainder of this academic year.
Ngā mihi
Lee Baglow
Head of Trades and Services
30 September 2019
Kia kaha te Reo Māori!
“Let’s make the Māori language strong” was the theme for this year’s Te Wiki o te Reo Māori celebration, and I would like to acknowledge everyone who participated in normalising Te Reo in our work place. We delivered several intiatives across both campuses which culiminated in a mass performance in front of Ngākau Māhaki of the National Anthem in the three official languages of Aotearoa; Te Reo, sign language and English. For those who want to learn more, Māia is running free Introduction to Te Reo classes every Monday lunch hour from 14 October and Waiata sessions for staff, alongside Kura Pō classes in the evenings, providing pathways to strengthen Te Reo in our work place and our homes.
Haka pōhiri and waiata were again a highlight at Graduation last week. Witnessing proud whānau celebrating the success of their loved ones with haka, waiata and karanga added atmosphere to the hallowed walls of the Auckland Town Hall. The day started with amazing weather as a full procession of graduands, family and friends, staff and passers-by danced to the beat of the Cook Island Drums on their way to the Town Hall, bringing Queen Street to a standstill. We had approximately 700 graduands registered for the ceremony, 203 staff attended and over 70 volunteer staff. It was an amazing day of celebrations capped-off by our very own Chantal Bakersmith, who was our guest speaker for both ceremonies. Chantal has a long history with Unitec, starting as a student, then staff member and industry partner.
A couple of personal highlights for me were seeing our first graduate from Hoani Waititi crossing the stage, and the amazing singing and dancing from students who took the opportunity to join Murray and Merran at the front of the stage.
The semester 2 Pacific graduation celebration was held on Friday 13 September. Around 40 graduands, their families and Unitec staff packed into the Red Lecture Theatre to honour the achievements of Pacific students, who were graduating with qualifications ranging from Certificates to Masters Degrees. One graduand was preparing to graduate with three different qualifications. Each received a special ‘Pacific Graduate’ medal as a symbol of ‘finishing the race’. The highlight of the evening was hearing about their journeys and the challenges and obstacles they had to overcome to complete their programmes. It was clear from their testimonies that their successes were largely the result of the support from family and Unitec staff.
Our Unitec Pathways College team have reached the end of a very busy secondary school expo season. Over a three-week period, we have participated in three large Kahui Ako Expos in West Auckland at Rutherford College, Kelston Boys High School and Massey High School. The final expo at Massey High School, attended also by Hobsonville Point Secondary School, saw over 2,000 senior students exposed to 11 different Unitec disciplines. We had the largest presence of any tertiary institution at this event so the Unitec brand dominated the expo.
Thank you to everyone who was involved in supporting these events, the value of our participation is reflected in last year’s 47% increase in enrolments from ‘straight from school’ leavers. The collaboration we have now with our partner secondary schools will continue to position the institute well.
Two weeks ago, we held an inaugural noho for the international students as a way of fostering greater relations between students and staff. The noho introduced students to Te Ao Māori (a Māori world view) which included Tikanga Marae (protocols and customs of Te Ao Māori), Matauranga Māori (Māori knowledge), Waiata-a-ringa and Taiaha/Mau Rakau (the art of Māori weaponry).
Led by our Director of International Success, Tracy Chapman, the experience was so positive for our students that they weren’t in a hurry to leave! Whakawhanungatanga (family) was a common theme that connected our students to each other, staff and Unitec. Much of their feedback referenced sharing, learning, enjoying and connecting to culture. Tracy said that the formal feedback was 100% positive and it shows that small experiences like this can have a big impact on our student’s emotional wellbeing, their feeling of belonging to the Unitec whānau and connected with our culture. As a result of this success we are planning on making this a regular event for our international students.
Finally, I would like to share with you a RoVE update; the Unitec Rūnanga Advisory Committee has nominated Hare Rua, committee member and Principal of Hoani Waititi, for Te Taunata Aronui Board, a group to provide advice to the Ministers on how the tertiary education system can better support Māori learners and communities. Government is looking to establish this group later this year.
Ngā mihi
Glenn Mckay
Te Tumu & Executive Director – Student Success
23 September 2019
Kia ora Unitec whānua
It has been a very busy semester so far and I know our academic staff and students are looking forward to the well deserved mid-semester break. I’m happy to report that we have had a lot of good feedback this semester about our Graduate Diploma in Business, Graduate Diploma in Professional Accounting and final year Bachelor of Business students, who are currently underway with their internships in industry.
The School of Applied Business has had a long and significant history with work or industry based learning (IBL). The IBL course in its present form has been undertaken by Graduate Diploma in Business, Graduate Diploma in Professional Accounting and Bachelor of Business students in their final year since 1995, and involves students taking on a specific project, and a series of work tasks, within a workplace as part of their programme of learning.
Work based learning is a key component of Unitec’s commitment to provide our students with real world learning. During this co-operative learning experience our students gain a real understanding of workplace practice, they develop and enhance work competencies, and very importantly, they make tangible connections between theory and practice. Another key part of their learning experience is the critical reflection they must undertake, which they are also assessed on.
The IBL course is, in essence, an educational partnership between host organisations, Unitec and our students. On our part we provide organisations with enthusiastic and well-trained senior students who apply their newly gained expertise, fresh ideas and inspiration to their hosts’ businesses. The hosts on the other hand accept the students into their workplaces and develop clear project outlines and duties for the students. They provide an appropriate level of support and supervision to the students, and allocate sufficient resources to ensure the students can complete the assigned work.
There is a high pass rate for the IBL course and better yet, a significant percentage of our students are offered permanent employment with their host organisations – over 50% in Semester 1 this year. Very importantly, our host organisations consistently report high levels of satisfaction with our IBL students; many of our hosts have a ‘standing order’ for fresh interns each year. Students also report to us that having real world work experience on their CVs enhances their career prospects and makes them stand out from their competitors in the often-difficult new graduate market.
You’ll see in today’s Nest post, a lot more detail about our IBL programme, including some feedback from our Director of HR Operations, Jacky McManus, who reports on recent IBL internships.
Some of you may already know that our School is currently developing a new 180 credit Master of Applied Business and 120 credit Post Graduate Diploma, and 60 credit Certificate in Applied Business. The new programmes include the addition of an industry internship course (in the Diploma) and an industry research project (in the Masters). The addition of work-based learning will align our postgraduate programmes to the needs of our stakeholders; including businesses, communities and students. Real world learning at this level will provide a competitive advantage for the School and encourage our undergraduate students to progress to postgraduate study. We are really excited about the possibilities and are aiming to deliver our new programme by Semester 2 2020 (subject to NZQA approval).
It would be great if you could help us spread the IBL word. We are always looking for new hosting opportunities within Unitec and are keen to connect with potential host organisations. If you have any suggestions or ideas for us, please contact myself or Denisa Hebblethwaite (IBL coordinator).
Ngā mihi
Kay Kirkland
Head of Applied Business
16 September 2019
Kia ora koutou
I’m writing this on the Monday after Open Day and the positive emotion of a memorable event remains strongly with me. It’s been a discussion point with colleagues throughout the day.
A massive thank you to everyone who was involved in the planning, preparation and participation in this special occasion. Led by the Communications Events team, supported by Marketing and the UPC teams, hosted by the Schools and Student Success, accompanied by a host of support teams and their proud families – this was truly an all-of-Unitec effort. You can be proud of your contribution.
We felt excited and looked great, and visitors picked up on the vibe. I have already heard the story of a mum who drove her son down from Northland to see us, and on the basis of the way we welcomed them both, they decided on the spot that this was where he was going to study. And I’m sure there are many more tales like that to share.
What was different from last year? A lot. We increased visitor numbers by 51%. We had better signage, study collateral, staff turnout and visitor tracking. We had Schools centralise and host more activities to create interest. Mt Albert featured animals, jump challenges and virtual welding among other things, while Waitākere had face-painting, a sausage sizzle, and opened their medical lab to interested visitors. Most importantly, we all showed up as one team, proud of what we have to offer.
The impact is immediate. Dozens of students have already registered firm interest in studying at Unitec, and more will do so as a result of their experience at Open Day.
We know that many people out there have the wrong view, or even no view about Unitec. We are determined to change the recent narrative and help people understand that there is something special cooking at both our campuses. One great way to do that is to get them on site and let them see us at our best. Days like this add life and colour to our story, and the news will spread.
He waka eke noa!
Ngā mihi
David Glover
Executive Director – Partnerships and Student Recruitment
9 September 2019
Kia ora koutou
Spring is finally here. The season is often considered to be a time of renewal, rejuvenation and rebirth, and Unitec certainly seems to be exhibiting signs of this.
One of the most positive signs of renewal I can see is in the rekindling of the relationships between Unitec and high schools, particularly those in West Auckland. This development is not a sudden phenomenon however, but is testament to the hard mahi put in by the UPC/School teams over several years. Many of you were part of the recent highly successful West Auckland Future Pathways Expos involving Rutherford, Kelston, Massey and Hobsonville schools, where we showcased career pathways to the secondary and intermediate students in the region. Our students made two short videos to capture some of their highlights from the day, which you can view here and here.
I recently had the privilege of visiting the School Academies at both Massey High School and Waitākere College. It was great to be able to see young people enthusiastically building drift cars and mini bikes, fixing engines, making food and designing garments, as they work towards tertiary qualifications while still at school studying for their NCEA. The facilities were great; Massey even has a working café and an amazing performing arts centre that doubles as a community facility. It was humbling to see how both schools are at the heart of their communities and it gives us inspiration for how Unitec can do the same.
Back at Unitec, in the School of Environmental and Animal Sciences, change is also in the air. Our four Academic Leaders have handed the mantle of programme leadership to our two Academic Programme Managers and new Programme Coordinators, and we have appointed new champions to look after our Māori and Pacific students.
Our environment is also having a makeover. We are moving out of level 3 of building 115 to accommodate the move of all of Applied Business into one building. Our staff and specialist teaching spaces are moving into new facilities on level 2, that are better suited to our needs. Under construction are a new herbarium (11,000 specimens of preserved plants, fungi and lichens), a climate-controlled growth room and a Geographic Information Systems computer lab. These will enable our students (and staff) to do a wider range of research projects with industry and our communities.
On a final note, keep an eye out for events associated with Conservation Week (14-22 September), including a conservation-themed bake-off. Fortunately, as the weather warms up, our chickens in Te Puna Kararehe will be laying more eggs to help us bake those cakes!
Ngā mihi
Dan Blanchon
Head of Environmental and Animal Sciences
2 September 2019
Kia ora koutou
In my July newsletter intro I shared some of my favourite quotes on embracing change, one of which was from Marilyn Monroe who said:
Sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together
This month there have been some changes in my team. The Finance group was comprised of three teams; ‘Commercial’ led by Kristine Brothers, ‘Financial Planning and Performance’ led by Paula Kent, and ‘Financial Administration’ led by Irene Lee, plus three other key members, Sinead Hart, our in-house Senior Legal Counsel, Dagmar Osborne, our Procurement Officer, and Sharon Fu, who oversees all of our banking transactions.
Last month we combined ‘Commercial’ and ‘Financial Planning and Performance’ into one team, to enable them to operate as a single streamlined functional team. We have roles that have been difficult to fill so we’ve looked for ways to do more with less, including sharing of resources and collaborating on tasks across a number of positions which creates increased efficiencies. Operating together as one team will also enable us to be more responsive with supporting the organisation and to meet our agreed purpose and priorities as outlined in our Team Diamond.
We are fortunate that Kristine Brothers has accepted the responsibility for leading this combined team in a new position, Director – Business Performance. The key responsibilities of this team are setting budgets, forecasting and performance management, providing support for business cases, reporting to the TEC, ELT and the Commissioner on our student numbers (EFTS) and financial performance, managing the year-end audit and preparation of our Annual Report, and also general assistance across the organisation with any financial or commercial support required.
The Financial Administration team, led by Irene Lee, is responsible for managing the processing, recording and payment of all our financial transactions – people we owe money to and people who owe money to us, all staff expense claims and other expenditure.
Paula Kent has decided that it is time to explore new challenges outside of Unitec so has not applied for the new roles that have come out of the restructure. We are very grateful for all the efforts that Paula has made in her time with Unitec and wish her all the best for her future.
Irene Lee and Lynnette Brown have also been very busy over the last few months reviewing our travel, purchasing card and sensitive expenditure policies and procedures. We will shortly be updating these policies on the Nest and providing some practical guidelines to make it easier for people to know how much they should be spending across a range of areas. The Learning and Development team have also been working with us to set-up a new portal on the Nest, similar to the HR Managers Toolkit page, which will provide managers with a ‘how to guide’ for financial management.
Ngā mihi
Alison Sarginson
Interim Executive Director – Finance
26 August 2019
Kia ora e te whānau
We’re now into week six of Semester 2. Our programmes in Bridging Education and Language Studies are one-semester certificates, so with each cycle we have learners who are completing and moving on to further study, and new students who are coming here for the first time. With more than 470 Bridgepoint graduates currently studying certificates, diplomas and degrees across Unitec, an important focus for us is to partner and work together with Schools and other key areas across the institute.
In the first half of the year I’ve seen some fantastic collaborative mahi on the new pathways for the Certificate in Study and Career Preparation learners, who will progress to study in Nursing, Sport, Construction, Engineering and other areas. Alongside this we’re developing an English for Tertiary Studies option that will enable Certificate in English Language students to take a 15-credit mainstream course from their destination programme while studying English with us. There’s also exciting mahi happening in Supported Learning as in addition to the focus we have on skills for living and working, we continue to look for better ways to support a transition to higher-level study here at Unitec.
The final part of our academic restructure is in now place with the appointment of Academic Programme Managers, Programme Coordinators and Success Champions. As with other Heads and Schools, I am excited about working together and am impressed with the passion and dedication shown for teaching, learning and education. These are key roles that will support both our teachers and our students as we focus on achieving parity for priority group learners and enabling success for all tauira. He waka eke noa. I know we will all contribute to Manaakitia te Rito – our draft Renewal Strategy, to our Academic Quality Action Plan, and to this mahi in a number of different ways.
One of the things I have truly appreciated this year is how we have come together as whānau to support each other, our values, and our learners. Mā whero, mā pango, ka oti ai te mahi.
Ngā mihi
Chris King
Head of Bridgepoint
19 August 2019
Kia ora kotou katoa
Last week, Mataaho and Te Puna were buzzing as we staged our annual ‘Industry Connect’ events, which connect students with employers and supports them on their journey as they transition from learner to earner. Finding employment in their area of study is one of the key outcomes of student success.
This year we revised the event design, adding Trades into the week-long format. I was delighted to see our numbers increase overall as we build strong industry partnerships with our Schools, showing how popular and valuable the events have become to both students and employers. Over the course of four events covering Computing and IT, Engineering, Construction Management and Trades, we hosted 77 businesses, up from around 30 in previous years. More than 650 students attended the events, nearly doubling our numbers from last year.
Not only were our students work-ready, our businesses also came ready to sign-up our graduates. We had one business arrive with a list of 20 recruitment opportunities. Another aimed to have four vacancies filled by the end of the event, one left with 190 registrations of interest from two events, while yet another was heading home to process 40 additional applications for their graduate scheme which closed the next day. If that degree of interest can translate into outcomes for our students, I’ll be rapt.
While it takes a village to raise a child, it certainly takes a village to run these Connect events. Some much-deserved shout outs must go to:
- Career Development team – for the well-prepared students who came armed with CVs and excellent questions
- Events – for the professional and hassle-free experience they provided for all participants
- Mataaho team, Facilities Management and Security for help with our event spaces
- Heads of School and staff – for the industry contacts, coming to the event to connect with businesses and your Alumni, and making sure your students made the most of these opportunities
- Unitec Alumni – who came to represent their businesses
- And finally, my Industry Partnerships team – for all the work and preparation over the last few months and the smooth execution on the day
In the words of one of our students, “…it was definitely worth making the effort to turn up”.
We’ve been running the Industry Connect events with Engineering for some time, and over time expanded across other Schools. They are becoming a regular fixture on our student calendar – we’ve already had a strong show of support for next year’s Industry Connect.
We’re keen to grow the series even further and are happy to work with any other Schools who feel their students would benefit from the direct connection with industry.
We can also support Schools by helping you make the most of our Alumni programme and with getting the most out of your partnerships. We’re here to support student success through all our industry partnerships, and to create positive outcomes for our business partners, so please do make contact with either myself, or my team – Melinda Chuo or Sue-ann Wang.
Ngā mihi nui
Heather Stonyer
Director – Industry Partnerships
12 August 2019
Kia ora koutou
The best laid plans can go awry and having arranged annual leave in July, in a warmer climate (with the added benefit of a heatwave), I thought I had been smart in avoiding the worst of the New Zealand winter. However, I have come home to a very cold and stormy August so have had to adjust my attitude!
It was a challenging time for me to be on leave with so much happening at Unitec and in the sector, but my team managed admirably in my absence. Having booked leave a year ago I am glad I went and was reminded that we are not indispensable and have some great people here. I encourage you all to plan your leave well in advance and put your own wellness first.
The Unitec Wellbeing strategy takes a holistic approach to wellness and recently we have started to focus on growing the capability of staff in mental health awareness and understanding, so that we can have helpful and less awkward conversations with students, our colleagues, friends and family. To date 62 of our staff have gone through training addressing stigma and biases associated with all things ‘mental’.
The offerings keep growing for our Wellness programme thanks mostly to the generosity of our talented and passionate staff. We will soon be piloting Chippur, a wellbeing app supporting you to take up healthy habits, and expanding our offering to nutrition and financial wellness.
In June we amended staff car parking to allow any staff member to park in any space within staff parking areas at the Mt Albert campus, so the two-tier, red sticker system no longer exists. As also mentioned in June, at the end of November we will be handing over the Mt Albert campus southern carpark, on the hill behind B111, to the Crown. So we can manage our parking better, we are about to start issuing students with car parking stickers so that we can stop the general public from parking on campus and taking spaces needed by our staff and students.
These initiatives are part of our new parking management plan which also provides opportunities to explore other ways of travelling to and from work, that are sustainable and better for our own and environmental health. To start with, how about leaving your car at home at least once a week and trying out for free if public transport and cycling can work for you? Our Sustainability team can help you develop a journey plan and tell you more about our shuttle service, booking vehicles and our bike fleet. We also have Big Street Bikers onsite who are here to help build riders’ confidence and awareness of Auckland’s cycling network. Throughout August you can join a group ride around the local area and hear about their exclusive ‘rent to own’ Unitec deal. Coming up in September, we will have updates on our award-winning carpooling app and improvements made to our trip facilities (showers, lockers, bike racks). Also, get your teams ready and stay tuned for the two smart transport challenges coming up in summer months.
Fostering an organisational culture that contributes to staff engagement and wellbeing is a priority here at Unitec and an integral part of our renewal strategy. The updated Code of Conduct, which was written by our staff, has generally been very well received and to date 869 people have participated across 33 workshops – this equates to about 95% of permanent/fixed term staff. If you still have to complete the acknowledgement form that was sent to you after the workshop, then please do so. The team’s next step is to focus on engaging with our casual/contractor workforce. A big thanks to everyone who facilitated the workshops and those who have made it a priority to attend. Our Code of Conduct which is based on Te Noho Kotahitanga is key to our kaupapa and guides us in the way we behave at Unitec.
We have also made some great progress in the performance partnering space with 92.4% of the 2019 ADEP Plans completed and development goals in place. This is a significant achievement, particularly with the multiple demands on staff. I really do appreciate your effort and commitment.
I also want to acknowledge the tremendous work I see going on around me, within Schools and across our Support Services. With the recent changes announced for the sector I believe Unitec is well poised for the future having done a considerable amount of work over the last year and showing resilience in times of uncertainty and change.
Ngā mihi
Mary Johnston
Executive Director – People and Infrastructure
5 August 2019
Kia ora koutou
Finally the semester has started again, and what an exciting time it is!
When speaking with academics they often marvel with shiny eyes at the quietness of their campus during breaks and how they can dedicate their time to solving life’s big mysteries. Meet them again after the break and their eyes shine even more as they are all excited about the life and energy on campus, and about accompanying their students on their important journey to becoming work-ready graduates and lifelong learners.
Experiencing these academic tides through our students and colleagues is a unique pleasure. Seeing them succeed in teaching and learning, seeing them engage in discussions and research, seeing them pondering their work and life and the effect on our priority groups and communities, is as good a reward as you can get. Graduation is certainly a highlight in our academic year, but every single day brings its successes and victories for all of us. We should celebrate and cherish them.
At the School of Computing and Information Technology we do this through recognition of staff and student achievements big and small, be it published papers, accepted (research) proposals, birthdays, grade submissions, or (most recently) our bachelor students’ successful completion of their capstone projects. Especially in the current times of change, resilience and focusing on our successes is important to recognise our accomplishments – and we have so many of them in our Schools and across all of Unitec.
Our students are well recognised by industry for their practical skills and their ability to “hit the ground running”, which is a reason many employers favour Unitec graduates. Developing these skills requires continuous hands-on training by experienced staff using industry-relevant tools and equipment. I am constantly in awe of the commitment of our staff across Schools to go the extra mile to inspire our students and to make them succeed. Our students choose to study with us and it is both an honour and a responsibility to work with them through their studies, and to encourage them to be curious and adventurous, to become their best.
Of course this requires institutional support and we are in the middle of a disruptive change for the sector. After a long time of suspense and teasers, we finally have been granted a glimpse at our future and what the process of getting there may look like. Especially for the vocational sector we are in, focusing efforts and gathering forces seems highly appropriate.
Our aim should be to provide New Zealand with the best vocational training we can – not through competition with each other, but through partnering and capitalising on the sector’s strengths. The Reform of Vocational Education as announced by Education Minister Chris Hipkins will take some time. We should and will use this to contribute to the NZ Institute of Skills and Technology in order to support our students and communities even better.
There are many noteworthy points in the recent announcement, but those which stood out most to me are the planned move towards a single set of programmes across the NZ Institute of Skills and Technology, and that research and postgraduate will not be touched for the foreseeable future. Our School recently started the curriculum development for the New Zealand Diploma in Cyber Security. This effort should and will be coordinated with other ITPs and this collaboration, and cooperation, must be the new black. As a sector it is vital that we realise synergies.
At the same time, research remains not only at the centre of our School’s attention, with 12 PBRF-rated staff members, but also retains its importance for the institute – the High-Technology Transdisciplinary Research Network funded three projects in the first selection round of the Unitec Incubator, and recently selected two more. Each of these projects will work closely with our communities to solve real-world problems.
All our staff’s creativity and commitment to better futures for our students, communities, and public and private enterprise, through applied and impactful teaching, and research, is inspiring and motivating.
Ngā mihi nui
Christian Probst
Head of Computing and Information Technology
29 July 2019
E te tii, e te taa, ngā manu o tēnei wānanga… tēnā koutou katoa
Last month we celebrated Matariki which is often referred to as the Māori New Year. In the past, Māori used Matariki as a time to determine when to plant certain crops and it was also used to determine how successful one’s harvest would be in the coming season. I reference Matariki as its timing has significant synergies with the recent launch of our Māori Success Strategy, the relaunch of our Pacific Success Strategy and our all staff mid-year event Tū Arotake, during which we shared Manaakitia te Rito: our draft Renewal Strategy 2019 – 2022. I acknowledged that we have set ourselves some significant goals but I am confident if we all work together we will be successful – He waka eke noa tātou.
Over the last few weeks, we have held 12 formal pōhiri to welcome 637 (that’s 79%) of our new students for the start of Semester 2. We had a great International Welcome Day with over 140 new International students starting their study journey with us. This week we’ll continue to run student events across both campuses to help our new students settle in and our returning students get back into the rhythm of study. Our Student Council continues to be a key partner in helping to get students back into study mode as Semester 2 takes off.
Three weeks ago Matua Hare, Merran Davis, Murray Strong, Toni Rewiri, Vivienne Merito and I were honoured with an invite to attend karakia at Te Kura Kaupapa o Hoani Waititi. It was an auspicious occasion and a great opportunity for us to reinforce our partnership with this school which is going from strength to strength.
Due to the focus we have been making on partnering with West Auckland secondary schools, we are seeing an increase this Semester in ‘straight from school’ application. This is a market where we had been experiencing a decline in recent years so to turn this around is testament to the work of UPC and our Heads of School.
The Pacific Centre over the last month has been busy reconnecting with the Pacific community. We recently hosted a STEM day for approximately 150 Māori and Pacific students who are a part of a leadership initiative called Project Wy – a mentoring programme helping to develop future leaders. We also supported the New Lynn Tongan Community Careers Day, the West Auckland Kiribati community Trades and Health Day and a Sandringham Samoan Community Trades Career Day. It has been great reconnecting with key Pacific communities.
Don’t miss out on a few upcoming special events to support and celebrate the diversity of cultures at Unitec. There’s the Chinese Mid-Autumn festival/Moon Cake Festival in the second week of September. We are partnering with the Unitec Chinese student community to organise this festival and encourage all staff to join in. Then on 25 October there are the Diwali celebrations which will include a Rangoli competition, Bollywood dancing competition and a shared lunch.
One of the most common things we hear from our International students is that they have come to New Zealand to experience our customs and cultures. One of the ways we are responding to this is by hosting an overnight stay on our marae which will not only introduce them to Te Ao Māori (a Māori world view) but we will also be providing them with extra support for their exam and study preparations. Please share the following invitation and registration link to relevant students:
Experience an OVERNIGHT STAY on your Unitec Marae
We would like to invite you to a Noho (live in/overnight stay) at our Unitec Marae. You will experience Māori culture combined with Tikanga Marae (protocols and customs of Te Ao Māori) and study and exam preparation support. Numbers are limited so register now to confirm your place.
I opened with a reference to Matariki and would like to close with mention of one of the highlights for me, Te Tātai o Matariki – The Joining of Matariki, an art and design exhibition at B001 that showcased the wonderful work of recent and past graduates. There was a wide variety of work to enjoy including a raranga by our staff member, Lecturer and Kaitiaki, Tanya White. Congratulations to everyone involved in this special event.
Ngā mihi
Glenn Mckay
Te Tumu & Executive Director – Student Success
22 July 2019
Kia ora koutou
The semester break brings with it the mid-point of another busy year. We have enjoyed moments of celebration for students and staff, and sadly also a moment of sorrow and deep reflection. With changes and uncertainty in our environment I am often reminded that plans are likely to require adaptability be built into them.
As we head into the second semester we start thinking about the students who will be completing their studies with us at the end of the year, and I consider their own resilience in what is a changing and challenging world. Their careers are starting at an exciting time of social, cultural, technical and environmental change, and it is likely their work-life will be unlike what we have become accustomed to. More than simply teaching them ‘stuff’, we are here to guide their development with their own ideas and a group of peers that support each other on that journey.
We have seen significant change this past semester and I am impressed by the continual energy and professionalism of my colleagues. Selecting new Academic Programme Managers for the School was no easy task, with a number of talented and passionate colleagues putting their hand up for the position. And now, as we complete the academic leadership model, the willingness and energy that people step forward with to engage with the School and their disciplines leaves me excited at the possibilities in facing upcoming challenges.
The School is awash with activity throughout the semester and I would like to congratulate my colleagues on our attainment of 21 rated PBRF portfolios. Research underpins the vast majority of our teaching and it is impressive to see the array of established and new researchers in the School. A good deal of thanks in particular goes to Dr Christoph Schnoor for his leadership, support and encouragement of colleagues in this area. The connection to practice of so many projects is also striking.
We have seen student projects that deal with real problems, working across disciplines as well as alongside Auckland Council/Panuku and local communities. Impressively, several student works have been requested by professional practices to be utilised in their own presentations, particularly when engaging with mana whenua. This is a key opportunity for our students to gain a fuller appreciation of what it is to work in the built environment in Tāmaki Makaurau. The connection of research to applied practice is also evident. Straw into Gold was a project led by our lecturers Min Hall and Magdalena Garbarczyk, a research-driven project that engaged students in a semester-long course of exploration creating a straw bale house and ultimately seeing the work exhibited at the industry expo BuildNZ/DesignEx.
This type of work requires a large commitment from not only teachers but also our technical and administrative colleagues. Teams working together is critical to us meeting our challenges and delivering successful results. The rigour and enthusiasm that staff and students alike tackle these projects is fundamental in ensuring that we make good on our need to teach students more about themselves, rather than simply the ‘stuff’ required to do a job.
Ngā mihi
Peter McPherson
School of Architecture
15 July 2019
Kia ora koutou
During my recent visit to India with our International Relationship Manager, Farhana Nalar, I gained some valuable insights to why international students select Unitec as their study destination. We travelled to four cities and met with 17 of the agents who send us some of the 600-plus Indian students who currently study here, along with meetings with Education NZ and Immigration NZ.
India’s growing middle class is investing heavily in international education and over 350,000 students are now overseas, with the USA and Canada the preferred destinations overall. The number of young people in India is forecast to overtake China by 2027 and the country is on track to become the world’s largest international education market.
The agents told us that New Zealand is growing more popular as a place to study because it offers a high quality education standard, stable economy, safe society and employment opportunities. The recent changes to post-study work visas has spurred increased interest in postgraduate diplomas and Master’s programmes in particular. About a quarter of students choose ITPs.
They also told us that Unitec is a strong brand in India with a long history, although we have been a little missing in action in recent years and our enrolments reflect this. Agents were aware of our Category 3 status, but spoke warmly of the great experience which their students have at Unitec and expressed confidence in sending us future applicants.
We had the opportunity to deliver some training to the agent counsellors who work directly with the students to help them with their choice, and also met with some students and their families. Here is where all the statistics become vitally real: talking to a concerned parent about their child’s future. It is a big decision to send a child overseas to study; most parents have never visited the intended country and there are bank loans to arrange and difficult choices to be made. This makes you feel the full weight of responsibility to offer the family the right advice for the future.
Unitec is committed to the Indian market and we look forward to welcoming more students from this large and growing country.
Ngā mihi
David Glover
Executive Director – Partnerships and Student Recruitment
*You can find out more about our International team’s work in the recent Nest post – International team creating a temp hub in Vietnam for SE Asian recruitment]
8 July 2019
Kia ora koutou
Recently, the many disciplines in our School of Creative Industries such as Contemporary Dance, Acting, Music and Visual Arts have been performing, making and exhibiting work in all our respective areas to the public as the end of semester projects come to a head. It’s an exciting, busy time full of activity and creative spark. It’s incredibly satisfying to see the students excel in these projects.
On Tuesday 2 July, we opened the first DCA Matariki exhibition, Te Tātai o Matariki – The Joining of Matariki in Design & Contemporary Arts. We would love you to come along and see the carefully curated, diverse practice of some of our near, recent and past Māori graduates work in our Art and Design programmes. As recent colleague Curtis Bristowe stated, “Te Tātai o Matariki speaks to the intangible spiritual bonds that we share not just with each other and our ancestors, but with all aspects of the natural environment that surround us”.
The exhibition runs from 2-26 July in Gallery One, Building 001, and is led by Academic Leader Emma Smith.
In Creative Industries we work to activate the talent of our learners for a lifelong journey in creative careers. We see that our students are in it for the long game – it’s often intrinsically linked with who they are and a sense of identity – so we aim to teach learners who can enter their chosen industry with mana, an individual voice and strong connections to a professional whānau. Our aim is to enable robust entry into the profession through a vibrant community of craft-based creative practice.
This passion for the continual excellence of our graduates is something that we share across Unitec; the best reward is seeing our graduates succeed.
This has got me thinking a lot about the role of education that we in the ITP sector play. Amongst sector reforms and the inevitable changes ahead, our School faces a lot of particular challenges. However, students still want to learn their chosen craft at the highest possible level. We still want to meet them via the disciplines and help them fulfil this goal. So our focus needs to be on the student (even more so in times of disruption and change) and what they come to education for: to consolidate their craft and to extend and grow, as professionals and as people.
This is one of the things I value most about what we do at Unitec, we really care about the individual student. In Creative Industries, like other Schools, students experience Ako (reciprocity) in all aspects of our creative practice learning, in fact the work depends on this. In PASA and DCA we aim to enable students to excel in applied creative practice learning as each course is underpinned by the concepts of Whakapapa, Tuakana-Teina, and Whanaungatanga. This means seeing and experiencing each other as whānau who are part of the same professional family. Many of our staff are also practitioners and this is important for lots of obvious reasons including that of currency in the domain. We had 12 PBRF-rated researchers in the School endorsed in the recent round, also of particularly high quality. All of this achievement is brought about by virtue of the excellent, dedicated and talented people here at Unitec.
Another way this sense of professional connection happens is through making work that takes risks. Being prepared to fail in order to make new work (and not being made to feel shameful or a failure if the work is not always brilliant) is a key quality. The courage to fail often produces the strongest work, but it takes support and the ability to reflect with purpose, and great care from the team around you.
I’d like to acknowledge the Diploma in Music programme which, like other programmes, is undergoing a teach-out phase and still producing high quality graduates.
I was lucky enough to hear Moana Jackson speak a few weeks ago at the Creative NZ annual hui. In his keynote address Three Poets and a Treaty, Jackson referred to Allen Curnow’s 1943 sonnet ‘The Skeleton of the Great Moa in the Christchurch Museum, Canterbury’, which concludes with the beautiful line: “Not I, some child, born in a marvellous year/ Will learn the trick of standing upright here.”
It struck me that we are now living in that ‘marvellous [metaphorical] year’ where technology and knowledge flourish. As educators, we can use all our shared wisdom to teach the trick of ‘standing upright’ and empowering each one of our students to fulfil their potential.
I believe this is the real challenge and great gift of educating in our present time, enabling confidence of craft and personhood to flourish in all students, particularly our Māori and Pacific learners. Like any creative process, this of course requires hard work, resilience, the right attitude, and the support of others. It’s a delicate, exciting, but essential mix to help all our students learn the ‘trick of standing upright’ in all areas of their lives.
Have a great break if you’re taking one over the teaching recess.
Ngā mihi nui
Vanessa Byrnes
Head of Creative Industries
1 July 2019
Kia ora koutou
It was very pleasing this week to receive a letter from the Minister with positive feedback on our 2018 Annual Report. Big thanks to the Finance, Commercial Services and Legal teams, and the Communications team for all the effort put into delivering this. It was a great achievement to get this publication signed-off by Audit NZ and within the required timeframes.
One of the interesting things that came out of the Annual Report analysis was that whilst our total EFTS were down by 6.5% overall in 2018, our total student headcount reduced by just 0.7%. This is an indication that students are still committed to study, but are opting for part-time options in order to continue working. It’s another reminder that we need to always be aware of what our students want and need, and to do our best to adapt our services to meet those needs.
Last week I went to the ITP and Wānanga Finance Forum, which was a great opportunity to meet colleagues from other organisations. It was clear from discussions that most of the other institutions are facing similar challenges to us. It was great to see a real willingness amongst the different Finance Managers to share information in order to help support each other.
Benchmarking information provided by TEC at the forum highlighted areas where Unitec has not coped as well as other ITPs with the changing environment. I took comfort from that, as it shows that it is possible to achieve better results even in difficult circumstances, we just need to continue to work our way through how we do that. I’m also encouraged by the thought and effort that has and is going into the implementation of the Renewal Strategy and Plan.
We can all contribute to achieving a sustainable future for Unitec. One example is by looking for ways to do things more efficiently so that we can use the time gained to achieve other things. So take some time as a team to review your processes and systems; look at when they were last updated and consider whether they are still effective. Another way you can contribute is by being cost conscious as every little bit helps and adds up to a larger amount.
If you have any ideas on how we can reduce costs, please contact either myself, your Financial Business Partner or anyone in the Finance, Commercial Services or Legal teams.
Finally, given the changes that the ITP sector is facing, I just thought I’d share three of my favourite quotes on embracing change:
- To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often – Winston Churchill
- All great changes are preceded by chaos – Deepak Chopra
- Sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together – Marilyn Monroe
Ngā mihi
Alison Sarginson
Interim Executive Director – Finance
24 June 2019
Kia ora koutou
At the start of a new semester I’m always reminded ‘of why we do what we do’. It doesn’t seem very long ago that our year 3 BCon students were arriving on campus to start their final year block courses. Yet we’re already coming to the end of the semester, exams are underway and soon all our students will be pursuing their career journey. The semester really has gone by fast – there’s been a lot happening and it’s all good news.
We’ve had ‘wins’ and achievements for our Building Construction staff and students, so I’m feeling exceptionally proud of our School and everyone who has been part of those outcomes.
Probably the most important highlight for our School has been advice from the Pacific Association of Quantity Surveying that we will be re-accredited for the maximum period of five years. This is really important for our profile in many ways, our creditability, endorsement of our programme design and student outcomes, and recognition of our alignment with international benchmarks. Congratulations to all the QS staff!
I’d also like to acknowledge the six Building Construction staff who contributed to research and Unitec’s outstanding PBRF results.
Then there’s our students, who are always at the forefront of our minds and the decisions we make. In May, six of our students were recognised at the New Zealand Institute of Building, Northern Chapter’s, 2019 Student Awards for Excellence. This was a huge achievement and valuable profile for Unitec. Also our top BCon Quantity Surveying graduate, Kurt McRae, was recognised by New Zealand Institute of Quantity Surveyors, receiving the prestigious HH Bunckenburg Memorial Trust Scholar Award and a $1,000 prize.
One of my key focus areas has been the implementation of a ‘Developing Learning Achievement and Success’ support class, initially for priority group students but broadened to include students who needed support. We identified these students following their first assessments and offered them the opportunity to attend a weekly tutorial where we provided the specific support that’s needed. We’re capturing the data for future use and I’m happy for any staff to come along and see how these tutorials work. I have also introduced weekly staff capability development forums which cover a range of topics from teaching issues to opportunities for staff to showcase their research and to hear from industry partners or Alumni. So far we’ve had good participation and I’m open to any suggestions or recommendations.
I’ve also been involved in supporting international recruitment with a trip recently to China to promote our construction and engineering programmes, alongside Liang Luo, our China Partnerships Manager in the Marketing team. We were very happy to secure signed contracts with two institutions.
One thing that took me by surprise was being asked to join a NZQA accreditation panel to evaluate Southland Institute of Technology’s accreditation to offer a Bachelor of Construction and graduate qualification programmes. I felt honoured to have been asked and with Merran’s blessing I accepted the opportunity to sit on an NZQA panel and be ‘on the other side of the fence’.
Ngā mihi
Paul Jeurissen
Head of Building Construction
18 June 2019
E ngā pou o te wānanga nei…tēnā koutou katoa.
Last week we held the 10-year anniversary celebrations of our much admired wharenui Ngākau Māhaki. The two events at Mt Albert and Waitākere campuses launched with early morning karakia, followed by an exhibition, craft stalls and Kapa Haka performances by local schools, including Te Matatini champions Ngā Tumanako.
From my perspective it was a fitting celebration for the anniversary and there was an awesome atmosphere. I received many positive comments from students, staff and members of our community. Thank you to everyone who contributed to such a successful celebration – more on this and pictures are in today’s Nest post.
Last Thursday I was at another celebration, welcoming over 100 guests to Ngākau Māhaki, to acknowledge the appointment of our first Māori Professor, Dr Jenny Lee-Morgan, and to hear her professorial address. Jenny is the Professor of Māori Research and Head of Ngā Wai a Te Tūī Māori Research Centre. You can read more on Jenny’s background and achievements on the Nest, and keep an eye out for some upcoming events she’s involved in.
Earlier this month we also held our annual Māori Staff Network hui which brought together over 40 staff from across the institution to discuss a range of issues that impact our Māori students, staff and communities. The overall discussion and direction helped solidify our Māori Success Strategy which will be officially launched next month (more on this below). A unanimous decision was also reached to re-establish Maia as a centre for providing academic and cultural support, and pastoral care for our Māori and non-Māori students. I’m sure plenty of staff and students will celebrate the revivival of Maia. We’ll be getting under way quickly to update all our student-facing communications in this area.
Our Pacific Centre team have been highly visible in our community over recent weeks having supported a Project Wy initiative (Maori and Pacific STEM day) and are also involved in a series of career days underway in west Auckland, engaging with Tongan, Tuvalu and Kiribati communities. We were privileged to host PILOT (Pacific Island Leaders of Tomorrow) which brought 200 Pacific year 12 students from various high schools around Auckland on campus. It was a great opportunity to introduce Unitec to this group of potential future students.
The Unitec Pathways College have been extremely busy supporting community events. They’ve visited many secondary school expos across Auckland, and last Friday they were up at Orakei Marae with the Ngā Manu Kōrero speech competition. We partner with many schools including Rutherford College, Massey High School and Waitākere College in delivering the Mahi-ā-Toi Level 2 programme. These students will be holding an exhibition here on Friday 19 July at 6.00pm in the old Uniform Café space. Do come along and view the students’ amazing work, which will be on display from 2.00pm.
With exams fast approaching our Student Success team is running several initiatives to assist our students. For example, they have engaged with over 200 students in exam week conversations and counselling, and have been providing ‘brain food’ such as yoghurt, muesli bars and fruit which have been well received.
Did you know that 46% of our international students are of Chinese heritage? This has prompted us to look at re-establishing and promoting our ‘Chinese Student Club’ as a forum to connect our International and Domestic Chinese students with each other, our staff and industry, and that they feel informed and supported while studying with us.
We have re-opened Scholarships for Semester 2, 2019 – please let all eligible students know that these are now open and include Māori, Pacific, Equity and Waitākere scholarships and are also found on the Unitec website Scholarship page.
For more information or for students who need help with their scholarship application, Student Success are running Scholarship Drop In’s (next to the Sushi bar) every Monday 11.00am – 1.00pm, or they can send a message to scholarships@unitec.ac.nz.
And finally, next week we begin our celebration of Matariki – the Māori New Year. It’s a time of reflection and celebration, when we can look back on the previous year, acknowledge those who have come before us, and plan for the months ahead. Our Matariki committee, led by Director of Māori Success Toni Rewiri, has organised activities for staff and students including a hangi, raranga (weaving), and a guided hikoi through our beautiful Mt Albert campus. As a special feature this year, an exhibition of Matariki-themed art works by our students and staff will be displayed in B001, coordinated by Lecturer and Academic Leader in Creative Industries, Emma Smith.
We’re also using this celebration to launch our Māori Success Strategy, and to re-launch the Pacific Success Strategy in Ngākau Māhaki on Friday 5 July. This will be followed by a screening of Te Iwa o Matariki, explaining the history and significance of Matariki. More information on the events coming soon on the Nest – see you there.
Ngā mihi
Glenn Mckay
Te Tumu & Executive Director – Student Success
10 June 2019
Kia ora koutou
Waitākere Campus – it’s a happening place!
The School of Healthcare and Social practice has been busy with over 400 students moving on and off campus, and in between classes, to attend clinical placements for Nursing, placements for Social Practice and Certificate in Mental Health and Wellbeing, as well as Medical Imaging students. Amongst all this, we have had Social Practice students host various initiatives such as soup days for students, clothing exchange days, food drives to support our community, and the recent Carnival Day, run by our Student Council, for students and their children.
In the community, our Nursing students have been supporting wellbeing days. Our staff have supported education events like Vahefonua, and the upcoming Kiribati Day and Tuvalu Day in West Auckland.
We are well underway with developing the Waitākere Strategy which has led to a series of consultations being held across the community as we reach out to the business sector, local schools, local boards, community groups and small businesses. This is a chance for Westies to contribute to identifying skills and education shortages, and to seek their views on how Unitec can better respond. They have so far been very insightful and challenging – watch this space!
Last but not least – an acknowledgement to the Social Practice team for their contribution to research. Nine PBRF portfolios were submitted by Social Practice staff members to TEC for the 2018 PBRF round, each receiving a funded rating. A major achievement reflecting a highly developed research culture. Congratulations!
Ngā mihi
Linda Aumua
School of Healthcare and Social Practice
4 June 2019
Kia ora koutou
Life at Unitec is at full speed and I never quite know what the day will bring as I focus on leading the People and Infrastructure teams to support student success.
Over the last week I have enjoyed attending several of the Code of Conduct sessions. It’s good to listen to the discussions and gain a deeper understanding of people’s views as they are introduced to the document. This is a significant and outstanding piece of work that many staff contributed to over 16 months and it is so pleasing to see such a positive example of true partnering, showing the power of collective thought and collaboration.
One issue that came up in one of the sessions last week was the two-tier system we have for parking at Mt Albert. This may seem a small thing but we agree that it symbolises the past and is not in line with the principles of Te Noho Kotahitanga or how we want to behave going forward. As a result of this reflection the red sticker parking areas will be removed over the next month and the red sticker folk will soon be receiving a green sticker so that there is no longer preferential treatment, ensuring all staff have the same opportunity to access car parking. We will set aside areas for the parking of the Unitec fleet, facility vehicles and sub-contractors working on our buildings and grounds.
With the sale of land to the Crown we have lost a number of carparks and many of you are asking about this. At the end of the year the large top southern carpark opposite B111 will be handed over to the Crown. We still have plenty of parking but staff and students will have to walk further than they do now. It will take 10-15 years for the Crown to develop the land they purchased and they are working with us to provide carparking solutions for the future. Meanwhile we are encouraging a number of alternatives to bringing a car to work, including biking, scooting, walking, bus, train, and carpooling.
I took a walk around Henderson several days ago and was delighted to see that from multiple angles and several streets away I could not miss the fact that we have a Waitakere Unitec campus. The large new signage across the top of the building, the replacement of the signs on the ‘turret’ and the many newer small signs loudly proclaim that we are open for business. It is also pleasing to see the internal corridors of the building being painted and plans being made to change around the space on the ground floor to create a mini Te Puna, so that our students are provided with a better environment.
At Mt Albert considerable planning and scoping of work is underway to refurbish the old trades building, B108, for our Architecture and Creative Industries Schools, and associated workshops. It is very much a collaborative project with students, staff, and industry working together to bring this significant building back to life and as a vibrant hub for our creative and architectural communities. Consolidating the campus is being expedited as the benefits of coming together in a central physical space are evidenced, with staff feeling more connected to the wider Unitec community.
The challenge is to do this cost-effectively by mid-2021 so that we can exit the northern precinct. This is no small feat but I am confident we can do this together and collectively create something extraordinary.
A new Code of Conduct, new ways of collaboratively working together, repurposing and refurbishing space at both campuses are for me all signs of renewal and hope.
Ngā mihi
Mary Johnston
Executive Director – People and Infrastructure
27 May 2019
Kia ora koutou
Many of us have been talking about the fantastic PBRF result which was a significant increase from 2012, and rated five of our FTE staff with a grade A quality assessment. Also worth a mention is the funding of $3,257,195 generated by this result, which we will receive this year. Congratulations to all involved.
Our School of Engineering and Applied Technology has 10 active research staff, nine who are funded, which is a tremendous achievement. I’d like to congratulate and thank our staff for this great outcome and to acknowledge our Research Champion, Associate Professor Jonathan Leaver, for his leadership across the School in the research space. Let’s keep up the great work and our commitment to working with Jonathan as we continue to grow our research capability and output.
Our School continues to explore ways to grow our international student portfolio. We have recently signed a new partnership with the Sichuan College of Architectural Technology in China. Our Civil Engineering team have developed a ‘credit transfer’ agreement under which Sichuan College students who have successfully completed the Construction Engineering and Quality & Safety Management Diploma will be awarded credits towards our Bachelor of Engineering Technology (Civil Engineering). These types of ‘institute to institute’ arrangements will prove very helpful in the future and is an example of another positive international partnership for our organisation.
Another focal point has been improving our links to industry and developing a refreshed Industry/Stakeholder Relationship Plan for 2019-2022. Associate Professor David Phillips, in partnership with our Industry Workforce team, is developing a refreshed strategy for our School which will enable us to build new and mutually-beneficial partnerships with key industry entities.
Engineering and Applied Technology are continuing with our annual ‘Engineering Connect’ career expo this year (15 August 2019) – a great way for students to connect with potential employers. All areas of our School will be represented at this event which includes our Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Electronics, Automotive Engineering, and Land Surveying staff and teams.
Finally, I would like to thank all our learning and teaching staff, support staff, technicians and administration support staff for their on-going commitment to our students’ success. Engineering and Applied Technology staff, right across our School, work very hard to ensure our students feel supported and valued, and often go the extra mile, enabling students to realise their potential and experience success. The work they do is meaningful, important and greatly valued. The relationships our staff have developed with our various student support teams continue to strengthen and it is these partnerships that further enhance our student-centric culture within the School.
We also really appreciate and value the support we receive from our central service teams; the Research and Enterprise office, Te Korowai Kahurangi, Te Puna Ako, UPC, Marketing, Communications, Workforce Development, IT, Health and Safety, the Operations teams, Finance, the Marae team, and everyone involved in helping our students succeed.
Ngā mihi nui
Nick Sheppard
Interim Head of School – Engineering and Applied Technology
20 May 2019
Kia ora koutou
One of the oft-heard phrases in tertiary marketing discussions is “the student journey”. It’s something ELT thought hard about when we designed the new student-centric structure for the Renewal Plan and it resulted, among other things, in the creation of the Reputation & Recruitment team led by me, and the Retention & Success team led by Glenn.
It’s understandable that our interest in the journey mostly starts when a student application arrives, and continues up until graduation. But that’s only part of the story. As our recent review of several years of student data and marketing activities has confirmed, it’s just as important to consider the student jouney BU (before Unitec) and AU (after Unitec).
BU takes into account that each student has a unique set of circumstances and reasons that led them to consider study. Schooling, family influences, work experience, dreams and personal aspirations are just some of the drivers that we need to understand when presenting ourselves attractively to prospective students.
Our formal research has shown us that there are, broadly, seven kinds of tertiary learner in Auckland. They range from young people unsure what their first job might be (tagged as “Searching Youth”) to older learners, well-established in their careers, who just love to learn (“Knowledge Seekers”). What they want from a tertiary organisation, and believe Unitec can actually offer them, varies widely.
The insights for the AU part of the jouney are just as revealing. We know that for our learners Unitec is not a destination, it’s a vehicle. Just as Air New Zealand’s purpose is to fly you where you want to go, Unitec’s role is to deliver our students successfully to a better place: their chosen vocation, job or industry. So we need to talk to them less about who we are, and more about where we can take them.
With this in mind we’ve been taking a close look at our Semester 2 recruitment messages, and will be trying some new and different approaches, bearing in mind that we are just a part of the full story of the student journey.
Ngā mihi
David Glover
Executive Director – Partnerships and Student Recruitment
13 May 2019
Kia ora koutou
Unitec’s PBRF result puts us at the top of the ITP sector. This is an outstanding achievement and one that we can all be proud of. It is testament to what we are capable of achieving and our ability as an organisation to find ways to achieve excellence in a changing environment.
Within Community Studies, the research leaders have partnered with Tūāpapa Rangahau to foster a collaborative research culture, increasing our research outputs and developing our capability. It’s required us to be adaptable, a skill that will benefit us as we continue to navigate future changes of the sector.
Something we celebrate within Community Studies is our passion to change lives and serve our communities. Our influences with students and our communities are easily spotted on campus. We operate a student-run osteopathic clinic, some of our students are in placements at our Unitec Early Learning Centre, we have two Bachelor of Health and Social Development students serving as student council reps, our Sport students run several events for staff (e.g. fun runs and quiz nights), and of course police are easy to spot in their blue uniforms within communities across the country.
We are really excited about our new level 5 Sport, Exercise, and Recreation Diploma and Certificates which launched this year. Check out this video of one of our Auckland Council students talking about the programme.
Several of our programmes within Community Studies are teaching out. I would like to acknowledge the impact this has on staff. Teaching out a programme is an extremely difficult space to operate within and I am grateful for how individuals and teams are responding. Everyone has their own way of dealing with the challenge, but people are making an effort to look after themselves, each other, and champion a way forward.
Let’s keep looking after and supporting each other as we strive to better meet the needs of our students and communities.
Ngā mihi
Katie Bruffy
Head of Community Studies
6 May 2019
Kia ora koutou
My first three months in this role seem to have flown by. It’s been a busy time, arriving at Unitec when the Finance team was immersed in the 2018 year-end audit, the 2019 budget had to be finalised, as well as all the other reporting and finance–related duties. But it has been a thoroughly enjoyable experience. I’ve really enjoyed reconnecting with the people I met last year while working on the Investment Plan, and meeting new people.
I’ve worked in, and with, many different organisations in different sectors over the last 25 years. A large number of which have been struggling with similar challenges to Unitec, so our challenges are not new to me. But what I have found to be very different at Unitec is the culture. A lot of organisations publish core values, but not too many live by them. I’ve found Unitec to be a very unique environment in comparison to what I have experienced previously. I can see that for many it is an organisation that genuinely endeavours to live by its values. This is evident through the focus on the principles of Te Noho Kotahitanga as being key to enabling better futures for students and communities, and the way in which this is incorporated in each team’s Purpose and Priority statements in our Team Diamonds.
Some of the many other highlights that have made Unitec special for me over the past few months include attending Karakia on a Monday morning, watching the Heads of Schools dancing to YMCA, walking round the stunning campus grounds and getting to know the members of the Finance, Commercial Services and Legal team.
While the Finance, Commercial Services and Legal team have a serious job to do, we are a group of people who have a great sense of humour, work hard, and mean well. So if you are dealing with a legal issue that you have concerns about, have procurement questions, or need help knowing where and how to code expenditure items – give us a call. We want to help.
Ngā mihi
Alison Sarginson
Interim Executive Director – Finance
29 April 2019
Kia ora koutou
Before I share what we’ve been up to, I’d like to give a quick rundown of what the School of Trades and Services actually does.
Our portfolio is a rather complex mix of full time, part time and apprentice provision. Full time, we have a large number of Level 3 learner groups in Automotive, Plumbing and Carpentry – these programmes are known as pre-trade. In the part time and apprentice space, our students spend a lot of their time ‘on job’. These students are supported by members of our team visiting their workplaces, and in doing so we consistently have direct access to employers and industry.
Further, we provide industry block courses, short courses for things like Warrant of Fitness, evening sessions for apprentices and courses for the public. If you fancy having a crack at welding, or any of the other courses we offer, please enrol!
As with the other Schools, we have been busy. So far this year we have hosted the Māori and Pasifika Trades Training (MPTT) ‘Whanaungatanga Day’, where we were so proud of the way our students conducted themselves. It was an absolute privilege to watch a multicultural 200-person haka. We have developed a strong relationship with our Kaihautū Veraneeca Taiepa and the Marae team which resulted in a wānanga in early April. The wānanga was attended by over 150 of our new and returning Trades and Services students, who heard stories of our land, the development of Te Noho Kotahitanga marae and explanations of Māori protocols.
This week, all of the School’s staff will attend a pōwhiri where we’ll come together as one, reaffirm our mission and look to the future. There is no more powerful way to do this than pōwhiri. We have some big challenges ahead of us but we will prevail. We need to look at the now, be honest with ourselves and evaluate our performance. Our approach will be based on transparency – if the problem is not declared, we cannot find solutions. To achieve this, we must be comfortable with each other and feel safe in raising issues and concerns.
I suppose the key message in all of this is ‘back to basics’. Once we are confident in reflective practice, built our evaluative capability and target setting skills, we will make significant and rapid progress. There is a lot of work for us to do, but we will get there. Our communities are depending on it!
Ngā mihi
Lee Baglow
Head of Trades & Services
15 April 2019
E ngā manu taki, ngā manu tāiko, tēnā koutou katoa
Graduation is such a special time of year as it affords us the opportunity to celebrate our students’ success. We had 2,443 eligible to graduate of which 1,328 attended graduation.
There were four ceremonies, the largest being the first, for Applied Business, Architecture, and, Computing and Information Technology with 359 graduates, followed very closely by Engineering & Applied Technology, Trades & Services, Building Construction and Bridgepoint. Ceremony 3 was Environmental and Animal Sciences, Community Development, Healthcare and Social Practice, and our fullest, with seating capacity at maximum limit in Aotea Centre, yet it was our smallest ceremony in terms of graduates! Our last ceremony was Creative Industries, Education and Mind Lab who had the loudest cheers and a standout speaker.
It goes without saying that this year’s graduation was a very busy and exciting day for many of us, and none more so than our graduates with their family and friends in celebration mode. It was easy to get caught up in the atmosphere and feel a part of their success, because their success is our success!
Graduation is such a big day with so many moving parts and is not possible without those behind the scenes. Through the new management of the Student Events and Communications team (of three) under Student Success, we had 88 staff from across the organisation volunteer their time to help with the full day event, which started from 6am right through until 10pm at night. Our volunteers were extraordinary, from helping graduates fix their regalia through to getting staff ready on stage and everything in between.
There are so many highlights and we are always looking at how we can improve the experience of Graduation for all, especially as we reflect on where the sector is heading and how we can better facilitate completion ceremonies for our graduates, their whānau and all connected communities. Small things like food for staff served at the event continue to be a topic of conversation, yet the counterbalance is budget responsibilities and remembering the priority of the day is about our graduands becoming graduates. Their completion success is a reflection of our key success.
Continuing with the theme of Graduation and celebrating success, last week I was fortunate enough to attend both the Kahurangi and the Pacific celebration events. Both recognise the need for us to celebrate Māori and Pacific success in very unique ways. Kahurangi was held last Saturday at Te Noho Kotahitanga Marae where we hosted 18 graduands and approximately 120 of their family members as a pre-cursor to graduation day. Each graduand was presented with a taonga and given the opportunity to share their personal story with attendees. Many families celebrated with haka and waiata as a testament to not only their loved ones but to Unitec staff as well. It was a great reminder of why we do what we do to support Māori success!
The Pacific Graduation dinner was held last Wednesday evening in Te Puna. There were 40 graduands honoured on the night, with an audience of family, friends, and our staff – around 170 guests. Each graduand received a special Unitec Pacific Graduate medal to wear and many took the opportunity to speak, thanking their families and Unitec for the great support they received during their studies.
As the curtain closes on April’s graduation, Kahurangi and the Pacific Celebration, I would like to thank all the staff volunteers, our unsung heroes who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure such successful events. Ngā mihi nunui ki a koutou.
As part of the international success strategy – Tracy Chapman has run two Cultural Awareness sessions: Bridging the Culture Gap – India and China. As the title suggests, the aim of the sessions is to bridge the gap and foster a better understanding of other cultures amongst our staff in order that we can better support our students inside and outside the classroom. Following the Chinese cultural awareness session, we received the following feedback:
“I wish to thank you for the highly informative seminar you presented yesterday. It has developed my understanding and approach in order to engage my Asian student cohort and my fellow staff members. I practiced the superiority aspect last night and reclined at the students’ tables when having discussions and I noticed immediate change in their body language and an increase in their engagement with me. Also, giving the 1 on 1 tuition where I could, also proved highly productive discussions and their questions kept flowing.”
This is a great initiative that has received excellent staff support and turnout. If you are looking for ways to improve your practice, I would encourage you to attend future events. We are planning further sessions for both Waitākere and Mt Albert so keep an eye on the Nest for updates.
Finally, I want to acknowledge Toni Rewiri who was recently appointed as Te Taharangi – Director Māori Success. I am delighted that Toni has agreed to undertake this position on a 12 month secondment effective immediate. Toni has previously held a number of senior academic and leadership roles at both Te Wānanga o Aotearoa and Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi and adds further value given her recent experience in the Kaihautū role.
We are currently recruiting for Kaihautū to cover Toni’s secondment and fill further vacancies in the team. These roles are advertised on the Unitec website > Current vacancies.
Ngā mihi
Glenn Mckay
Te Tumu & Executive Director – Student Success
8 April 2019
Kia ora koutou
The year to date has been a busy whirl of classes and student activities. We have already wrapped up our first semester’s teaching (accounting) in China, while here at the Mount Albert campus first assignments have been submitted and staff as well as students are looking forward to a well-deserved break at Easter.
Writing this piece has forced me to stop and reflect… in my experience there is never much time for quiet reflection yet it is one of the most important things we can do. As Peter Drucker (‘Father of Modern Management’) famously noted – Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action. Difficult to achieve when the busy work week is upon you but wise words indeed.
Business exists in a world of unprecedented change, conditions today will not look like conditions tomorrow. Here at the School of Applied Business we are responsible for preparing our graduates to navigate the real world of business and the changes they will face and are committed to delivering a curriculum that enables our students to flourish.
With this in mind, we are currently redeveloping our Master of Business – from a 240-credit degree with no majors, to a 180-credit degree (plus postgraduate certificates and diplomas) with a suite of majors including Business Analytics, Supply Chain and Logistics and Digital Marketing. Likewise, the Master of Applied Practice (Professional Accounting) is also being redeveloped and renamed to the industry standard – Master of Professional Accounting. I believe the redevelopment of our postgraduate programmes is particularly important for our domestic students, many of whom come from industry to upskill in their particular disciplines, and for our local businesses which desperately need the skills they will gain.
I am privileged to be involved in the postgraduate redevelopment and am struck by the iterative nature of the process; which typically starts with some action, followed by reflection, followed by action and then yet more reflection. I have come to realise that reflection is the key to ensuring we develop curricula that represents genuine change. Reflection gives our brains the opportunity to pause amid the chaos, untangle and sort through observations, and create new meaning. If we continue to drive forward without reflection, we are destined to continue in the rut of incrementalism, not responding to the new reality facing our students.
Harnessing the power of reflection is integral, not only to the success of our programme redevelopment, but the success of our organisation as a whole. So please consider pushing the pause button and making the time and space in your life to deliberately and consciously reflect.
Ngā mihi
Kerry Kirkland
Head of Applied Business
1 April 2019
Kia ora koutou
The other day Linda Aumua, our Head of School – Healthcare and Social Practice based at the Waitākere campus, took the ELT for a tour of West Auckland, with Glenn Mckay heroically driving us around in one of the Unitec vans. It was an enjoyable couple of hours with a serious point – to explore the changing face of our region.
The sheer diversity and character of areas like Henderson, Te Atatu and Waitākere Heights were a reminder of the wide range of communities we serve. Signs of growth are everywhere including large scale housing projects similar in ambition to what we will soon see alongside the Mt Albert campus. Some big high schools – many of whom we have increasingly close connections with through UPC – can count on continuing growth in their rolls. Employers will be looking for new staff with the right skills to match their growing businesses.
We are also doing some more analytical work to better understand our student population, where they come from and what motivates them to choose Unitec. Geography is certainly one key factor, and we can now clearly describe our catchment areas and which suburbs contribute the largest number of students to various study areas. For instance, West Auckland is home to 31% of our domestic students enrolled for Semester 1, and the largest cohort by region, with the most popular Schools for that group being Healthcare and Social Practice, Bridgepoint and, Computing and Information Technology.
But the stats can only tell you so much. We need to deepen our engagement with local communities to build lasting relationships, seek feedback on our quality of provision and anticipate future needs. Tertiary education is a personal choice, often a life-changing decision, and motivations to study are specific to the individual, their whānau and the goals they seek to achieve. One size cannot fit all, and it’s important that we each, whatever our role, try to connect to our students on a personal level so we can understand and support their individual aspirations.
One of the key resources we use to gain an understanding of students’ experience and impressions of Unitec is the student NPS survey. This helps us understand what is working well and where we need to make improvements. The survey goes out this week (and again in Semester 2). It’s important that we get a really good response rate so if you are a teacher, please ask your students to ensure they complete the survey so they can be heard.
Ngā mihi
David Glover
Executive Director – Partnerships and Student Recruitment
25 March 2019
Kia ora koutou
It is definitely a busy time of year for us all, with the influx of enthusiastic new students, new staff arriving, staff leaving, staff office moves and changes to buildings, engaging with government sector reforms and the avalanche of PEPs, ADEPs, School action plans and 2020 timetabling processes.
But there are always positive experiences to keep us motivated. The first real positive for The School of Environmental Sciences was the recent opening of Te Puna Kararehe, the Animal Behaviour and Husbandry Centre. Te Puna Kararehe replaces the old Unitec Small Animal Unit, which ended up on the wrong side of the border in the recent land deal with the Crown. Our new centre was refurbished by Facilities Management, who did a stirling job partnering with us to convert five prefabs into a modern animal husbandry educational centre housing a range of animal species both inside and outside. The space provides a much better student experience, is better for the animals, and is great to work in.
Another highlight for us is the recent recommendation by an NZQA panel to approve and accredit us to deliver a Bachelor of Veterinary Nursing at Unitec. This will be the first such degree in New Zealand, and builds on our existing very successful certificate and diploma programmes. The feedback from the panel was extremely positive, particularly commending us for the passion, commitment and expertise of the teaching team and support services and the multi-level embedding of Mātauranga Māori in the programme. We are very grateful to everyone who has partnered with us to get this degree approved.
On a final note… We are super proud that Finn the Whippet, our Mental Health Pawtection Squad lead, won the People’s Choice Award at the NZ Top Office Dog competition! Thank you to everyone who voted for Finn.
Ngā mihi
Dan Blanchon
Head of Environmental and Animal Sciences
18 March 2019
Kia ora koutou
The Human Touch
’Tis the human touch
in this world that counts,
The touch of your hand and mine,
Which means far more
to the fainting heart
Than shelter and bread and wine.
For shelter is gone
when the night is o’er,
And bread lasts only a day.
But the touch of the hand
And the sound of the voice
Sing on in the soul always.
By Spencer Michael Free 1925
This was the first poem I learned as a young child when my father, who passed away some years ago, wrote it in a shiny new autograph book I had received for my birthday. It was some years before I could decipher his beautiful cursive handwriting, as well as truly understand the meaning behind the words. At difficult times in my life I have returned to it to find solace and feel connected to humanity. And so I turned to it again to share at this morning’s karakia when I felt overwhelmed and unable to find the right words to express what I am feeling to all of you. And I was deeply moved by the singing, prayers and words of our staff as we held hands in Ngākau Māhaki, the heart of our campus. Some of you verbalised our pain and anguish, as well as our love and hope in all of us coming together as Unitec, and as one united nation to look after each other in the aftermath of this terrorism.
In my nearly two years as Executive Dean here, with 9 months as the Interim CE, there have been many challenges for all of us at Unitec. But I have never once doubted that as long we are on the ‘same waka pulling together’ we can overcome these. ‘A little better every day’ adds up to a lot over time. It really has been a privilege to lead, work alongside and reassure you as we ‘navigate the rocks together’. But at a time like this such clichés seem tired, hollow and completely inadequate – particularly to our staff directly impacted with family and friends numbered among the dead and injured. All we can do is reach out with aroha and compassion in our hearts to all of our whanau and friends here and across Aotearoa and let them know we are here beside them and for them, and we care deeply. Be proud of who we are and celebrate our diversity and please tell us anything at all we can do to show our love and support over the days and months ahead.
He aha te mea nui o te ao
He tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata
What is the most important thing in the world?
It is the people, it is the people, it is the people
Ngā mihi
Merran
11 March 2019
Kia ora e te whānau
The buzz of students around our campuses after a quiet summer is a strong reminder of why we are here and our collective responsibility in helping students realise their hopes and dreams. 2018 was a tough year for many but 2019 already feels very different – still incredibly busy and in the midst of constant change, but there seems to be a positive energy everywhere I go, and it does indeed feel like renewal.
Schools and Support teams have been concentrating on creating their diamonds – clearly articulating their purpose and priorities. Many teams have completed their action planning for the year. A strong focus has been on ensuring all the diamonds and plans are linked so that we have consistency across the organisation. The ELT have been reviewing this work as it is completed and you can find the diamonds and action plans here to understand what others have planned for the year. It is from these action plans that we can set meaningful individual ADEP goals, as part of the Performance Partnering process, that will contribute to achieving Unitec’s purpose and priorities.
Some of you have completed your 2018 Review of Achievements and are finalising your 2019 ADEP plan. Professional Development is a key component of this and there are some excellent resources that will assist you. One of our focus areas this year is for all teachers to gain two badges which helps to build teacher capability in support of academic quality and student success.
Demonstrating ongoing commitment to engaging in Treaty Based Partnerships is one of our leadership competencies and one that every one of us, recognising that we are all leaders, need to actively build. We are fortunate to work in an environment that provides plenty of ‘on-the-job’ learning opportunities as well as mentoring and coaching opportunities – learning from those around us with many staff generously sharing their knowledge.
Our new Kaitiaki Taiao role reinforces the importance of our partnership and we are delighted that Tanya White has been appointed to this role. The Kaitiaki Taiao will lead the application of sustainable biodiversity management, enhancement of natural resources and sites of significance in a way that preserves and protects Unitec landscape as a taonga. Environmental policies and sustainable practices that are grounded upon tikanga, kawa and mātauranga Māori, with regard to the Crown’s obligation under Article II of the Treaty of Waitangi, and in support of partnership agreements as stipulated in Te Noho Kotahitanga memorandum of understanding will be implemented.
I am particularly looking forward to participating in workshops that will be developed and delivered for staff to reconnect to the whenua. Induction programmes will also be developed and delivered for Infrastructure contractors in order to grow competency and build capacity with regard to tikanga-based environmental practices. Tanya will be co-ordinating community relationships with the Corrections Community workforce and supporting delivery of wānanga for Whānau Manaaki Pā Harakeke.
Our renewal plan is also being evidenced in other physical changes we are seeing in our environment. We are now addressing overdue deferred maintenance. Several of our buildings at Mt Albert are a sorry sight and it is great to see them being revitalised. The faded red roofs and chipped green paint are being replaced by edgy charcoal and white which staff tell me is giving them a real lift.
A big thanks goes to our lecturers, Sandra Arnet and Sue Hudson from our School of Architecture team who scoped the project and provided their expert advice for this work. Large new signage will also be appearing at our Waitākere campus to enhance our profile and ensure we are easily found. We have multiple team moves on the go and are refurbishing interior spaces as part of our asset management plan. Much of the work is being carried out by our infrastructure team.
Looking back to a year ago it is hard to believe how much has happened yet how positive staff are about the future. We know our renewal plan is being successfully implemented and that staff are very supportive in ensuring we have a financially sustainable business to invest in the future. We have some uncertainty ahead with the proposed changes in our sector but with all that we have experienced I believe we have the resilience and attitude to adapt and embrace change as we focus on the success of our students.
Ngā mihi nui
Mary Johnston
Executive Director – People and Infrastructure
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4 March 2019
Kia ora e te whānau
It’s been wonderful this week to be able welcome our learners to Unitec and into our classes. In Bridgepoint we had the pleasure of greeting our Supported Learning, Bridging Education and Language Studies students in two large pōwhiri. Both events had a lovely energy – what a great way to start the year.
With our new and returning tauira arriving on campus there’s been a palpable shift and a feeling that things have come alive. Our learners really are at the centre of what we do and who we are. E hoa ma, ina te ora o te tangata.
The first few weeks are really important for our students. It’s a busy but exciting time for our teachers as we work to engage our students, learn more about specific needs, identify students who will benefit from extra academic or pastoral care support, and work together with support teams both within the school and across the institute. A huge thank you to our teachers and support staff for working so hard to set our learners up for success.
In Bridgepoint one of the things we want to continue to focus on this year is connecting more with the rest of the institute, and it’s great to see that our Supported Learning students are now settled in, and much closer to Te Puna and the centre of the campus.
Bridging Education had a year of very successful partnered delivery of our Level 4 Certificate in Study and Career Preparation with Creative Industries and Applied Business, and we now have the opportunity to co-develop pathways with other schools.
In Language Studies we have a range of Level 5 English Language electives to support mainstream international learners, and our staff teach or co-deliver papers in Construction, Engineering, and Creative Industries. There’s so much that we learn from each other. We’re looking forward to strengthening and expanding upon these partnerships in the new Schools structure.
There’s certainly a feeling that this will be another big year. With RoVE (the Review of Vocational Education – who comes up with these acronyms?) there’s little doubt that 2019 will be a year of challenges but also of significant opportunities. As we focus sharply on learning, teaching, and academic quality I’m confident that through our mahi and through the way the we enact nohotahi we will ensure that the year will be a good one for our communities, our learners, and for each other.
Ngā mihi
Chris
Chris King
Head of Bridgepoint
25 February 2019
Kia ora koutou
It was wonderful to again be part of our pōhiris welcoming new students into the Unitec whanau over the past two weeks in the most meaningful way we can, led by the principles of Te Noho Kotahitanga at Te Noho Kotahitanga. Also interesting to see how staff turnout has a major impact on the energy and impact of the occasion. For those of you who didn’t make it this year – you were missed and I hope to see you there next semester.
Congratulations to all involved in ARONUI ∙ FOCUS 2019 which built on our highly successful Staff Excellence Awards, but went further for many of us. For our staff to be able to hear the EER news the week before, then the sector reform less than 24 hours earlier, and still come together to focus on what we are all here for and the year ahead speaks so positively to the quality of our staff – you!
It was a strange feeling watching before I spoke on a video link from Wellington, to be able to see you all and hear the opening without actually being there. Even from afar I could feel the energy and enthusiasm in the room and it was great to see such a cross section of staff . The workshops generated many good ideas and suggestions which we will incorporate into developing the Renewal Strategy.
The reason I was in Wellington was to represent Unitec at the once in a lifetime Roadmap sector reform proposal announcement discussion at Parliament (I can assure you there was no funny disguises or dancing to YMCA there). Yes, it will be a big change for all of us in the sector but listening to the CEs and Chairs from other ITPs, I realise how far we have come over the last 12 months in terms of being open and honest and having difficult conversations with each other.
Some of you will understandably be concerned about what it means for your job. It is too early for me to provide clarity on this or make any promises but there will be plenty of time to work through the implications if it goes ahead, and please also note the Minister is talking about increasing the total provision of skills and training as well as us being involved in on-job training. We now have to ensure that the consultation process is inclusive and everyone who wants to, has their say. As soon as we have more details, we will share these with you.
I deeply appreciate the acknowledgement and messages of support I have received from staff following the EER meetings, Roadmap announcement and media comments I have made regarding the proposed sector reform changes. As a leader you know that not everyone will agree with you or like you, but it is important that we respect each other. Dr Dan Blanchon, our Head of Environmental and Animal Sciences, talks about Unitec being like a boat going down a rough river, with lots of rocks to navigate to reach calmer waters – it means a great deal to me to know we are on the same waka paddling in the same direction – thank you Team Unitec.
Talk soon –
Merran
Merran Davis
Interim Chief Executive
18 February 2019
Tēnā koutou katoa
I’m not sure about anyone else but the Roadmap 2020 announcement last week has me excited. It’s a radical change that proposes opportunities to address some of the significant challenges facing the sector at a local and national level. Whilst I don’t know what the eventual direction will be, I am excited about Unitec being a leader of this change.
ARONUI ∙ FOCUS 2019 was a great way to start the year, during which our Commissioner Murray Strong acknowledged Merran’s leadership as the first Chief Executive in the sector to front with positive comments on Roadmap 2020. He also thanked Unitec for all the work we have done in the past year. Both the Minister Hipkins and our Commissioner have a high degree of confidence and comfort in what lies ahead and how Unitec will embrace the opportunities Roadmap 2020 will bring.
Tim Fowler, the CE of TEC, has also said Unitec is an exemplar of how to get match-fit and ready for what’s coming. I think we should all take heart from this as it recognises the significant challenges we addressed in 2018. Yes, 2019 will be another year full of challenges but I am confident we have skilled, committed and passionate people who will ensure we are at the forefront of any changes.
Speaking of committed teams, our Unitec Pathways College (UPC) team last week held several Secondary School Vocational Pathway activities – with the support from our own Schools. We’re excited to welcome three new partner schools to this activity, Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Hoani Waititi Marae, Ngā Puna o Waiōrea and Hobsonville Point Secondary School. We are also pleased to welcome into the STAR suite of activity two new schools, Pakuranga College and Onehunga High School.
Our UPC team with support from Social Practice staff, attended the Waitangi @ Waititi event which saw over 30,000 people spend the day at Hoani Waititi Marae for whānau celebrations. The Unitec activation space was packed with people throughout the day and became a real hub for the community. It was such an awesome event to be a part of and I would encourage as many people to attend next year as possible. There were some great headline acts including Stan Walker and Ardijah, that contributed to a real whānau atmosphere.
Community engagement is one of the organisation’s priorities so I am excited that we are returning to ASB Polyfest after a long absence. We are the official sponsors of the Cultural Diversity Stage at Polyfest which is one of the most popular stages so we are guaranteed some good exposure. Make sure you come along!
Closer to campus, orientation planning and delivery for 2019 is well underway. The Orientation and Graduation events now sit under the Student Success Team. This signals the importance of the opening and closing experience as part of the full student journey. Our students’ success is our success.
The kowhai tree planted in memory of Deb Faaiuaso
On Monday 11 February we celebrated the life of Deborah Faaiuaso from the Learning and Development team, who a year ago tragically died at Kai Iwi Lake. The I’e Toga (Fine mat) gifted to us from Deb’s family hangs proudly in Te Puna and a memorial Kowhai tree has been planted in her honour in the Suffrage Garden.
Finally, I’m honoured to be a part of the institute at this point in time. Where others see challenge I see opportunity. What an exciting time to be part of the journey as we start to write our new chapter with Roadmap 2020 and a return to Category 1 in mind.
Ngā mihi
Glenn McKay
Te Tumu and Executive Director Student Success
11 February 2019
Kia ora koutou
Top of mind for most of us this week is the news about our draft EER report. While it is disappointing, the draft result is not unexpected as it largely aligns with our own experience and understanding of the challenges since 2016 . As you know, the review was undertaken two years ahead of schedule, during delivery of our major renewal programme. While the report noted there had been many positive initiatives implemented, unfortunately there had not been sufficient time for those initiatives to become embedded or to demonstrate their impact at the time of assessment. I am really proud of the progress we have made in achieving positive change in a short time and it is excellent that our student success rates have remained strong, and continue to improve. I strongly encourage you to see this result as an opportunity for all of us to put even more focus on our students and educational performance. We will be providing some feedback to NZQA before the report is finalised and then we can share it more widely.
Talking of focus, I am very excited about our upcoming all-staff ARONUI ∙ FOCUS 2019 – The next stage of renewal on Thursday 14 February. Our intention is to inspire and inform you about the coming year and provide the opportunity for you to have your say about who we want to be and what we want to be known for as part of our event workshops. Also attending will be our Commissioner, Murray Strong, who will be speaking about the Roadmap 2020 announcement due from Parliament on the day before which Murray and I will be attending in Wellington. We hope to be able to share more information with you regarding impacts and timelines. Sorry to those who can’t make it due to other Unitec commitments and please remember we also have a smaller event at Waitakere on Tuesday 19 February.
Clearly 2019 is shaping up to be another major one for all of us at Unitec. Although every year is different from the last one, I am hopeful the positive energy and commitment to our values which shone through will continue to grow. There are many ways to support this but I would like to make special mention of our Staff Social Club and the Staff Team Advisory Rōpu (STAR). I’ve been to a couple of Social Club functions, including the annual Christmas party in 2018 which I thoroughly enjoyed and it is a great way to meet others from across Unitec. Please join up and say hi. The STAR is a self-selected group of staff members who meet regularly to be a conduit between staff and management and are also an advisory group for myself and our Commissioner. Shortly we will be putting up an area on the Nest to provide information about how you can keep up to date with what they are doing and how to make contact with their members so keep an eye out for that.
See you on Thursday!
Ngā mihi
Merran
Merran Davis
Interim Chief Executive
4 February 2019
Kia ora koutou
January’s gone… already? Seems like we’re all just getting back into the swing of things and 8.3% of the year has passed by in a flash.
And there’s lots to do in the remaining months. The ELT has been working on Unitec’s priorities for 2019 and developing our annual plan as part of the next stage of renewal. You’ll hear more about this at the ARONUI ∙ FOCUS 2019 staff event at Mt Albert campus on 14 February. There will also be a session at Waitakere campus on 19 February for those who can’t make the Mt Albert event due to teaching commitments. Please make every effort to attend the Mt Albert event for the full programme. Hopefully understanding the bigger picture will help you sharpen the focus on what’s important in your role and that way we can all help move the organisation forward together.
I’ve been busy handing over my interim CFO duties to our new Executive Director – Finance, Alison Sarginson, who’s hit the ground running. It was a pleasure to lead the talented Finance, Legal and Commercial teams over the last six months during a challenging time for Unitec, but it’s also great to get back to the day job.
The new Reputation and Recruitment organisational structure is now in place, incorporating the teams from Marketing, Communications, Enrolments & Academic Operations, and Industry Partnerships. Collectively our role is to build a positive external profile for Unitec, clearly articulate our proposition to students, support better partnerships with industry and communities, and make it easy for students to apply and enrol with us.
There are always better communications, processes, systems and technologies that can help us work smarter and deliver improved outcomes. But it’s good to know that we have already made major progress in several areas. Right now we have faster, more accurate information on our applications and enrolments than ever before. We have developed a deep, research-based, understanding of what motivates prospective students to consider Unitec as an option. Our turnaround times for helpng students with their applications has dropped in some cases from weeks to a few days. Many people across the organisation have put a lot of hard work into getting us to this point.
It’s too early to celebrate, but at the moment it looks like our Semester 1 enrolments are overall tracking to plan. We’ll shortly start posting a regular update to the Nest. Whatever the challenges ahead this year, I feel positive about how we have started and optimistic about where we are heading. Here comes February!
Ngā mihi
David Glover
Executive Director – Partnerships and Student Recruitment
29 January 2019
Kia ora koutou
2019: The next stage of Unitec renewal – Here we come!
A very warm welcome to new staff joining us and welcome back if you were here in 2018. Hopefully, like me, you are heartened by what we achieved together last year and are ready to keep the momentum going in 2019. Something that stuck in my mind from recent holiday reading was the idea that every action that separates us defeats our purpose of creating positive change and every action that connects us has the power to make it happen. Let’s all make sure Unitec is about better connection with each other, our students and communities, and not separation.
To that end, the ELT and I are delighted with the Staff Engagement Survey results which we will be sharing shortly as they reflect a big boost in how positively people feel about Unitec, our direction, and our environment. Still plenty of room for improvement but it is highly motivating to see such progress over a relatively short period.
We have our first all-staff event for the year, Aronui | Focus 2019 – The next stage of renewal, to be held at Mt Albert campus on 14 February. We’ll be sharing our priorities and seeking your input for the next stage of developing Unitec’s Renewal Strategy. There will also be a session at Waitakere campus on 19 February for those that can’t make the Mt Albert event due to teaching commitments.
Thanks to our Te Reo and Tikanga Approval Committee, who helped provide the name and gave the following description: the word aronui finds its roots in the journey that Tāne took to retrieve the three baskets of knowledge. One of the three baskets is defined as Te Kete Aronui, meaning: (noun) basket of knowledge of aroha, peace and the arts and crafts which benefit the Earth and all living things – one of the three baskets of knowledge. This basket relates to knowledge acquired through careful observation of the environment. It is also the basket of ritual, of literature, philosophy and is sometimes regarded as the basket of the humanities. Further definitions for the word aronui include:
1. (verb) to be agreeable, take notice of.
2. (noun) inclination, desire.
3. (noun) to focus on.
Focusing and agreeing on something we collectively desire and want to co-create with our students and communities is an important conversation for all of us, regardless of our role at Unitec so please be there. (Furthermore, rumour has it that there may be a reprise of certain elements from the Staff Awards…)
Talk soon.
Ngā mihi
Merran
Merran Davis
Interim Chief Executive
17 December 2018
Kia ora koutou
As we head towards Kirihimete I’m trying to think of something inspiring to finish the year, and all that comes to mind is phew, nearly there, made it – thank you! I have never been so ready for a decent holiday and I’m sure you’re the same. It has been such a bittersweet time as we have achieved many of our goals but have had to make hard calls along the way – I’m sorry.
For many of us at this time of year, we will be thinking about family and friends we lost this year and honouring their memories. For me this was my Mum who passed away after a long battle with Alzheimers in early 2018. This too was bittersweet but the aroha from my colleagues touched me deeply as have many moments at Unitec this year. As Unitec whanau we also lost much loved and valued colleagues who not only left big holes in our hearts, but also brought us together to grieve and celebrate. It has reminded us to reflect on what is important about what we do, and recognise where we have come from and those who have gone in the spirit of Te Noho Kotahitanga. I have much learning to do to ‘walk the talk’. For teaching and guiding me on this and everything else – thank you.
I hope if you are asked what is important at Unitec over the summer break, that you answer “our students and their success”. I hope that in the midst of yet more change, you are able to see our renewed commitment to quality learning, teaching and applied research. To see our commitment to Te Noho Kotahitanga, our commitment to our priority groups, our commitment to the communities we serve and our commitment to you our staff who are truly amazing people I have the privilege to lead – thank you.
To see the Unitec values – our values in action – thank you for an unforgettable year.
Please take special care of yourselves and others.
Meri Kirihimete me ngā mihi o te Tau Hou ki a koe me tō whānau –
Merran
Merran Davis
Interim Chief Executive
10 December 2018
Kia ora koutou
I’d like to put in a plug for ‘watercooler conversations’.
Over the last couple of months, the Wagener Building – the old Unitec Library – has transformed into a busy workspace for about 200 staff from various service teams.
Desks have been assembled, printers relocated and screens plugged in. It’s been a mammoth task, ably executed by Malcolm Yurak and his team of ‘movers’. Well done everyone!
Two weeks ago, for the official opening, pictures were hung and pot plants positioned. A large group of staff attended a very moving ceremony where members of Wilf Wagener’s family, architects and former library staff recounted stories about the library and its construction.
Alongside this visible evidence of change, I’ve seen other less-tangible, but very valuable shifts in behaviours. Throughout ‘the Wagener’, inhabitants are pausing before hitting ‘send’ on emails and instead, are getting up and walking around to where their colleagues from other teams are now positioned, and are communicating kanohi ki te kanohi.
Previously Te Korowai Kahurangi and Te Puna Ako teams used to be a fast 10-minute walk apart, they are now just a few desks from each other. Enrolments, Finance and Timetabling are on the same floor, and we have Communications and Marketing just down the stairs and around the corner.
In transit between diary appointments, my day is now full of valuable intelligence gathering and spinning of ideas (and, yeah, a bit of chatter….). There are chance encounters in the kitchen, at the watercooler and on the coffee run next door in Te Puna. Impromptu huddles form and the increasingly common refrain is: “Hang on, let’s grab so-and-so from Operations and get their advice”.
And very visibly in the middle of all this are the Executive Leadership team, having their own conversations with teams from around the building.
People still book rooms and close doors when they need to, but my overwhelming impression is of a busy thrum of productive activity and professional relationships being formed and strengthened, and of all the benefits that accrue when people communicate well. Like its neighbour, Te Puna, this is a space that’s fostering important, valuable collaborations.
I’m very pleased to see that the renewed Wagener is once again an important and successful part of the life of Unitec.
On the subject of ‘life at Unitec’ and Te Puna, this year’s Staff Excellence Awards were just great! The atmosphere was lovely and the many deserving nominees and winners were very warmly received. I was lucky enough to be a judge for teaching and research categories and felt a bit spoilt for choice. Thanks to the Communications team for organising such an upbeat event to end the year.
Ngā mihi
Simon Nash
Director – Ako
3 December 2018
Kia ora koutou
Let’s face it, it’s been a long year. Much of what has happened in and around Unitec was not foreseen twelve months ago, and many of us have been affected by difficult decisions and unwanted consequences over recent months. We’re no doubt all looking forward to the holiday break.
In the midst of change and uncertainty a couple of things have stood out for me in the last week: the commitment of our staff and the continuing success of our students. Of course the latter cannot happen successfully without the former. Here are a few examples…
I’ve just been helping judge the staff awards. From across the organisation we had nominations for people who went above and beyond, came up with great ideas or simply did their job damn well. An awesome bunch – so many that we just can’t recognise them all, but their work is noted and admired by the colleagues who nominated them.
For those of you who are not members of the Unitec Social Club, you missed out on a great Christmas party – a rock ’n’ roll themed dinner with great food, music and dancing (you had to be there…). Teachers, academic support and professional staff all merrily mixed up – a representative selection of the Unitec village – everyone in good humour and sharing the moment. Thanks to the team who put it all together. We invite more staff to join the fun in 2019.
As we come to the end of the semester just under 7,000 students are finishing up their time at Unitec and heading on to the next stage of their lives. All of us have directly or indirectly contributed to their journey with us.
This year I attended two of the events produced by the students of the Creative Industries Pathway, the FIN short plays and the Dance Showcase. The wonderful music, movement, speech and emotion were proof of immense preparation and high achievement by both students and teaching staff, and the audience was warm in its appreciation of their efforts.
While not all students have as public a demonstration and validation of their learning, everyone here can be proud of the new cohorts of nurses, engineers, tradespeople, architects, accountants, veterinary nurses, educators, ICT experts, marketers, designers, dancers, social workers, sports coaches, and many more, that Unitec has helped on their way this year. (Apologies if I’ve missed the learning area dearest to you). This is our most important collective achievement in 2018, and the one we should celebrate the most.
Ngā mihi
David Glover
Interim CFO and Executive Director Partnerships
26 November 2018
Kia ora koutou
As I reflect on the Bridgepoint network over the past two or three years it is fantastic to see how far our people, teams, projects and programmes have progressed, often under very difficult times of change and uncertainty. The success of our team and students, across a wide range of areas, has been nothing short of inspirational and at the heart of all that we do (our kaupapa) is our commitment to our students, and their success and well-being. The Bridgepoint Network has continued to lead the way in creating a positive, caring and supportive culture for students and key partners and this is evidenced in our consistently high ‘Student Experience’ and ‘Graduate Outcome’ NPS scores each semester. This success is hard-earned and comes down to the perseverance, commitment and professionalism of our network leadership team (Annemarie Meijnen, Chris King, Sally Conway, Andrea Thumath, Vinesh Sima, Kristine Brothers, and Manpreet Malhotra), our skilled and resilient academic leaders, and our passionate and dedicated teaching and support staff.
A number of highlights of note include:
- The redevelopment of a large number of programmes and courses across all areas, and the strong and visible commitment to academic quality and improved student outcomes
- Successful Internal Evaluative and Review (IER) and External Evaluation and Review (EER) outcomes for Language Studies and Bridging Education
- The first Network to fully develop and implement the ‘team diamond’ and annual planning approach which cascades to our staff ADEP plans and collective EPIs, goals and special projects – and underpinned by our values of Te Noho Kotahitanga
- Design and implementation of new areas of development, innovation and opportunity such as;
- The design and implementation of our new Unitec Pathways College (UPC) and secondary school engagement strategy, including a 47% increase in straight from school EFTS in 2018
- A new Free4U site in Birkenhead, North Shore and the design of online course delivery
- Increased student numbers in our IELTS testing center
- Our highly-valued and growing relationship with the NZ Police and the RNZPC
- The development and delivery of our new NCEA-aligned Year 12 and 13 ‘vocational pathways’ programme – in partnership with local Iwi, secondary schools, Kura Kaupapa and community
- The Language Studies and Bridging Education ‘student orientation and skills review/ pre-entry diagnostic’ approach which ensures new students receive an early experience of whanaungatanga, are placed at the right academic level, and engaged in the right programme for their success
- Overall growth of student numbers to 5250 students in 2018 (across all programmes)
… and many more.
Finally, I would like to sincerely thank all our network staff for their dedication, professionalism and willingness to work together to ensure our kaupapa of strong, well supported student success and transition is realised. It has been an absolute pleasure and a privilege to have been a part of this fantastic team, and I wish you all every success in the future.
Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi (My strength is not the strength of one)
Engari, he toa takitahi. (It is the strength of many).
Nga mihi nui
Nick Sheppard
Dean – Bridgepoint and Interim Director – International
19 November 2018
Tēnā koutou katoa,
I’m writing this piece from Level 2 of Building 110 where the ELT is now located. We were one of the first teams, alongside Academic Operations and Enrolments, Timetabling, Projects, and Health and Safety to move into the old library (Wagener) building approximately six weeks ago. Since then, Business Intelligence, Corporate Communications, Te Puna Ako, Human Resources, Student Finance, Marketing, International Acquisitions and most recently Payroll, Industry Workforce, Commercial Services, and Facilities Management have also moved in which has been great. We’ve still got the Graduation Team, Finance and Te Korowai Kahurangi to be welcomed, by the end of November which will complete the B110 building moves. From my perspective, the consolidation in to one building has been great and we are already starting to see some really positive benefits. I wanted to acknowledge Malcom Yurak and the members of the FM and IMS teams who have overseen the B110 moves which have been carried out successfully with as little disruption as possible.
Speaking of building moves, approximately three months ago we celebrated the opening of the Pacific Centre (now located in Te Puna) and as a result we have seen a significant increase in the number of staff and students accessing services and support from the centre. On a related note, Sophie Martin-Welsh from the International team has relocated to the Pacific Centre in order to provide direct support to our Pacific International scholarship students. This will also provide a platform for direct collaboration between the Pacific Centre and our International staff.
In October we started to implement some of the solutions identified as part of the Academic Target Operating Model (ATOM) Project. For our International staff this meant a couple of significant changes which led to our International Student Enrolments team and International Student Advisors, together with former Academic Admin staff being welcomed and relocated into the Operations Enrolment team. This will lead to greater support, ownership and collective accountability for International enrolments. In support of the above, we recently appointed Aroha Lewin as the Principal Continuous Improvement Lead to ensure the successful transition of International business functions into the Operations Enrolment team which included the delivery of the Unitec-wide International Code of Practice training module. Please view these documents to complete the training: Code of Practice Fact Sheet, Introduction to the Code of Practice video, and the Education (Pastoral Care of International Students) Code of Practice 2016.
Over the past 12 months our International staff have focused on collaborating with Practice Pathways, overseas institutions and other partners which has resulted in the following; a) Establishment of an Agent framework and the development of annual reviews, b) A rework of the International team structures via ATOM project to increase clarity and accountability for team functions, c) An extensive review of all Offshore Partners, d) Successful rework of Unitec’s visa and compliance services, e) Updated Enrolment Dashboard to replace EAE and to regulatory requirements, g) Further development of our student support systems and processes and h) A reduction of 215 poor performing Agents resulting in 219 signing new contract terms.
As you can see by the above, our International staff have been working extremely hard to ensure our overall compliance with the Code of Practice which was celebrated recently following an outstanding result following an external audit by Immigration New Zealand. This is an outstanding turnaround and result and the team should be widely acknowledged. Again I’d encourage you all to undergo the training be clicking the link as International students and compliance is an Institution wide responsibility.
On the 30th of November between 9am to 2pm Te Noho Kotahitanga Marae will be hosting Huihuinga. Huihuinga is our opportunity to hear from staff as to what they are doing to embed mātauranga Māori in their practice and or to report back on conferences and seminars they have attended – where funded by Unitec. This year we will also extend an invitation to Māori postgraduate students who will have an opportunity to share their journey also. We will round up the day by celebrating the good things that have happened for Māori staff in the last 12 months like graduations, birth, and marriages and we’ll acknowledge those who have passed on. Come and join us for the day… nau mai haere mai ki Huihuinga.
Finally, I want to take this opportunity to celebrate a few of our staff. Firstly, some of you may know Dan Brady our GM of Operations. Outside of Unitec Dan’s a Senior Firefighter with the Devonport Fire Brigade. In October, Dan headed off to Sacramento, California to compete in the World firefighter combat challenge. Dan had some great results in the US including qualifying for the World finals in all 4 events, running under the World elite time and setting two New Zealand records. You can find out more in the article about Dan on the Nest.
Secondly, I wanted to acknowledge the recent Whānau/Fanau Open day hosted here in Te Puna. It was very much a team effort. The planning and preparation that went into the day was outstanding as was the entertainment, food stalls (provided by students and community groups), activities and team culture on the day. Much of the feedback I received from staff and community was akin to ‘Unitec returning to the good old days’ which is one of the highlights for me as it was great to re-engage with our communities. To all those who attended on the day, you did a fantastic job and the unsolicited feedback leads me to say “let’s keep engaging in ways that are meaningful to our communities and I look forward to what we may do next year to further support our priority groups!”
Ngā mihi
Glenn McKay
Tumu Tauwhirowhiro Maori/Executive Director – Student Success,
12 November 2018
Tena Koutou Katoa, Talofa Lava, Malo e Lelei, Fakaalofa Lahi Atu, Nisa Bula Vinaka, Kia Orana, Taloha Ni, Pacific Greetings.
With EER now behind us, we can now look forward to TTR[1], and reflect back on the year that was.
As the rough blue[2] seas and the trans[3] turbulent winds threatened to sink the Pacific vaka, the Unitec village supported by its Elders, Leaders and Tupuna[4] united and lifted the vaka out of the storm and placed it into calmer waters. As the tautai[5] charged with steering this vaka towards the oceans of Pacific success and prosperity, I feel greatly supported and for that I am truly thankful.
2018 has been a year of new beginnings and a number of ‘firsts’ for Pacific at Unitec. The year started with the launch of our new Unitec Pacific Success Strategy 2018-2023. While this wasn’t Unitec’s first ever Pacific strategy, to the best of my knowledge, this was the first one that had been developed through the collaborative input of many staff. It was also the first Pacific strategy to have all Unitec teams commit to supporting specific objectives within it.
Other firsts this year include:
- The development of a Pacific Alumni database which has revealed that 5,865 Pacific graduates have completed a total of 7,156 qualifications between 1992 and 2017
- Celebrating all seven Pacific language weeks; Samoan, Cook Islands, Tongan, Tuvaluan, Fijian, Niuean and Tokelauan
- Running the inaugural Maori and Pacific Whānau-Fanau Day with the help and support of a large number of generous staff
Highlights this year include:
- Working with the Unitec Pathway College to return to the ‘Pacific Island Leaders of Tomorrow’ (P.I.L.O.T) programme after a five-year absence
- Celebrating 15-year partnership with the New Zealand Police in running the Pacific Pre-Police course and the renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding
- The Pacific Centre moving into Te Puna and becoming more accessible to staff and students alike
While there have been some minor bumps along the way, the overall Pacific journey this year has been a pleasant one. Thank you to everyone for your hard work and support throughout the year, especially for your generosity of spirit.
I leave you all with an old Samoan proverb, A e mana’o e fa’alelei le lalolagi, ia e va’ai muamua i lou lava tagata ma fai se suiga – If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make a change. I look forward to continue working with you all to make a change; and to make Unitec a better ‘Pacific’ place.
Alofa atu
Niko Tominiko
Director – Pacific Success
[1] time to relax
[2] print
[3] formation
[4] ancestors
[5] skipper/navigator
5 November 2018
Kia ora koutou
Confession – I was sending work emails on Saturday night! I know this is terrible role modelling for staff but it was the Saturday before our EER so hopefully you will make allowances. It feels like forever since I arrived at Unitec in April 2017 as Executive Dean, and since June 2018 as Interim CE, all roads have been leading to our EER. I’ve been so busy (as we all have) trying to ensure Unitec is on the right track, that there has been little time to step back and realise what a huge undertaking it has been for so many of our people.
Leading from the front have been Debra Robertson-Welsh, Chris King, Simon Tries, and our Category One Rōpu, ably supported by Julie Hall and recently Cathy Tyler. Debra and Chris have worked tirelessly on EER workshops building staff capability and endless checking of documentation, as has Simon in working closely with NZQA to ensure we put our best foot forward. Of course singling out people runs the risk of missing someone out and causing offence so suffice to say we are very appreciative of all of our staff participating in EER panels and those supporting the organisation of it. Our panels include Academic Quality, Academic Board, Business, Creative Industries, Governance & Management, International, Māori, Pacific, Research, Social Practice, Student Success and Trades.
Recently I have met with most staff teams around Unitec to touch base and have a chat about the EER. If you were there you may recall I talked about how the EER Panel could look at anything and everything we do at Unitec and could approach our staff or students at any time over this week to introduce themselves and have a chat about what they do, how they contribute to student success and how things are going at Unitec. I have also been very clear that if this happens our approach should be honest and reflective of the good, bad and otherwise, but also that we should acknowledge we are now very aware of our challenges and have either started implementing a solution or are in the planning stages to address each and every one of them.
Personally and professionally I am excited and appreciative of the EER Panel being with us this week. I believe the early EER has been fundamental to helping us refocus on our core purpose as an education institution, ensuring our students are successful through our quality learning and support. I am not fearful or nervous as I know we are doing the right things and have made significant process with our academic quality. No-one can know how we will fare on the day when we front up to the Panel but in my view our staff are already winners when it comes to intent, commitment, increasing capability and sheer hard mahi.
So to all of you involved I extend my warmest thoughts and thanks and wish you all the very best this week – enjoy!
Ngā mihi
Merran Davis
Interim Chief Executive
29 October 2019
Kia ora koutou
We’re in the industry of hope; that’s what tertiary study is all about – hope!
Just over three months ago I returned to Unitec as Director Student Success (Poutama Angitū). Previously, I had been at Unitec for 20 years which means in some ways I grew up here. I arrived in 1998 as a very green fresh-faced university graduate who wanted to save the world using my Ed Psych degree. It makes me smile how naive I was; little did I know back then what twists and turns would be in my future. I’m thankful for having choices in my career and see pressure as a privilege which often leads to opportunities!
Our students have chosen Unitec as they seek the knowledge and skills that will give them access to choices. Opportunities for jobs and career steps. Challenges that give them an edge for the next step. Choices for themselves, their families and their communities.
I’m grateful every day for the privilege to lead an amazing team who serve our students every day. Our prospective, current and graduated students are incredibly diverse, and our Student Success services support them in a huge range of areas, including:
- Academic Development (previously known as Te Puna Ako Learning Centre)
- Access4Success Disability Services
- Careers Development Services
- Customer Services (Library and Ask Me front desks)
- International Student Support (including Visa and Insurance services)
- Library Knowledge Specialists (also known as Liaison Librarians)
- Multi-faith Chaplaincy services and Justice of the Peace services
- Resources Support
- Student Complaints
- Student Events and Communications
- Student Support and Scholarships
- Student Voice (through Student Council)
- Student Wellbeing Te Puna Waiora (Health Centre, Counselling, Mental Health Support)
Please remind students of this array of services and get in touch with us if you’d like more information.
I have deep gratitude for being part of Unitec and part of a team that supports our students in their tertiary journey, which sets them up to access choices and opportunities in the future.
Ngā mihi
Annette Pitovao
Director Student Success
23 October 2018
Kia ora koutou
Over the last two weeks the EER project team has been primarily focused on EER info and prep sessions for all focus areas identified by the NZQA panel, and weekly sessions for each Pathway covering who’s involved, what’s required and the timeframes.
We’ve also been running evaluative sessions facilitated by our consultants at Arahanga for all our focus areas and anyone who may be asked to meet an NZQA reviewer. We’ve captured some really valuable feedback from these sessions which we’re sharing with the teams.
I’ve highlighted 10 key observations from Arahanga below. If you’re in one of the EER focus areas, take the time to read through these points now. It will help you to speak competently and confidently about the great work we’re doing, and show that you know the process, how to achieve success and where we’re making improvements!
- The teams presented in a much more coordinated and confident way in comparison to the IER conversations (internal evaluation review we did in June this year).
- The evaluators heard about some really good things happening around Unitec. On the flip side, some of our information could have been presented in a more positive way.
- Something we are constantly reminding our students that we should do ourselves: make sure you understand the question being asked, or ask for it to be repeated or re-phrased until you understand it, then answer it.
- Self-assessment evidence and improved outcomes brought about by self-assessment activities was patchy. We need to link our commentary to evidence.
- A typical opening question might be, “So how are your students doing?” We need to know what success looks like and how we know our students are successful.
- When using surveys and statistics in response to the questions, be clear about which surveys you are quoting from and know the participation rate. We need to know and own where our data comes from.
- Graduate outcomes are much more than the graduate data survey results. It could be gaining employment, registration, or a place on a higher level qualification. It could be feedback from employers or teaching staff that our graduates are doing well and adding value.
- Speak confidently to our evaluative framework. An example of this would be making links to the Tertiary Evaluation Indictors (TEIs) or the Key Evaluation Questions (KEQs). In other words, be clear about what our information links to. I feel a one-pager coming soon…
- For an ‘in progress’ example, such as explaining initiatives or activities put in place in response to an identified gap or weakness, emphasise the evidence base (the “why”) it gives you confidence of an improved outcome.
- Linked to the previous point, remember KEQs 3-6 are process-related so an example would be PAQCs being reinstated. We know it will improve matters because it has oversight of academic quality at programme level in alignment with previous programme committees.
To everyone that’s not directly involved, your support to date and over the next two weeks is valued. There are a lot of us under significant pressure so whatever you can do to help along the way will be appreciated. If you don’t know what you can do to contribute, ask your manager or send a message to cat1@unitec.ac.nz.
And just a reminder… the EER is our journey to Category 1 – 2020, so what we do now we need to keep doing and to keep supporting each other along the way.
Ngā mihi
Debra Robertson-Welsh
Dean – Health & Community and Environmental & Animal Sciences
15 October 2018
Kia ora whānau
I was reflecting last week on our preparation for external evaluation and review and the panel conversations to come. In that instant I was taken back to my own teacher training days which began some 30 years ago.
The realisation was nothing really changes, and good accomplished learning and teaching continues to rely on self evaluation of one’s own practice. Arguably the biggest difference today is the need to authenticate our self evaluation with evidence and from that articulate clear action plans as to how we aim to improve. Devising effective learning experiences for our tauira is a hard-earned craft and one that calls upon our ability to actively listen, observe, assess, evaluate and respond to tauira as they progress through a course of learning.
As educational practitioners we too reflect, learn and improve, indeed over time my own world view of educational practice has shifted greatly. The craft, that is learning and teaching, has its own apprenticeship and posseses a skillset that needs to be both maintained and grown.
My time with the CIE whanau has certainly reinforced my respect for the ‘craft and apprenticeship’ that underpins teaching and our responsibility in building those intricate skills that construct and define our learners and the impact they will make in their careers.
As we progress into the next few weeks, share your own reflections, know your courses, QA processes and your own tauira stories of success and improvement. Drawing upon your pathway evidence and action plans, know ‘what’s working, what’s not and what actions you have in place’. Most importantly speak confidently about the great work you all do.
Where can you source information about the programmes you are involved in?
- Currently your pathway teams are busily working on their Semester 1 programme evaluative plans (PEP). If you haven’t been involved in pulling those those together, speak with your head of pathway or academic leader.
- The PEP is a core source of important information about your programme and how the team are seeking to maximise student success. Moreover, there may be implications for you and the courses you teach into.
What support can I find in further developing my teaching capability?
- Unitec now offers an excellent opportunity for you to reflect, evaluate and further develop your learning and teaching skills sets by way of the Teacher Capability Development portal on the Nest. If you haven’t had the opportunity, try out the self-evaluation tool.
Where can you assist your network teams in preparation for EER?
- Check your quality assurance processes for each of your courses is complete, that includes moderation, student course evaluations and course evaluative reports
- Familiarise yourself with the key evaluative Questions (KEQs) and Tertiary Evaluative Indicators (TEIs) the latter are the prompts that help you answer KEQs
- Attend key information sessions
- Attend your Cat 1 mock sessions and practice evaluative questioning in team meetings if you have the opportunity.
Ngā mihi
Mark McNeil
Dean Innovation and Development
8 October 2018
Kia ora koutou
Many staff have started to move location at Mount Albert and I thought it was timely to remind ourselves why we are moving.
With the sale of Unitec land to the Crown we are obligated to move out of the central precinct before Christmas (buildings 34, 35, 23, 28 and 41). There was always a plan to move many of our Support Services teams to the old library building, B110 – the Wagener, but then plans were mothballed when we understood the depth of our financial difficulties and weren’t able to go ahead with the planned $10M refurbishment. However, we revived the plan, re-scoped the project and for $260k have completed the capex works – mainly around air-conditioning and IT requirements, allowing us to move up to 250 Support Services staff into the building by the end of November.
Supported Learning is also on the move with the refurbishment of the old Copy Centre next to Te Puna and the old commercial kitchen in B112. Our Supported Learning spaces have long been an embarrassment and I know our students, and their families, will welcome the upgraded facilities in the heart of our campus.
The Small Animals team will move into the vacated prefabs next to B048, while Osteo and Sport will also move by year end.
All of this has only been possible with the wonderful support from the FM and IMS teams who have performed the majority of the work themselves to keep costs to a minimum, instead of hiring contractors. You will find details of all the moves each week in our Nest Teams on the move: Latest update news posts.
As we move out of spaces we are recycling the furniture and moving it to different areas so please don’t think it is surplus to requirements. Leave it in place and it will be collected by FM to be stored and reallocated as requests come in.
As spaces are vacated, please stay where you are and do not move yourselves into different offices. We are already looking at further moves in the New Year and will start preparing for more staff to move into the core precinct which will reduce the spread of our campus and create a strong community focus.
On Wednesday the ELT move into the Wagener building so I’m looking forward to being in the ‘hub’ of student life.
Ngā mihi nui
Mary Johnston
Executive Director People and Safety
1 October 2018
Kia ora koutou
As always, Graduation provided me with a burst of positive energy and an uplifting reminder of what Unitec is all about: helping students make their way successfully in the world. This year I also managed to attend the Pacific graduation celebration which gave me the opportunity to talk to students and their whānau in a more relaxed environment.
Two conversations stood out. The first was with a soon-to-graduate architect who made a point of telling me how much better his learning experience had been at Unitec compared to his first degree at Auckland University, “where you are just a number”. The second was a conversation with the parents of a young Pacific woman who wanted me to know what a huge difference Unitec’s support along the way had made to them as well as to their daughter. Their pride was infectious.
Change is more than an abstract concept; it is always felt at a personal level. These student stories are positive, and something we can all be proud to make happen. But I’m also conscious that the pace and nature of some the current changes affecting staff are more uncertain and potentially distressing.
We are great at delivering personal care to our students. Let’s make sure in this challenging time we extend the same support to our colleagues, and ourselves. Kia kaha.
Ngā mihi
David Glover
Executive Director Partnerships and Acting CFO
24 September 2018
E ngā reo, e ngā mana, e ngā karangaranga maha o te motu, tēnā koutou katoa. Tēnā koutou wāku hoa mahi o tēnei te Whare Wānanga o Wairaka. Ngā mihi nunui ki a koutou mo wo koutou mahi ki te whakareri mo te taenga mai o te rōpū EER.
With the EER coming up much of the focus of our work across Unitec is on how we prepare for the panel’s visit.
Something we have not been very good at has been recording what we do and the impact of that mahi (work). We are collectively learning how to better record and report on what is happening in Networks and Practice Pathways. This is most evident at the Quality Alignment Board (QAB) monthly meetings where Networks/Practice Pathways are reporting on what they are doing to contribute to Māori success.
Congratulations must go out to everyone because what we are now hearing at QAB is the amount of work going on around Unitec. The sharing at QAB means people can hear what others are doing and are starting to pick up on the good ideas and making them part of their own practice. The next part is how do we know it’s working? That there is the challenging bit. Is what we are doing making a difference? How do we know and what evidence do we have that it is?
There is all the data available to us now through Power BI. Here are some ideas of how we can complement that hard data:
- Develop a tracker to measure and note what we do in relation to Māori success – talk to Engineering
- Measure how much we incorporate te ao Māori (Māori world) into our practice in the classroom with the use of theories, models, frameworks, case studies, references, articles, books
- Measure our use of te reo Māori in what we teach and in how we work each and every day
- Welcome all our students and new work colleagues with pōhiri at the marae
- Ensure all our staff attend the new staff orientation and complete Te Rito suite of professional development which is for ALL staff
- Learn about our logo – did you know the graphic is actually two flax leaves crossing each other?
- Complete the Poutama a self-assessment tool designed here at Unitec and use it to plan
- Learn about the ancestor Wairaka after whom this campus and surrounding area (Owairaka – Of Wairaka) is named
- Learn all five principles of Te Noho Kotahitanga and work out what this means for you and your team
- Learn about the Treaty and your responsibility to uphold its principles
- Become familiar with the soon to be released Māori Strategy, Manaakitia Te Rito
Enjoy the journey and know that it is not just about the EER but our ongoing commitment to lifelong learning.
Ngā mihi maioha ki a koutou katoa
Josie Keelan
Dean Teaching and Learning, Matauranga Māori
17 September 2018
Kia ora koutou
There is certainly spring in the air and as I pull together information to update the September Academic Board I am reminded of all the great work that is happening around the Institute and would like to share some of this with you. It is important as quite often we get caught up in the busyness of tasks without taking the time to reflect on our success.
We recently met a big EER milestone with the submission of our self-assessment report to the NZQA evaluators. Thank you to everyone involved who contributed to this.
So we now have less than eight weeks to go before the evaluators are on campus but I’m really happy with how much progress has been made, even though we have a lot more to do yet. I’m working alongside Chris King who is on secondment from his role as Head of Language Studies and we’re supported by Julie Hall from the Projects team
One of our key resources is a tracker that maps out the eight key recommendations the EER made in their 2016 report. It outlines what we’ve done to meet their recommendations, what actions we’ve taken and the data we have to provide evidence of the effectiveness of our actions. I’ve outlined here a summary of these recommendations, including what we said and what we’ve done.
And, in a nutshell, the Quality Alignment Board is hearing updates from Pathways about engagement with Māturanga Māori, Poutama, Te Rito, and our Kaihautū have produced some reports by Networks as evidence for the evaluators. PAQCs are in full swing with lots of actions involving self-assessment and educational performance. Te Korowai Kahurangi have been on overdrive working on the evaluative templates to support our evidence, and as educational practitioners and support services, you are engaging enthusiastically in more and more evaluative conversations and activities.
Our goal is to return to Category 1 by 2020 and this process we’re going through now is about creating a Category 1 culture and sustaining it – the EER review is just part of the journey.
EER impacts everyone at Unitec, the outcome will rely heavily on how we engage with the evaluators so whatever your role is please make sure EER is your #1 priority and talk to your leader if you need some input on what you should be doing now or send a message to cat1@unitec.ac.nz. We are underway with some regular communications to help you understand what the current priorities are and what we should be focusing on now.
Merran has also committed to making sure you’ll be ready for the evaluators when they’re on campus in November for two weeks, and will be meeting with all staff later next month to support you with this.
Ngā mihi
Debra Robertson-Welsh
Dean – Health & Community and Environmental & Animal Sciences
10 September 2018
Kia ora koutou
Tenei te orooro e whakapiki ana e whakakake ana
Ko te orooro o te tipuna, o te tawhito
Takina kia ita
Takina kia mau
Takina kia kaha reo Maori e
Today marks the start of Te Wiki o te Reo Māori – Māori language week. For this years celebration we’re focusing on the theme Kia Kaha te Reo Māori which literally means ‘let’s make the Māori language strong’.
We can all play a part in recognising and strengthening our commitment to Te Wiki o te Reo Māori through simple gestures such as greeting each other with ‘kia ora’ and if you want to learn more, be adventourous and attend one of the many planned events that are being held at Waitakere and Mt Albert campus. Go to the Nest events calendar listing for Te Wiki o te Reo Māori.
Another highlight to acknowledge is the great work our Unitec Early Learning Centre are doing. They’re going from strength to strength as evidenced in the following outstanding results:
- 105 families enrolled across the two centres
- operating at full capacity with a maximum of 103 kids per day suppported by 30 teachers
- a new under 2s room was filled within a week of being opened at the beginning of Semester 2
- the demand continues to increase with at least 2-3 enquiries a week
Congratulations to our Early Learning Centre staff who are doing an outstanding job… tau kē.
Last week the Academic Target Operating Model (ATOM) project was approved so a big thank you to everyone who provided valuable feedback. The ATOM team will continue to work through the more detailed processes to address any concerns regarding final ownership of functions. They will continue to enagage with staff taking into account their preferences before finalising any movements.
On a related note, I also want to acknowledge our Academic Administration and Enrolment teams who have been making a concentrated focus on processing Variation of Enrolments (VoEs). This semester, 95% of VoE’s were processed within a four day timeframe. This really is worth celebrating by all, as we know this can be a real ‘pain point’ for our students.
Finally, I wanted to recognise the great work of our Student Success Career Development team for hosting our annual Volunteer Expo in Te Puna. 17 organisations attended (including ATEED, Volunteer Auckland, MOTAT, OXFAM, Hospice, Forest and Bird, St John and Girl Guides). Many of our students signed up to support one or more of these organisations. It’s great that we were able to connect our students with volunteer organisations as we build a sense of community. Furthermore, many employers look favourably at extra-curricular activities as this as it can be the one thing that sets them apart from other candidates.
We received some outstanding feedback following the event which confirms its value to students. The praise included comments about the “…genuine willingness” of our staff to support the event, the “welcoming environment and assistance”, and a direct tribute to the Career Development team, “…for a tiny team you pack a massive punch!”.
Ngā mihi
Glenn McKay
Tumu Tauwhirowhiro Maori & Exec Director, Student Experience
3 September 2018
Kia ora koutou
It was a significant event in Unitec’s progress towards financial health when Education Minister, the Hon. Chris Hipkins visited our Mt Albert campus and announced financial support for the organisation. There was an audible gasp around the Red Lecture Theatre as he revealed that the government had agreed to a long term loan from the Crown of up to $50 million.
As you might imagine, a lot of background work by many people has gone into getting to this point, and I would like to acknowledge them as a group for all their efforts. The loan is a clear recognition of the important role Unitec plays in the tertiary education sector. The Minister went on to talk about the importance of the ITP sector as a whole, as has the Minister of Finance who recently said he sees ITPs as a critical resource to prepare New Zealand for the future of work. You can tell anyone who’s interested that Unitec will be still be around for quite some while, as we do really important work and have a large student body who needs us.
Of course one of the facts about a loan is eventually you have to pay it back. That’s why the government first wanted to understand our renewal plan and have confidence that we can implement it. Ideally, through our cost reduction measures we will need to borrow much less than the total amount, but will in any case run deficits for both 2018 and 2019, and aim to be back in surplus by 2020.
In the short term there is still a lot we need to do to get the organisation back into a financially healthy state. We’re trying to do this with minimum impact on our academic quality and student experience – not an easy task at all. But the finer details of the renewal plan, including new reporting structures and a reshaped academic portfolio, are coming together quickly and ELT, the Commissioner and TEC are pleased with progress to this point. We realise this is a difficult and disruptive time for many staff, and we are trying to provide clarity and get to the next stage as fast as possible.
Ngā mihi
David Glover
Acting CFO and Executive Director Partnerships, Business Development and Marketing
27 August 2018
Kia ora koutou
It is a privilege to be asked to shout out to my colleagues here at Te Whare Wānanga o Wairaka. Indeed, these days are curiouser and curiouser, yet we just “keep on keepin’ on”; finding ways to adapt, contributing ideas, being sanguine in the face of tricky times; kia kaha Unitec, arohanui. Here’s a few things to re-focus you, from our recent research achievements and the prospects that they provide.
Unitec recently submitted 128 Performance Based Research Funding (PBRF) portfolios and will reach its 30% target of rated staff. Five Unitec people are serving on the prestigious PBRF Review Panels, more than the rest of the sector put together. You contributed to a team that allowed this to happen. There is real heart here, it’s what makes this kind of collective effort tick, team work that facilitates excellence to shine where resources are tight.
Last month’s ITP Maori Innovation Symposium, Ka Rewa, is another highlight. Attended by over 180 people from across the motu, speakers gave insights into the outstanding innovations in te ao Māori including offsite visits to places such as Te Puea Memorial Marae which partners with Unitec (we co-lead the remarkable Science Challenge funded Manaaki o te Marae project), seeking answers on how marae can be effective in assisting with housing issues in Aotearoa. The success of the symposium reaffirms that research into Māori Housing is the best third Strategic Research Focus for us, with the tremendous capability we have.
Chief Science Adviser Juliet Gerrard visited Unitec a few weeks ago and met staff and students in two of our more established foci: the Centre for Computational Intelligence and Cybersecurity led by Professor Christian Probst, director of the High Tech Transdisciplinary Research Network (about to launch its innovation framework), and the Applied Molecular Solutions focus led by Associate Professor Dan Blanchon.
Unitec is placed to take a lead in fulfilling the potential of our sector to help provide the untapped R&D expertise that we have to iwi, community and industry in New Zealand.
Mauri ora
Marcus Williams
Dean Research and Enterprise – Tūāpapa Rangahau; Partnering Research and Enterprise
20 August 2018
Kia ora koutou
It has been a big month at Unitec and with the sharing of the Renewal Plan, and proposed changes, many of you may be left feeling upset and unsettled. There are everyday choices we can make individually and collectively to help us move through this time and to ensure we are well supported, and are actively supporting each other. We have our own personal networks of family, friends and work colleagues but also have services in place at Unitec to support us including –
- Employee Assistance Programme (EAP): A professional and confidential service paid for by Unitec which provides psychological help. It is available for all staff experiencing personal or work related difficulties. CALL 0800 327 669 – available 24/7
- Conciliator – Glenda Grant: By appointment for confidential and impartial advice, phone 815 4321 ext 7339
- Unitec Chaplaincy and Multi-Faith Service: An inclusive and holistic approach to spirituality. A confidential listening presence and support of everyday matters, or for times of transition, stress or crisis. Mt Albert – chaplains@unitec.ac.nz; Waitakere – waitakchap@unitec.ac.nz
- Puukenga – a space for all staff and students: Nau mai, Haere mai! This whare (B171) operates under a kaupapa Māori korowai. We invite you to have your lunch here, make yourself a cup of tea, or play the guitars in the atrium. You can also hang out by the puna, sit on a log next to the Pā Harakeke or simply just take some time to sit and reflect by Ngākau Māhaki our wharenui. Check the daily events board at the entrance of Puukenga or ask the kaiawhina at reception for info on what’s on
It might also be useful to know about two initiatives that were started in response to issues raised in the Staff Engagement survey:
- Tūkinotanga: This initiative has focused on raising awareness and understanding of what bullying, harassment and other poor behaviours look and feel like. It is important that staff and students are aware of what support and processes are in place for anyone who feels that they are experiencing these behaviours. A range of posters has been created that you may have noticed in meeting rooms and teaching spaces across campuses. We’ve also started a campaign on the Nest – refer to the post below.Our Equity & Inclusion Manager, Sonya Collie, runs countering bullying and harassment workshops that are open to all staff. You can register for one of these via the What’s On calendar listing on the Nest. She is also meeting with Academic Networks and Service Groups to explain Tūkinotanga and look at how teams can engage with the initiative. If you’d like Sonya to come to your team meeting please contact her – scollie@unitec.ac.nz
- Our Wellness programme features fast, fun and affordable activities and events – all great opportunities to take a little time out, connect and better care for our physical and mental health. Yoga, Tai Chi and Mindfulness help you reconnect with your breath and also learn about other cultures. Circuit training, boxing, e-bike tours and Futsal gets you moving and provides a fun team environment. Coming up in September we bring back massages, there’s a blood donation drive, the popular STEPtember challenge and Te Wiki o te Reo Māori inspired events. Many of these initiatives are run by staff for staff, so if you or any of your team have something they would like to offer or share, please get in touch – connect@unitec.ac.nz
Also coming up is a new Domestic Violence Policy. This has been drafted and will be on the Nest for consultation shortly. Unitec recognises the need to support both staff and students who are impacted by domestic violence and this policy intends to formalise that support. One of the ways is by providing special leave allocation and short-term flexible changes to study and/or work arrangements.
Unitec is going through extraordinary times and it is the drawing together, support and care for each other that will get us through. Please look out for your colleagues and yourselves, and use the support systems we have in place, as together we work to renew Unitec.
Ngā mihi
Mary Johnston
Executive Director People and Safety
13 August 2018
Kia ora koutou
Positive Consequences – insights into our Business, Enterprise & High Technology Networks successes
At the heart of all we do is student learning. While there’s a lot going on around Unitec, it’s good to take the time to acknowledge the ongoing focus of our people whose determined efforts result in real improvements in our teaching quality and outcomes for our learners.
Unitec students are developing skills and knowledge which aligns with their future employment aspirations. They stand amongst the best and our teachers stand alongside them.
Our Creative Industries students are winning awards, competing amongst other Auckland major art institutions and in our Business Management Pathway, we are seeing seeing industry-based learning students being snapped up with job offers from their host organisations.
We’re working closely with industry to identify what skills are required in the future and to inform our course design to ensure students gain qualifications which have relevancy to the future of work.
The Business Marketing Pathway has a newly developed Inbound Marketing course and has received great feedback from students.The High Technology Network is preparing for an Open Day with industry set to join us and we’re also establishing a partnership with the Waipareira Trust team to collaborate on a virtual reality project to support mental health – a big win for Unitec.
We’ve also got Microsoft on campus next month for the software giant’s international data technology event, and that’s shortly after we start our online short course based on Apple’s ‘Everyone Can Code’ curricula, delivered by Unitec and iOS developers from Datacom.
Alongside these great achievements, the networks are demonstrating leadership in support of our financial sustainability, driving recruitment of new students and achieving positive results.
During the school holidays Creative Industries ran PASA winter workshops, with fantastic turnouts for the costume design, dance, acting, and film sessions. Many attendees left wanting to audition or enrol for 2019. Business has reported enrolments up 5 percent in the Bachelor of Business, and the High Technology team have partnered with Bridgepoint to deliver workshops for a local Māori high school, with the aim of boosting student numbers in the long term.
All this and the Networks are still finding time to focus on quality processes with an eye on the EER review later this year.
It’s impressive to see staff so dedicated to demonstrating their currency with industry, improving our teaching and learning capability, all while working to meet the EER requirements and in the face of significant challenges for the sector and Unitec.
Ngā mihi
Murray Bain
Dean Business & Enterprise and High Technology
6 August 2018
Kia ora koutou
We are all aware that everyone at Unitec is facing some extraordinary times at the moment. This was acknowledged by our new Commissioner Murray Strong at his pōhiri and also by Minister Hipkins in the message of support that Murray delivered on his behalf.
The importance of what we do and the students we serve is widely acknowledged, and we all want to see a Unitec that is on the road to financial recovery, with a renewed sense of hope. To get there will require some difficult decisions and Merran and the ELT are working as quickly as we can to bring greater clarity for people on what those decisions are and might mean.
It was great to see so many staff attend the recent presentations of the plan for renewal. It’s important to reach a shared understanding of our challenges and the way ahead. Engagement was high and there were insightful questions about a range of issues at the meetings. A lot of the feedback we received was that, while the messages were not the ones we would hope for, it was clearly articulated and people now understand the situation far better.
In my new role as Interim CFO I am working with ELT and others to quickly get us to the next stage of clarity. Cost centre owners are all actively reviewing where savings can logically come from, and major activities like the ATOM project (Academic Targeted Operating Model) and assessment of our academic portfolio are well under way.
What has struck me, and given me great hope and even pride, is the mature and collegial way in which you have responded to the challenge. We welcome your ideas, we value your contributions, we need your help.
Ngā mihi
David Glover
Acting CFO and Executive Director Partnerships, Business Development and Marketing
30 July 2018
Kia ora koutou
It was great to see a good turnout at Tū Arotake · Checkpoint a couple of weeks ago. We talked a lot there about the results of our recent Internal Evaluation Review (IER) so if you missed it, you can catch up on the key messages in this one-minute video summary.
During the panel discussion, I shared a snapshot of the key themes from the IER and how they are informing an action plan. The top row identified the focus areas and the left hand column the feedback from the ten evaluators: five internal and five external. While this snapshot is only a sample of the full list of themes, you can see from the coloured blocks that there were many times when the feedback was similar for different focus areas.
We’re now developing an action plan to address the findings.
For example, the top two themes relate to the way we use data here in general. While we collect lots of it, we don’t consistently evaluate the data and use the findings to make improvements. Remember from Kickstart at the beginning of the year that one of the seven habits of a Category 1 institute is to “Self-Reflect, using valid evidence, within a culture of continuous improvement”.
So, in relation to data, we’ll run a data boot camp to coincide with the Semester 1 PEP exercise. Another action is to benchmark against other providers, which is something we did earlier with Nursing. Josie and Niko have also provided rich data relating to Māori and Pacific success for teams to work with at the pathway and network level.
Planning actions against the recommendations is a useful exercise to increase our capability in self-assessment. What I’ve observed over the last six months is that we’re slowly becoming more comfortable with the concept, although it can be challenging at first. Often the first response to a conversation about evaluating ourselves is: who will see this and what else will it be used for?
Most of our teaching staff are currently going through another self-assessment exercise, this time against the teaching competencies. That self-assessment tool helps to inform honest discussions around development needs, but the detail is not for wider use. As with NZQA’s requirements for self-assessment, the purpose is for us to develop accurate self-evaluative capability so that we know how good we are and what our areas for improvement are. Then, individually and as an organisation, we can plan and act accordingly.
Finally, the consistent question I get from teaching staff is: What can I do right now? My response is to make sure that your grades are in, work on your course evaluations and engage with data to strengthen your PEPs.
Ngā mihi
Debra Robertson-Welsh
Dean – Health & Community, Environmental & Animal Sciences
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
23 July 2018
Matariki: The Maori New Year
The seven stars of the Pleiades (Matariki) – Te kete kōputu a Matariki, which refers to the heaped up basket of Matariki – are seen in the skies above Aotearoa during the month of May until late June. Traditionally, this is the period of time referred to as the Māori new year. It is a time to reflect upon the previous year and plan for the next.
Staying with the Matariki theme I want to highlight the Ka Rewa Māori Innovation: 2018 ITP Research Symposium held here on our marae, Te Noho Kotahitanga. The symposium was attended by 180 participants from across the ITP sector and focused on the importance of engagement in reciprocal relationships with Māori stakeholders, community organisations and businesses. The proverbial saying associated with this year’s symposium ‘Ko te kāhu te whakaoranga o te pitomata’ which translated talks about the Kāhu being symbolic of our potential – so let it soar! This demonstrates Unitec’s ongoing commitment to innovation and realising our potential as a tertiary provider. We have received outstanding feedback following the symposium so let us celebrate the excellent work of the organising committee and our marae team for their outstanding contribution and manaaki of our guests.
In recent weeks I have been working alongside our Māori staff and Rūnanga members to renew our Māori success strategy. Although the strategy is not yet complete – the ideas that have been generated through our wānanga have left us excited about the potential of our future – even in these challenging times we must continue to have an eye on the future.
As an update to my previous blog, I mentioned the great work undertaken by UPC and their recent engagement with Hoani Waititi, Waiorea kura which is already starting to return real benefits with students enrolling in some of our programmes. Likewise, we have received some real positive comments following our sponsorship arrangement with Ngā Manu Korero ki Waitemata and our visible presence back in the community.
Looking forward now, I recently announced the appointment of Annette Pitovao as Director – Student Success and Rowena Fuluifaga as Manager – Learning and Achievement. Annette joins us on Monday 23 July and Rowena’s start date is confirmed as 10 August. In the original announcement I detailed the wealth of experience that each of them brings to their roles and I also acknowledged the valuable contributions of both Moira Fraser (Library Director) and Verity Jade (General Manager – Student Experience).
Finally, our Ngā Kaitiaki group, the “guardians of the universe and especially Wairaka universe” as Whaea Lynda calls them, are running a series of activities in August. As part of the build up to Te Wiki o Te Reo, you can try Yoga in the Wharenui, help with a working bee and restore our Wairaka stream, reveal your talents at an Open Mic night, and or come to a session to learn more about the history and land of Wairaka. Keep an eye on the Nest for more information about this kaupapa.
Ngā mihi
Glenn McKay
Tumu Tauwhirowhiro Maori & Exec Director, Student Experience
16 July 2018
Kia ora koutou
The Te Puna Ako team has been working for about 18 months on a new approach to teacher professional development that is more responsive to our teachers’ needs and that better recognises existing expertise. The team has done an amazing job and the end product reflects all their hard work, with some fantastic support from the Organisational Development team.
It may take a bit of time for teachers to understand the new approach because it upends our previous model for professional development. Essentially, we are focusing on teacher ownership of outcomes and evidence, such as improved results for students, and teacher control of the process of upskilling. To put it another way, it’s a learner-centred approach.
We’ve established a set of Unitec Teacher Competencies based on NZQA’s key evaluation questions that Category 1 organisations need to meet . You can self-evaluate against those Competencies, then make decisions about what professional development you should undertake. Where you already have a particular competency, all you need to do is furnish the relevant evidence in order get recognition in the form of ‘digital credentials’ or ‘badges’.
Where upskilling is required, you can tackle it in the way that works best for you – individually or in teams, as part of your day-to-day work, and with or without TPA support. Again, all that’s required is evidence of the outcomes.
Over time, this process will support teachers to develop strong self-evaluative capability, which is also a core element of EER and the goal of Category 1.
We’re working to ensure that digital credentials (‘badges’) support Assessment of Prior Learning applications for teaching qualifications, and, in future, teachers’ promotion applications. We also expect to see this approach being adopted by other teams who provide staff professional development at Unitec. It’s an exciting set of developments that will better support teachers and our focus on building our Category 1 culture.
Ngā mihi
Simon Nash
Director Ako & Te Miro Postgraduate and Te Korowai Kahurangi
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9 July 2018
Kia ora koutou
As we come to the end of another very busy semester a real highlight for the Bridging Education and Language Studies Pathway teams was the great feedback they received post our recent Internal Evaluative Review. The external facilitators noted our strong focus on student success, our innovative and caring approach to student pastoral care, and the overall passion and commitment of all staff!
Although there are still things we can improve on, this is very encouraging as it supports our overall kaupapa of providing our communities with well-supported learning pathways, which lead our students onto further study and employment.
Our Network focus will continue to be on student success, a great student experience supported by strong pastoral care, and ensuring our academic quality practices are implemented right across our various programmes. It’s very pleasing to see our student numbers remain strong and enrolments for semester two are building nicely.
Our online, pre-entry Police Studies course continues to flourish with very strong student numbers and student success rates of 95% plus. Our relationship with the NZ Police and the Royal NZ Police College continues to strengthen. An example of this is the current Year 13 programme we are trialling with a small cluster of secondary schools, local Iwi and the NZ Police – a potential model to roll out nationwide.
The UPC team are busy with secondary school visits and holiday workshops, ongoing development and success in our NCEA-aligned Level 2 and 3 Vocational Pathway courses delivered here onsite, and numerous other engagement activities designed to create experiences for potential future students.
Our Supported Learning team continues to deliver excellent outcomes for their students, and their families/whanau and community. The recently opened Free4U site in Birkenhead has seen a very positive lift in community engagement and overall student numbers.
Finally, I would like to thank everyone in our Network and feel very fortunate to work alongside such a fantastic team of professional, dedicated and committed people who strive daily to help our students realise their true potential.
Ngā mihi
Nick Sheppard
Dean – Innovation and Development
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2 July 2018
Kia ora koutou
With the recent changes at the ELT level, I’m now responsible for the FM team and our property portfolio. Clint Hill and I have been working closely with FM on two main priorities: managing costs and moving more teams at Mt Albert into the core campus area.
The next phase of office moves will affect teams in Buildings 23, 28, 34-36 and 41. We’re planning to reopen the old library, B110; this lovely old building can hold up to 250 people. Once plans are finalised over the next few weeks we’ll share the details with the affected teams. I’m also looking forward to seeing the Pacific Centre move to Te Puna next month so that it’s located in the heart of our student population. We hope to have the fale moved soon from near Building 1 to be near the new Pacific Centre.
We’re working on completing the air conditioning project at Waitakere and will also be upgrading the Cardax access system. Although we’re under considerable financial constraint, we’re prioritising critical Health and Safety spend and also being strategic about maintenance spend. We’re reviewing all of our property-related expenses and I’d like to ask everyone to do their bit to help by turning off lights when you leave a room, checking heaters at the end of the day and closing windows and doors to keep the heat in.
The other topic I’m often asked about is the work that’s been done in response to our employee survey results. Most teams now have plans in place that were informed by last year’s staff engagement survey. We’ve also sent HoPPs, Deans and other senior leaders their recent Pulse Survey results so they can see the progress that’s been made during the first half of the year. A theme that came through on the recent Pulse Survey was career development. The ADEP Plan is the key tool for Performance Partnering for all staff and is also one of the key mechanisms for capturing, monitoring and reporting on progress around teacher capability for EER. Currently we have 64% completion of ADEP plans so please make this a priority to complete over the next month.
One of the key actions we’ve taken as an ELT is to increase our level of communication, both formal and informal, including attending the new weekly Karakia and hui in the wharenui (we’re also setting up a regular hui at Waitakere) to share information and answer questions. The first one was held last Monday and I’m continually impressed by the commitment and energy shown as we work together to address the challenges we are facing.
Ngā mihi nui
Mary Johnston
Executive Director People and Safety
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25 June 2018
Kia ora koutou
I thought I’d use my first newsletter intro to give you a quick update on our Category 1 project. Although I’m Dean Health and Community, and Environmental and Animal Sciences, since May I’ve been seconded to lead the Cat 1 project.
Over the last couple of months, I’ve been working very closely with Chris King on the PEP, EER 101 and IER workshops. Attendees have told us that they got more out of the workshop when they attend as a discipline or team, rather than booking a place individually. We’re still running EER sessions so if you’d like to book one for your team, please email Julie Hall.
Another recent focus, particularly for Chris, was our Internal Evaluative Review (IER). We worked very closely with Arahanga Associates to conduct this authentic self-assessment exercise. It was modelled on the approach that the NZQA will use for our EER in November and provides a useful measure of how we’re tracking. The lead evaluators from Arahanga are all well experienced in the ITP sector as well as in leading EERs, consistency reviews and programme approval and accreditations, so we’ve learnt a lot from this process.
The results from this internal review will also form part of the self-assessment report that we need to send the NZQA in August with an overview of our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities for improvement and evaluation of actions taken as a result.
A big thanks to the 12 teams who were involved in the review. There were some really positive findings. The evaluators commented that they found staff to be very engaged with the process. They also said that we have some great things happening across Unitec that should be shared better to strengthen our student centred approach. In particular, we presented some really good examples in response to Key Evaluation Question 3: “How well do programme design and delivery, including learning and assessment, match the needs of students and other stakeholders?”
However, there are still some things that we need to work on such as consistent processes, a single source of truth in our data, and looking forward instead of backwards in relation to Unitec’s journey.
Each team who took part will get a detailed feedback report at the end of this month and we’ll share more information about what went well, what didn’t go so well, and things we should change with all staff after that.
The Cat 1 Rōpū team is making good progress overall – you can keep up with what’s happened and what’s still underway with our plan on a page. There are more workshops coming relating to self-assessment activities, gathering relevant evidence and sharing our strengths, so watch this space….
Ngā mihi
Debra Robertson-Welsh
Dean – Health and Community, Environmental and Animal Sciences
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18 June 2018
Kia ora koutou
Many of you will have read in the media about the various reviews the new government has recently commissioned across the education sector. Two of particular interest to Unitec are the Ministry of Education’s review of the vocational education sector and the Tertiary Education Commission’s Roadmap 2020 project.
The MoE review is taking a look at the current and potential future provision of vocational education, including the role of ITPs, PTEs and ITOs. A couple of weeks ago we had our firstmeeting with the review team and the conversation traversed a wide range of subjects including the future of work, funding, the reasons for the drop in ITP enrolments, and potential new educational models and approaches. More engagement will happen in due course and at this stage it seems likely that the review will report back early in 2019. The MoE has produced a document that provides more information.
Moving a little faster is the TEC Roadmap 2020 project commissioned by Education Minister the Hon. Chris Hipkins. This is focused on finding a sustainable financial model for the ITP sector, an urgent concern given recent annual reports showing that a large number of them (including Unitec) are facing major financial challenges as enrolments have continued to decline over multiple years.
The Cabinet paper that initiated the project emphasises that a viable ITP system needs to meet the needs of learners locally but also provide greater efficiencies of scale and quality. This is not an easy balance to achieve. TEC is charged with presenting options back to government by the end of the year, and is taking a highly consultative approach with the sector to make sure all ideas are put on the table.
Our Chair Dr Lee Mathias, Merran and I have already attended a number of meetings both with TEC and the CEs of other ITPs. The outcome of the review will undoubtedly affect us and, as the largest ITP, we want to make sure we are at the table when the important issues are being discussed.
TEC will be visiting Unitec on 28 June and staff will be invited to attend an open meeting to be briefed further.
We’ll keep you posted on future developments as they arise. In the meantime you can read more information about the Roadmap project.
Ngā mihi
David Glover
Executive Director – Partnerships
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11 June 2018
E ngā mana, e ngā reo, rau rangatira mā… tēnā koutou kātoa
Today marks my four-month anniversary at Unitec and I’m astounded by the changes that have occurred in such a relatively short time. While there has been much to celebrate, we also have some significant challenges that we will need to face as a collective. There is a Māori proverb that states ‘he waka eke noa’ – we are all in this together! On that note, I am confident we have the right people in the organisation to ensure our waka is on the right course.
Speaking of being in it together, we recently had the privilege of co-hosting the National Māori Nurses Hui with Te Mahurehure Marae. Over 100 participants attended the conference from all corners of Aoteraoa. Special acknowledgement must go to our lecturers and nursing students, who where also recognised by the President of National Council of Māori Nurses for their commitment and contribution to the conference.
On a similar note, I want to acknowledge the recent activity undertaken by our Unitec Pathways College (UPC) team. As part of our engagement work with kura kaupapa schools, in May we welcomed 40 students from Waiōrea (Western Springs College) and Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Haoni Waititi as guests of our Tech Week initiative. Our UPC team and lecturing staff did an outstanding job representing Unitec, and the success of the event has led to further conversations on how we can collaborate on future initiatives – watch this space.
Last week we sponsored the Ngā Manu Kōrero ki te Waitemata regionals, a national secondary school speech competition held at Ngati Whatua o Orakei Marae. We had a stand on site and profiled our programmes to staff and students from 150 participating schools. I’m also excited to confirm our support for KATTI – ‘Kei a tātou te ihi’, an important initiative established in 2002 that helps young Māori achieve at school and provides a seamless transition to tertiary study. In 2017, KATTI engaged over 768 year 10 to year 13 students from 172 schools across Auckland.
Recently we announced a number of changes to the Student Experience and Library teams by joining them together under the banner of Student Success. Having one team and one leader will ensure a more efficent and seamless experience for our students by providing a more integrated approach.
Finally, we’re hosting the Māori Innovation Symposium, 10-11 July. The overarching theme is Ka Rewa, with a focus on:
• Whai Rawa: Māori Economies
• Te Tai Ao: The Natural Environment
• Mauri Ora: Human Flourishing
The keynote speakers are Panapa Ehau, founder of Hikurangi Enterprises and Professor Linda Waimarie Nikora, Co-Director of Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga. I encourage you to attend if you are interested in Māori Innovation.
Nāku iti
Glenn McKay
Tumu Tauwhirowhiro Māori & Director of Student Experience
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5 June 2018
Kia ora koutou
We’ve been sharing a lot of information recently about what we’re doing to return Unitec to a financially sustainable position. As you can imagine, I’m very focused on that goal and my team is working hard to support the rest of the Exec and wider leadership team through their decision making.
Often the Finance function operates behind the scenes but the recent messages from Alastair are a good reminder of the need for everyone to understand more of the detail of our financial position and how we each contribute to the bottom line. My team is doing everything we can to support that and help budget-holders make informed decisions. The recent simplification of the Delegated Financial Authority (DFA) structure is just one example – that’s about making it much clearer who is able to sign off on different levels of financial commitment on behalf of Unitec.
But there are other things occupying me and my team as well. We’re heavily involved in the Category 1 project, particularly through all the work that Kay Bramley and her team is doing. Some of the key areas of focus are outlined below.
- We have been building a new Academic Dashboard in Power BI that lets us see easily how we are tracking with success and retention compared to prior years, as well as priority group statistics. This will be rolled out for use as part of the Academic Quality workstream.
- Course and lecturer evaluations are rolling out across all networks. This very large piece of work will result in consistent methodologies used across Unitec. This is the first time we have done something of this magnitude, and we’ll use what we’ve learnt from it in Semester 2. The BI team are working closely with Simon Nash and the Learning and Teaching team.
- Student satisfaction / NPS reports are being completed and delivered to networks. These will be available over the next two weeks. These can be viewed in Power BI as well as the Power point deliverable.
- The Staff Pulse Survey results have been shared with staff and show positive change in many areas.
- We are still working on the Graduate Survey results, however we hope to share this with the networks in the next month.
Ngā mihi
Graeme Archer
Chief Financial Officer
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28 May 2018
Kia ora koutou
Currently I’m joining various Pathway team meetings which I do a few times a year. I always enjoy meeting and talking to staff who I do not see as often as I would like. Due to our challenging financial position and strong focus on returning to Category 1, staff have many curly questions and we are having some interesting discussions.
Plans for ongoing campus development is also a hot topic and it is clear that staff would like the opportunity to use their expertise and have more input into future plans. I acknowledge this and it is the right time to take stock of where we are at. At this stage, we aren’t in a position to formulate concrete plans for the buildings that we will need to have here in three years’ time. But please be assured that we will be working with staff as we develop these plans to understand what each team’s learning environment needs will be.
Also top of my mind is the sad news of the sudden terminal lung cancer diagnosis for a beloved staff member from Bridgepoint, Michele Spijkerbosh. Michele has worked in Language Studies at Unitec for over 10 years and is a star teacher in our NZCEL Programme (literally – she was voted most generous colleague and awarded an actual gold star). Michele’s best chance to survive longer is Keytruda, a hugely expensive drug that is currently not funded for lung cancer. If you feel you could help Michele and her three amazing teenage boys, please contribute to the givealittle page.
I am privileged to be the guest speaker at the Women in Leadership function here at Unitec on Thursday 31 May. I am dedicating this to Michele with a collection on the night so please get along and support that too. All women welcome: RSVP to Lynnette Brown by 12pm Wednesday (for catering purposes). If you haven’t received the invitation from Mary and would like to hear about the future Women in Leadership events, email Lynnette and she’ll add you to the database.
Ngā mihi
Merran Davis
Executive Dean – Academic
Kia ora koutou
Last year, upon arriving home on one spring afternoon, I collected the mail and noted with much curiosity an envelope that was entitled ‘Personal Confidential’ along with the Government House Insignia. I opened the letter and was overcome with excitement, and disbelief to read that I had been recommended for an appointment as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit. On the 8 September I received congratulations of my appointment in recognition of my services to Maori and Education, and on 8 December I received from the Governor General the Queen’s official approval of the appointment.
Then on 30 December 2017 the New Year’s Honours List was published. Imagine how I felt, to wait patiently, and not tell a soul until publication. It was indeed a forgone conclusion according to our daughter Lisa, that I had to go to Wellington to receive the award, along with our immediate whanau. I am extremely grateful to Lisa for insisting that Wellington would be the venue.
Tuesday 15 May at 9:15 am we arrive at Government House. Security is very prominent. Government House stands majestically among the beautiful gardens, manicured lawns and bush clad surrounds. There is much excitement in the air as recipients and their families all arrive for the special event.
The ceremony itself was very regal, colourful and so appropriately laced with Aotearoa flavour. The ‘karanga’ and the ‘karakia’ for me personally, endorsed the mana, the mauri of the house, the artworks, the photos, the protocols and the history. The Governor General adding a wonderful atmosphere that made all recipients and their families feel very comfortable indeed.
An awesome event that my family and I will treasure for ever. I dedicated this award to my mum and dad who made huge sacrifices that enabled me to carve a future pathway in Education and Maori. To my wife Mary who has been my inspirational pillar over the past 50 years, and finally, my sincere thanks to Unitec for nominating me for this award.
Mauri Ora!
Hare Paniora
Pae Arahi
Hare at his Investiture (front row – second from the right)
14 May 2018
Kia ora koutou
I know you’re all working incredibly hard either delivering teaching and learning or supporting this core activity. Returning to a Category 1 status is at the forefront of everything we are doing. Understanding how our staff feel about working here is key and a staff ‘pulse’ survey was sent out last week to check in on how things are with you. The majority of teams have action plans in place and have been working to address concerns that were raised in the 2017 staff engagement survey. We need to know if your views have changed and gather current feedback so I encourage you to complete this short survey and provide us with this information – it only takes 5 minutes.
Our Performance Partnering process using your ADEP (Achieve, Develop, Enjoyable, Partner) plan, is our primary mechanism for ensuring we are performing to the best of our individual and collective ability. This process is particularly critical to support and enable us to build a culture of reflective practice and continuous improvement – key habits of Category 1 education providers. To ensure we are all playing our part, you should by now have:
- ‘Closed the loop’ on 2017 by completing and uploading your Review of Achievements for 2017. This ensures we are reflecting on our performance, recognising achievement and celebrating success.
- Completed and uploaded your ADEP plan for 2018, using your team diamond and the self-assessment tool for leadership competencies, to help target your goals and development efforts.
At the moment only 24% of staff have completed their 2017 review and 57% their 2018 ADEP plan. Please contact your HR Business Partner if you have questions or need help with this process.
This Friday 18 May we will be celebrating Pink Shirt Day which we have marked for the last five years. This is about working together to stop bullying by celebrating diversity and promoting positive social relationships. Creating a learning and teaching community where all people feel safe, valued and respected, regardless of age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, ability, race or culture is a priority. Pink Shirt Day provides us each with the opportunity to choose to ‘speak up, stand up and stop bullying’. Let’s all dig out our pink gear and wear it this Friday.
Thank you for your commitment to Unitec as we work together through challenging times. Increasing enrolments for Semester 2 over the next several weeks is our biggest priority while we engage in our work toward returning to Category 1 status.
Ngā mihi nui
Mary Johnston
Executive Director People and Safety
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30 April 2018
Kia ora koutou
I’ve been reminded a few times lately why some employers prefer to hire our graduates in preference to traditional university graduates. This is because they know from first-hand that we provide a practical programme of applied learning which prepares students for working life. For us student success is not just about gaining a qualification, it’s also going on to achieve your goals in the real world.
This was underlined for me at Graduation the other week. Once again the sheer diversity of our student population reminded me that each one has a deeply personal reason for studying. Many have made considerable sacrifices to reach graduation day. We heard from past students about how they had progressed since leaving, and our Student President Matalena and others spoke about how the real journey was now starting for our graduates.
At the heart of our promise to our students is the notion of better jobs, better careers, better lives. The challenge for us is to ensure our teaching content, delivery models and student support all stay connected to the changing workplace and wider environment. One way we do this is to make sure we talk to employers about their evolving needs and the pressures they face. They have told us they want to recruit staff who are “work ready” – not only with the right technical skills and domain knowledge, but also the so-called soft skills: the abilities to collaborate, negotiate and communicate. These and other contemporary competencies are being baked into our new programmes as the academic programme redesign rolls out.
IBM recently told us that two of their highest performing graduate recruits came from Unitec. Several students who were working part-time for Concentrix during their study have now gone on to successful careers with the company. There’s also an Auckland logistics company that prefers to recruit its supply chain managers from our Bachelor of Business programme. The Police have entrusted us with training their new recruits because they see us as a practical, quality partner.
We have our fans, but we need more. All of us have connections to other workplaces and can engage and better understand the needs of employers. At the same time please promote Unitec’s keen desire to support them.
Ngā mihi
David Glover
Executive Director – Partnerships
_______________________
23 April 2018
Kia ora koutou
In the wake of the recent land sale announcement, I thought it would be a good opportunity to use this column to summarise the property journey that the Wairaka Land Company has led over the past five years.
In 2013, Unitec developed a strategic property plan to deliver a programme of development and enhancement to its Mount Albert site. The strategy stated that in order to remain competitive in the tertiary market, we needed to invest in contemporary applied learning and an efficient operating model, while consolidating the existing campus with modern facilities. This strategy achieved two key milestones – the opening last year of Mataaho and Te Puna, and then last month the sale of surplus land to the Crown.
These recent events have been the result of a significant journey to unlock these opportunities. In late 2013, Unitec began the journey with its participation in the Auckland Unitary Plan process. We requested the necessary zoning changes to provide housing and outlined a set of transport, green space and heritage ideas for the long-term development of Wairaka. After three years of participation in the process including evidence generation, public hearings and community engagement, Auckland Council approved the Unitary Plan in August 2016. This set the stage for a truly unique development in the city of Auckland and New Zealand
Around the same time, Unitec created the Wairaka Land Company (WLC) to further enable the Unitec transformation from a property perspective. The establishment of WLC delineated the development activities of the precinct from the Unitec business.
This was necessary due to the complexity, dedicated resourcing required and stand-alone market engagement needed – all of which was not core to Unitec’s purpose of providing world-class, applied tertiary education.
In addition to its work on the Unitary Plan, WLC developed a precinct master plan, managed urban planning/design, due diligence, market engagement and stakeholder engagement.
It also provided programme management, development and construction management services to Unitec to complete the two new state-of-the-art buildings that serve as the foundation of a modern campus located within a wider mixed-use precinct. Mataaho, and Te Puna were officially opened on 23 August 2017.
With the core campus coming to new life, Unitec and WLC entered into an agreement with Government to sell 29 hectares of surplus land. This ends an important chapter for WLC, as future land development decisions will now lie with the Crown.
I would like to personally thank the Wairaka Land Company team for all their work over the last several years; efforts which have added a huge amount of value to Unitec. I sincerely hope that Te Puna and Mataaho will provide an enjoyable space for students and staff to enjoy and that their full potential is realised for the benefit of generations to come.
For more than four years it’s been our mission to create the environment for an exemplar for high quality, mixed-use placemaking that is the future of Auckland. We couldn’t be prouder of what we’ve accomplished together.
Ngā mihi
Will Smith
CE – Wairaka Land Company
________________________
16 April 2018
Kia ora koutou
The Finance team has just about completed the year-end financial accounts preparation and audit. The recently announced land sale has made the work streams more complex than normal so the team is looking forward to getting back to their BAU work!
Kay Bramley and her Business Intelligence team have been focused on finalising our EFTS position after the intake one enrolment and we’ll share a summary of that soon. They’re also working hard to support our category 1 initiatives.
We’re now resetting our bank funding arrangements and updating our forecast and budget to capture the impacts of the lower than expected semester one EFTS and the cost reduction offsets that we hope to secure.
We expect to have the TEC here with us in May to complete their regular review of the key processes that interface directly with them. Radha Gounder, our Audit and Risk Manager, is working closely with the relevant parts of the business to help them prepare for the TEC’s visit.
Ngā mihi
Graeme Archer
Chief Financial Officer
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9 April 2018
Kia ora koutou
Just about everyone will be involved in some aspect of our Category 1 work by now and when you read the recent Nest post you get a very clear view of how much we’re doing to respond to the NZQA’s feedback in our last EER.
I know it can feel overwhelming but we’re gearing up for an Independent Evaluation Review (IER) in the first two weeks of June, which will help us assess what areas we need to focus on between then and the formal EER in November. June’s IER will be run by Arahanga Associates in exactly the same way as the formal review process so it will involve people from right across Unitec. The first step is determining 12 focus areas, which will be based both on our previous EER report and our own evaluation of what areas are likely to be involved in our November EER. I’ll be in touch with more information shortly.
We’ll also keep the EER page on the Nest up-to-date with all the latest news and information, so that’s a good starting point to find more information about the EER process and our Category 1 project.
Another hot topic I’ve been talking to lots of teams about is the likely impact of the recent land sale on our staff and students, and programmes of learning. I understand that some of you are concerned that some of the implications around the timelines, relocation and building plans are less defined than you would like, but I honestly see this as a good opportunity for all ideas and discussions to be revisited. As the Government shares the details of their development plans, we’ll be able to have more conversations here to inform our campus plans. And most importantly, there is an absolute undertaking by our Council and ELT to minimise disruption to teachers and classes this year.
Ngā mihi
Merran Davis
Executive Dean – Academic
________________________
26 March 2018
Kia ora koutou
Positive staff engagement continues to be top of mind for me and it is heartening to see the level of commitment from everyone to understand the results of the 2017 survey, identify common themes and implement action plans. One of the key themes that emerged from the survey was the need for professional development and career planning – ensuring that all staff stay current professionally and be the best they can be in their work.
The ADEP plan is a key activity that links to professional development and all staff should have a plan in place or be working with their manager to do this as soon as possible. The ‘Develop’ piece of the plan is all about your development focus – the competencies and capabilities that are a priority for you to develop or enhance, to ensure you can achieve the goals you have set with your manager and progress toward future career aspirations. Honest self-assessment and seeking feedback about one’s professional performance and behaviours informs the ‘Develop’ conversation so that we can be strategic about where we put our efforts in terms of professional development.
Another key theme that came through on the survey was personal wellness. Resilience is key, particularly in an environment that is changing. We are designing a new Wellness programme and last week a short survey went out to all permanent and fixed term staff to gather specific feedback on wellness and the types of initiatives and timings that best suit you and your team’s operational rhythm. If you haven’t received this survey or are having any issues accessing the link please contact oneplanet@unitec.ac.nz.
The recruitment of our people is an important investment and while our primary focus is on continuous improvement, we are not exempt from budget realities. We’ll be taking a more targeted approach to recruitment to ensure we prioritise the hiring of positions that directly impact our student success and academic quality, and provide much-needed support in the teaching and learning space.
It’s important to remind ourselves that our core focus is teaching, learning, research and employment for our students, and all of our activities should be directed toward this purpose
Ngā mihi nui
Mary Johnston
Executive Director – People and Safety
________________________
19 March 2018
Kia ora koutou
Semester 1 enrolments – how did we do?
Our Semester 1 application period has just closed so it’s a good time to check in on how our student numbers are looking. The majority of enrolments have now been processed and we currently have 5,384 EFTS enrolled for this semester.
Our target for two weeks into Semester 1 was 5,964. This includes a buffer to account for students who withdraw from their course.
While the overarching target hasn’t been achieved, we did achieve our target for domestic new enrolments, and if we can continue to hold or improve on this it is a strong indicator of future direction. Re-enrolments were down against target across both international and domestic students.
Our students’ experience during their first six weeks here is essential for lowering our withdrawal rate so please think about how we can all support our teaching staff during this critical period, while they focus on establishing relationships with students and settling them in.
We’ll be able to share the final EFTS and revenue figures once they’ve been reported to Council during April.
The 2018 experience
This was the first student intake for our new enrolments team, working with an upgraded system and new processes. The biggest impact of these developments has been on the way that we communicate with our prospective students. For example, throughout this enrolment period, we’ve been able to contact the majority of our applicants within 48 hours of their initial enquiry. I think that has had a lot to do with the result for new domestic students.
There will be further developments of the process and system over coming months. The Operations team will be asking for feedback on the process and system from academic staff and enrolment staff over the next few weeks. Look out for an invitation to a review session with our General Manager Operations, Dan Brady, or pass any feedback to your HoPP.
Ngā mihi
Will Seymour
Executive Director – Operations
________________________
12 March 2018
E ngā mana, e ngā reo, rau rangatira mā…tēnā koutou katoa
In my first four weeks I’ve been fortunate to witness a number of interactions between some of our staff and students that have been nothing short of inspiring. The powhiri process is always exciting, as it marks the return of students and reinforces Te Noho Kotahitanga in action.
Another particular moment that stands out is the Repco Expo recently held at Mataaho. Not only was I in awe of the overall set up of the expo, but I was really impressed by three of our staff who had the responsibility of manning our stand. The way in which our people interacted with the participants was nothing short of inspring. Their passion for their respective trades was evident, but so too was their genuine willingness to interact with each and every person who patiently waited in the queue for their turn, on either the virtual welding machine or to view the automotive diagnositic tool. I have no doubt that all those who interacted with our staff left with a really positive view of Unitec. If this is the experience that all students receive then we are definitely heading in the right direction.
I’m really positive about the future of Unitec. Whilst I appreciate the organisation has traversed some difficult times recently, I’ve also heard a number of comments from staff that suggest the tide might slowly be turning or at least there now exists an air of optimism. I know it’s early days, and there is much for us all to do… but that’s a real positive for me!
So what do I bring to contribute to student success and academic quality? I’ve spent the last 10 years working in education, specifically in the wānanga sector. I have previously held the position as the Regional Manager for Te Wānanga o Aotearoa in Tāmaki, where I was ultimately responsible for the delivery of over 100 programmes, delivered across multiple sites to approximately 8,000 students. In my most recent role, I was appointed as the Tāmaki / Te Taitokerau Regional Director for Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi and so bring with me a number of networks, programme development experiences, a focus of improving student experiences and a passion for not only Māori student success, but success for all our students and a focus on staff wellbeing.
With the return of students in the last two weeks, there’s been a lot more activity in Te Puna and around the campus – it’s a good reminder of the privileged position we all hold in our ability to transform individual lives, whanau and communities through education.
Glenn McKay
Tumu Tauwhirowhiro Māori and Executive Director Student Experience
*You can learn more about Glenn in a recent Nest article – 5 minutes with Glenn McKay
________________________
5 March 2018
Kia ora koutou
Who do we serve?
It’s great to have the energy and excitement of our students back on campus as Semester 1 gets underway. Clearly serving these new and returning learners is the core reason we come to work – and we need to understand and meet their needs better than ever before.
I’ve had reason in the last few weeks to consider the aspirations and hopes of three other communities that we also help to serve. The other Saturday saw me grab my newish e-bike to join a group of parents and children cycling from Pt Chevalier to our Mt Albert campus as part of the Star Ride. Many have never been on campus before, and all have the potential to engage more with us as employers, community partners or future students.
I attended a powhiri at Te Puea Memorial Marae in Mangere celebrating the collaboration around a Māori Housing research project that Unitec and Waikato University won through the National Science Challenges. The care that the TPMMM team have been providing for families in need is as innovative as it is inspiring and it is a privilege that we are involved with their work.
Finally I was part of an education panel at the recent Digital Nations conference, which celebrated that New Zealand is a global leader in many digital endeavours – but still faces challenges when it comes to equipping the workforce with the new skills and capabiliities they will need to survive. Unitec is playing a major part in this effort.
So, in addition to today’s students, we also have an important role in serving the communities, employers, families and workers of today, and tomorrow.
Ngā mihi nui
David Glover
Executive Director – Partnerships
________________________
26 February 2018
Kia ora koutou
Lately I’ve been invited to attend several staff engagement workshops where leaders have been sharing the results of the 2017 Staff Engagement survey with their teams. The workshops have helped to focus each team on key concerns and how we are going to address these across the organisation, as well as within their particular pathway or support team. It is heartening to see the energy that is being invested in these conversations where the focus is on resolving the issues together quickly, and ensuring any changes we make are of primary benefit to students and staff.
If your manager hasn’t yet talked to you about the survey results, then please ask them to set up a meeting as all senior and mid-level managers have access to this information now. It is important that we all have the opportunity to contribute to solutions as part of these conversations.
One of the key themes that came through in the survey was the perception of bullying, harassment and other inappropriate behaviours. Late last year we held a hui on this topic with over 30 staff representing a range of teams from across Unitec and this was followed by another hui two weeks ago. Responding to this issue is a priority for me and the rest of the ELT and extended leadership team. There’s now a large and very motivated team of people working together to create a plan around this work, which will involve several strands of activity – I will share this plan with you once it has been developed further.
Unitec is a great place and, while there have been some very challenging times over the last few years, I remind my team that our focus must always be on teaching, learning, research and employment for our students. I truly believe that by keeping student success and academic excellence at the forefront of everything we do, we will lift staff engagement and return to a Category One status.
Ngā mihi nui
Mary Johnston
Executive Director – People and Safety
________________________
19 February 2018
Kia ora koutou
January/February is traditionally a very busy time for the finance team and this year is no exception – the holiday break already feels like a distant memory. From my perspective though, our core focus continues to be on producing information that helps the business to make good decisions. We also regularly review our systems and processes to ensure we are supporting the organisation in the most appropriate way.
At the moment, we’re preparing the annual financial accounts and getting ready for the external audit, so the auditors are onsite. The team is also working across the business communicating the F18 budget and further refining our approach to financial reporting and review.
The Business Intelligence team is tracking and reporting our enrolment progress on a daily basis. These reports support the work of the Operations team and help the networks and pathways to track enrolment progress.
We’re also in the early stages of preparing the 2019 Investment Plan, which needs to be submitted to the TEC in July. The Investment Plan will establish a funding envelope for Unitec in 2019 and 2020.
As part of our focus on exploring opportunities to improve efficiency, the Procurement Team is reviewing large supply arrangements to ensure we are accessing the most appropriate purchase arrangements.
Work is progressing on the relocation and reconfiguration of the Copy Centre. We’ll be deploying an advanced ‘Web to Print’ solution which will allow students and staff to order printing remotely, accessible by PC, laptop, tablet or phone. Students will be able to pay for printing and other products online.
The changes will reduce copying costs for students and staff. The copy centre will retain copying and printing capability but on a reduced scale and principally to support urgent student requirements. A similar approach to photocopying has been adopted very successfully by a number of other tertiary institutes. Our bulk printing needs will also be sourced via the new portal, which is the lowest cost approach. Please remember 48 hours’ notice is required.
You can read more about these changes in the recent Nest post.
Graeme Archer
Chief Financial Officer
________________________
12 February 2018
Kia ora koutou
It’s been an incredibly busy past month for Facilities Management and the Wairaka Land Company teams, as we work with Alastair and the ELT, to plan the next phase of bringing us all together into one cohesive campus space, centred around Te Puna. I look forward to being able to update you more on the property and facilities side of Unitec as things progress; one thing is for sure – there is plenty to look forward to.
The team is also excited by last year’s milestone events: the official openings of the 182/183 renovation in February and Te Puna and Mataaho in July/August. A big thanks for the extraordinary effort and result by our project management and facilities team. We really hope all Unitec students, staff and visitors find ways to share, utilise and enjoy these extraordinary places.
On a personal note, the most rewarding event of the past month was graduating from Unitec with my Bachelor of Construction. I originally studied at Unitec over twenty years ago and was awarded a Unitec Diploma in Construction Management in 1994. I feel very grateful to have had this opportunity to study again at Unitec, and at same time, as an Alumni, working here and ‘giving back’ gives me deep satisfaction. This is one of the many reasons that I feel very passionate about striving to do my part to achieve the best outcomes being delivered for staff, students and the community. I look forward to seeing this vision for a future campus realised so that Unitec and everyone in our community has an even greater opportunity to be the best we can be.
Finally, a date for your diaries is the Star Ride event to the Wairaka Fiesta on Saturday 24 February. This event, in conjunction with Auckland Council and Auckland Transport, aims to showcase the accessibility and connectedness that the Wairaka Precinct has to wider Auckland. The event will provide the community with a chance to enjoy festival food, family entertainment and a live band, a bike market and all in all, a fun day out. Everyone is welcome and admission is free. You also don’t need a bike to be involved!
If you’d like to be a part of this event in any way, please visit the Star Ride Facebook page and a member of the team will be in touch.
Ngā mihi
Will Smith
CE – Wairaka Land Company
________________________
5 February 2018
Kia ora koutou
It’s already February and for many the Christmas break seems a long time ago, especially the enrolments team who have been going flat out, for some, right through the holiday period.
Despite the hard work and the continuing tough market for attracting students to tertiary study, there is a positive feeling and sense that we are getting back in control, plus a very significant improvement in the experience of students applying to enrol, with almost all being contacted directly by someone within 24 hours of applying.
Jenny, Pam, Aroha, Tracy, Lee and all the domestic team are based on the second floor of the old library, and the international team are in Building 048 – I’m sure they will appreciate anyone coming by to give them encouragement or to offer help over the next 4 or 5 very busy weeks. A big thanks also to all the Academic Leaders and teaching staff who are part of the process and to those who are contacting re-enrolling students, encouraging them to get underway with their applications.
The focus of the Operations, IMS, and Projects teams for 2018 is very aligned to our EER objectives. I see our role in all the service functions as being that of an enabler to our Academic staff so they can do their job well. Whether its IMS, Timetabling, Enrolments, a project, Academic Admin, or another team, our alignment to the objectives of building quality into our academic offering and processes, and to a great student experience, is the driver of everything we should be doing. To that end I am working closely with Merran on the Category 1 programme, and we are jointly sponsoring activity to address and fix issues that cut across both teaching and service functions. I’m excited by that – I feel like the objectives are clear, we have a focal point around EER, and we have a bunch of determined people who can deliver what is required.
On the property side, we are all waiting on the sale of land that will allow us to swing into the development of more new teaching and office spaces. Something that may not be known… our new teaching spaces in buildings 180, 182 and 183 have around 2-3 times more teaching timetabled into them as other spaces. This has been driven by demand as much as anything else. When we deliver five more new collaborative style classrooms into the old library later this year, we expect this will have similar frequency of use and will ease up the pressure on some older spaces.
2018 is going to be another busy year I’m sure, but there is a feeling of optimism that wasn’t there the same time in 2017, or maybe it just seems that way to me. I’m looking forward to the challenges, excited by what we might achieve and hopeful that everyone gets a lot of what they want out of this year.
Ngā mihi
Will Seymour
Executive Director – Operations
________________________
30 January 2018
Kia ora koutou
2018 is shaping up to be a pivotal year for Unitec and I’m very pleased to have our interim CEO Alistair Carruthers on board. He has a strong commitment to ensuring that academic quality and student success are at the heart of everything we do at Unitec.
Last week Alistair told you that our next External Evaluation and Review (EER) will occur in November of this year. I know this is sooner than we expected but I believe it’s a positive development that will help galvanise Unitec around the importance of our core business.
Academic Quality impacts all of us at Unitec, not just the academic staff. We have already made great progress in addressing areas identified in the 2016 EER report, and I welcome the opportunity to demonstrate to NZQA that our performance is on track to being a Category 1 provider.
Current recruitment for a new Dean of CIE and a Director Ako will strengthen our academic leadership team and it’s encouraging to see strong internal candidates coming forward. This month we also farewell Rob Ayres – Te Waka Urungi, and James Ruhfus – Academic Service Centre, so I would like to acknowledge their significant contribution, thank them for their support and wish them all the very best.
Make the most of the balmy weather and I look forward to catching up soon at Mt Albert and Waitakere.
Ngā mihi
Merran
________________________
11 December 2017
Kia ora koutou
Well this is my last ever blog post as Unitec’s Chief Executive – the first one for 2018 will come from Alastair Carruthers, in his capacity as Unitec’s interim CE.
First however I wanted to further congratulate all of the staff and teams who were nominated for the Staff Awards, and of course those who were selected as award winners. It is just fantastic to be able to celebrate the massive contributions that people make day in day out, across Unitec, for our students, for our communities and stakeholders, and to helping us to be a better organisation. I thoroughly enjoyed our celebration ‘island style’ on Thursday. Te Puna Island worked a treat as a venue, and as noted on the day, I also wish to officially deny the rumours that my shirt was made from the curtains in my grandmother’s bach!
Last week also saw the release of the details of the government’s Fees Free initiative. For those of you interested in the details, the TEC website has excellent information. Overall, TEC has done a good job of implementing a very complex initiative in a short timeframe, and have been trying to make it as straight forward for students, and to minimise the admin overhead to institutions. It appears from the information provided so far that the eligibility rules set by Government have not adversely impacted our prospective student cohort, and the Student Acquisition team are busily amending our processes and communications to students to adapt to the new policy.
The TEC also announced last week the ITP Roadmap 2030 project: This long overdue initiative responds to the challenges the whole ITP sector, including Unitec, has faced over the past few years. While there is little detail as yet around scope, process etc, the TEC have confirmed it will be a well thought through, strategic review, that will include a collaborative approach with the sector. It will formally kick off early next year, with a meeting of ITP Council Chairs and Chief Executives with TEC and other agency officials.
We’re closing off this year in a good position when it comes to our funding and investment plans with the TEC. All public tertiary institutions will go through their regular investment planning cycle next year for implementation in 2019, a process we have been through every second or third year for the past decade. The TEC has confirmed our funding for 2018, and has also expressed their strong (and recently reconfirmed) support for our transformation journey.
Finally… it is with very mixed feelings that I approach my farewell from Unitec next week. It has been a massive privilege to lead Unitec, and to work with so many passionate, dedicated people, who are committed to helping our hugely diverse population of learners to achieve their goals and dreams, and to working alongside employers to help them find the talented people they need.
There is so much we have achieved together over the past nearly 10 years, and yet the job is never done, it never stops changing and there is always something new to learn! I fundamentally believe that Unitec occupies a very unique and special niche in tertiary education, and plays a much under-valued role in our community. While it has been an at times very challenging journey, one only has to stop and reflect for a short time to see the passion, dedication, innovation and achievement that has been led by Unitec. It’s going to be very hard to say goodbye to that next week.
I want to thank all of you for your contribution to our journey together over the past decade. Unitec is on the right path, we have great people, and the foundations are strong and getting stronger. My very best wishes to everybody for a happy and relaxing holiday season, and I will follow the next chapter of Unitec’s story with much interest and much aroha! And as for me…. after a break in January and February, I will be popping up on the other side of ‘the ditch’ in Melbourne in March, leading a large vocationally-oriented organisation.
Nga mihi nui
Rick
________________________
5 December 2017
Kia ora koutou
Hot off the success of our Charity Golf Day, I’m now firmly focused again on budgets. We’ve worked hard to deal with the breadth and complexity of our budgeting process and the provisional 2018 budget was received positively by Council last week. However, we will need to be even more cautious than usual about any new commitments until the outcomes of our semester 1 recruitment process become clear.
Council is still encouraging us to continue to look for ways to improve efficiencies and reduce our costs. We’ll shortly be communicating final budgets, although they will remain conditional on us achieving our enrolment targets. Council has also approved changes to the way we delegate financial authority across Unitec – more to come on this soon.
Meanwhile we’re continuing to talk to the TEC about the new approach to student fees next year. The Government has released details of their fees-free policy today, predicting a 3% increase in EFTS in 2018, and estimating that of the approximately 80,000 eligible students, 50,000 will train or study at a polytechnic, as industry trainees, at a wānanga or a PTE. We’ll continue to monitor the impact on our enrolments closely.
Ngā mihi
Graeme Archer
Chief Financial Officer
________________________
27 November 2017
Kia ora koutou
In the normal rush towards year end, I have been delighted to share in some magic moments with staff and students. For example last week I really experienced what it means to be part of our unique Unitec Whānau.
One highlight was morning tea put on by our Pacific staff to celebrate the appointment of Dr Falaniko Tominiko as our Director of Pacific Success. As we sat in the Pacific Centre eating delicious food prepared by the staff, and shared both positive and challenging stories amongst lots of laughs and goodwill, I was reminded of the incredible richness of our Unitec community.
Another highlight was attending the Whai Ake i te Ara Tika – Māori Mentoring Scholarship Programme Graduation 2017. As always I felt very emotional being wrapped in the wairua of Te Noho Kotahitanga and was totally humbled by the talent and potential of our Māori students and staff. For me the opportunity to connect with our successful students and staff as true leaders was golden.
And I could not finish without acknowledging the awesome team who presented the new Diversional Therapy major, a first for NZ at degree level, to a NZQA Panel this week. A special commendation from the Māori rep on the panel says it all:
“I’ve spent over 18 years working in organisations with a particular focus on responsiveness to Māori, and I want to commend all of you – I think this is the first time I’ve ever come across a team who talk about kaupapa Māori and responsiveness so naturally. I’ve heard people feeling awkward, uncomfortable, sometimes they even sound very artificial, but here it’s just the way of being, and I take my hat off to all of you, it’s awesome. You can be a model for so many, and really, I mean that; I’ve never come across that before”.
Thank you all for inspiring me with your passion and commitment and keep the invitations coming!
Ngā mihi
Merran Davis
Executive Dean – Academic
20 November 2017
Kia ora koutou
Last month I had the opportunity to travel to Japan and China to visit research partners, educational institutes, government agencies and several entrepreneurial digital businesses. With 20 meetings in 7 cities it was a busy itinerary and I learned a lot both about the local educational conditions and the current opportunities for Unitec.
Japan is facing a declining population over the coming years and the universities are increasingly interested in recruiting international students as the domestic market shrinks. China, by contrast, is energetically exploring ways to internationalise both their academics and students as part of President Xi’s Belt and Road Initiative.
Unitec has two important joint research centre collaborations internationally, one in each country. Our Cyber Security Research Centre was co-founded with Japan’s National Institute of Information and Communications in Tokyo. Working with Wuhan University, one of China’s top ranking universities based in Hubei province in Central China, we also operate the Centre for Computational Intelligence and Environmental Engineering Research. In our meetings we discussed, among other items, increasing staff exchange programmes and several big data projects.
I was impressed with the regard held for Unitec by the educational institutions we visited – a testament to the work that staff have put into these markets over the years. Our applied learning and industry-connected philosophy was much commented upon, as well as our student-centred approach. We also received compliments on the design and look of our new buildings. It’s clear we can show our partners some new ways of doing things and vice versa. In the high technology space, in particular, China has both the scale and the intent to become a global leader.
We’ve been recruiting international students from China since 1998, and continue to grow existing and develop new partnerships. One such example is the prestigious Beijing Dance Academy whose President will have visited our Mt Albert campus once again by the time this note is posted to the Nest.
Our international students represent 23% of our EFTs and 29% of our annual student-related revenue, so are an important part of our student body. But there are more than just financial reasons to take a positive approach to growing our international partnerships. From them we gain new knowledge, co-operative projects that we could not hope for locally, and opportunities to build the outward-looking, open-minded qualities that make New Zealanders so welcome overseas.
David Glover
Executive Director – Partnerships, Business Development and Marketing
________________________
6 November 2017
Kia ora koutou
I enjoy telling my friends and family I work in a park and have the privilege of being able to walk to meetings and take in the beauty of our environment during a working day. It was a privilege last week to take a walk with Whaea Lynda to learn more about our wai, pā harakeke, whenua, and the unique history that is wrapped around us in this special place. I am looking forward to being part of the Ngā Kaitiaki group to partner with groups across Unitec working together to give our environment the best chance to flourish.
Health, Safety and Wellbeing are part of my portfolio and our aim is to keep safe at work and go home to our families at night. If you injure yourself it is important to report this immediately to your manager and this in turn allows the Health and Safety team to provide support, identify injury trends and build initiatives to reduce the number of injuries at Unitec. Slips, trips and falls make up the majority of our injuries along with sprains, strains and manual handling. Likewise any ‘near misses’ you experience should also be reported so that we can better understand our risks and mitigate these. You can access forms and information on the Nest home page > quick links > Report an injury/hazard or H&S Incident/Injury & Hazard Reporting portal.
Stay safe over this busy month of November, and I encourage you all to take advantage of our beautiful surroundings at Mt Albert or the nearby Falls Park at Waitakere, and try to take a moment out for yourselves amidst your busy days.
Kia whakatēnatēna tātou i roto Whiringa-a-rangi, ki te ataahuatanga o to tātou Taiao, ahakoa te taumaha mahi.
Mary Johnston
Executive Director – People and Safety
________________________
30 October 2017
Kia ora koutou
tauwhirowhiro
1. (verb) to be about to change (of the moon), transition
As the saying goes, a week is a long time in politics, but over the last few weeks in our nation, we now have a change of Government. And alongside that change comes a change for me.
It’s been just over a year since I joined Unitec on a 12 month fixed term contract as the Executive Director Transformation Māori (within the first week, I’d agreed to get the role name changed to Tumu Tauwhirowhiro Māori to reflect a more transitional kaupapa). It was a new role set up to lead the Māori strategy for Unitec and to help embed the principles of Te Noho Kotahitanga. As part of that I’ve focused on providing an executive level ‘Māori lens’ across the organisation, and drive a more deliberate and visible treaty-based, bi-cultural approach to everything Unitec does. I’ve really enjoyed interacting with people from every area of the Unitec whanau.
When you leave an organisation, you always hope that you have left some lasting benefits. For me some key highlights are:
- Demonstrating through action that the Tumu Tauwhirowhiro Māori role should be a permanent position on the Executive and I wish Glen McKay every success when he starts in early 2018;
- Lobbying the Executive and succeeding in having the executive directorship of Student Experience combined with the Tumu role, providing the opportunity to connect Māori kaupapa and the student experience at Unitec;
- Seeing our commitment to Te Noho Kotahitanga expressed more visibly around the campus in the revised Values Framework;
- Being involved in the Mataaho and Te Puna developments and bringing a strong kaupapa Maori focus to the projects;
- The collaboration to celebrate Matariki and Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori as it brought together working groups comprising key decision-makers from across the organisation.
What’s next for me? Since the formal announcement of Glen’s appointment, I’ve been busy closing out as many Unitec tasks as possible before I leave. I’ve shared my pending departure with my networks with a view to locking in some work opportunities for 2018 and beyond. My experience at Unitec has added value to my CV and hopefully I can take what I’ve learnt into my next career step.
Thank you to everyone who has taught me something in the last year – too many of you to list separately!! I would however like to acknowledge Rick Ede for his courage in establishing and supporting the Tumu Tauwhirowhiro Māori position at Unitec, Hare Paniora for his wisdom and support, and the whanau whom I’ve been privileged to lead for a short time.
My last day at Unitec is Thursday 30 November but I’m an Auckland homeowner now so will be around if you ever want to chat over a coffee or colder beverage!
Ngā mihi
Tupara Morrison
________________________
24 October 2017
Kia ora koutou
The current key priority for the finance team is the 2018 budget which needs to be completed by mid-November for approval by Council later that month. Naturally our proposed budgeted expenditure needs to fit within the level of revenue we secure, so we’re doing everything we can to balance the need for teams to be able to plan for next year, while remaining aware that revenue remains a challenge.
Consistent with the other organisations in this sector, we’re being realistic about our prediction for next year’s student numbers and we’re continuing to focus on reducing costs, and doing things more efficiently.
The Finance team is also occupied with making sure that our systems and processes support decision making as well as possible. We’re focused on providing improved visibility to both current and projected operating performance as well as continuing to look for ways to improve systems and processes. The upgraded expenses process that was launched earlier this year is one example of a change that has made life a lot easier for people, including enabling budget holders to get a more accurate view of their team’s expenditure, more easily.
What some of you may not realise is that the Business Intelligence team also reports into me. They’re always busy with a range of research projects at any one time, but the most recent big one occupying their time has been our staff survey. That closed on Friday so hopefully you all took the opportunity to respond. I’m looking forward to seeing and sharing the results next month once the team has completed all the analysis.
Ngā mihi
Graeme Archer
Chief Financial Officer
________________________
16 October 2017
Kia ora koutou
Unitec is currently undergoing one of the largest asset transformations of any institution in the public sector to better meet the needs of future generations and the New Zealand economy. Over several years, our operation will become substantially more efficient, productive and receptive, to flexible learning and working arrangements; with everyone’s focus and hard work, Unitec has the potential to become one of the most sustainable and resilient institutions in New Zealand.
In order to deliver on its vision, Unitec has formed a ‘special purpose vehicle’ to be the master developer of the Wairaka Precinct (Mt Albert campus) known as Wairaka Land Company (aka “WLC”). I am the Chief Executive of WLC, which is responsible for creating a fit–for-purpose applied learning campus as the heart of this significant new mixed-use precinct for Auckland.
Since its establishment, WLC has provided support for Unitec’s transformation programme by focusing on the rehabilitation, rebuilding and modernisation of our buildings and core facilities. Our team led the entire process – from strategy, business cases, design, right through to construction, and worked with the ELT and numerous user groups of the new facilities, now known as Te Puna and Mataaho. The WLC team are passionate about achieving the goal of developing a new world class applied learning campus to support Unitec’s transformation.
Our vision, is to create an active, green and connected, eco-urban community that will support over 10,000 new residents for living, working, learning and playing. We aim to enhance the history and heritage that the grounds already harbour, and fully realise the potential of the substantial scope for the likes of co-located business partnerships and student accommodation.
The Wairaka Precinct is destined to become one of the most accessible and connected parts of Auckland, as well as having an integrated network of pedestrian and cycle linkages, both within the site itself and connecting to it.
If you’d like to do your part for Unitec by supporting this vision, we welcome your involvement and feedback in creating this ‘first of its kind’ community in Auckland. I truly hope that following this successful transformation, that all those associated with Unitec are proud of the final outcome delivered by this project and recognise the positive opportunity that Wairaka and the reformed campus will provide to future generations. I look forward to working with you, our motivated WLC team and the community, to bring Wairaka to life.
Ngā mihi
Will Smith
CE – Wairaka Land Company
________________________
9 October 2017
Kia ora koutou
Recently I have been reminded of what a privilege it is to lead Learning and Teaching at Unitec. From rich conversations with motivated staff and uplifting student Graduation ceremonies, to our exciting week of inspiring professional Conferences and Symposiums, I am excited by the enormous potential we have here with our Unitec whanau and the opportunities to really make a difference in so many lives.
Some of you will know that I often say that I am the “eternal optimist”. I read somewhere that optimism is not just an expectation of a positive outcome but also about being curious and open to opportunities. Listening to Mark Osborne, the impressive keynote speaker at last week’s Unitec Learning and Teaching Symposium, he talked about Spaces and Pedagogies with regard to the future of skills and work. He made it clear how important our new spaces are to supporting change in the way we think about learning and the significant opportunities to ensure our students are successful in the future.
Of course we need to ensure that academic quality underpins everything we do and it is certainly a priority for me with the academic transformation. I enjoy our regular conversations with TEU on this and other areas of mutual concern, and it is good to know we are all working together to achieve better outcomes for our students and staff. I also appreciate the honest feedback from staff about how we can improve our processes and communication, as do my fellow ELT members. It is great getting out and about at Unitec and I enjoy sharing your different perspectives so don’t be strangers – invite me to your team meetings or a catch up over coffee soon.
Ngā mihi
Merran Davis
Executive Dean – Academic
2 October 2017
Kia ora koutou
I find it hard to believe it’s already a year since I arrived at Unitec! As Acting COO I was quickly involved with some of the more crunchy operational issues in the organisation: large scale IT projects, enrolment, timetabling and executive sponsorship of the two new buildings. The role brought me into contact with a wide range of people right across Unitec who deeply impressed me with their passion and commitment to supporting students and colleagues.
That experience was a key motivation for me to take up the role of Executive Director – Partnerships, which initially encompassed Research and Enterprise, Industry Workforce Development and Business Development, and more recently picked up the International and Marketing portfolios. Now I am more outwardly focused on industry partners and institutional relationships, but also enjoy the opportunity to engage more with the academic and student-facing parts of the organisation.
For example, the last few weeks’ activities have included getting to grips with our 2018 marketing campaign, pulling together a series of new revenue-generating initiatives, and planning for a trip to visit key research partners and educational institutions in Japan and China.
One of my partnership goals is for Unitec to become “the best networked tertiary”, and there’s a lot of work under way to improve our connectivity with external partners, including a new Industry section just launched on our website. We’ve also had good news around a number of important externally funded research projects – see Marcus’ article elsewhere in this newsletter. If you’ve got any great ideas about partnerships I’d love to hear them.
Ngā mihi
David Glover
Executive Director Partnerships
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25 September 2017
Kia ora koutou
As we are entering our busy time for Semester 1 2018 enrolments, I thought I would use this intro to give you a brief update on changes in this area, as most people have an interest in ensuring these activities are successful.
A significant amount of work is being done to continue to fix issues in our enrolment process and systems and build on the fixes and improvements achieved for Sem 2 this year. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me or invite me to your team meetings to talk through the changes in person.
People – We are making our temporary Network Selection & Enrolment Manager roles permanent (renamed Student Enrolment Managers) and proposing to create two new roles: Manager – Enrolment Processing and Enrolment Set Up Manager. These roles, along with Academic Administration and Timetabling, will report into Dan Brady, GM Operations, who reports to me. This provides a single point of accountability for these related activities and should hopefully improve the end-to-end process.
Process – Key stakeholders are reviewing existing processes and procedures for student engagement, application, assessment and enrolment. We now have the full process documented with proposed roles and responsibilities across Unitec, along with escalation points which we will communicate more broadly soon. Academic Leaders and other key staff are being invited to sessions to review and provide further input.
Technology – EAE (now named the enrolment portal) is being enhanced to improve the application form and dashboard, and to make it easier for prospective students to attach documents. It will also have workflow capability that makes it easier for our team to follow each application. The programme and course information contained in Peoplesoft will be the single source of the truth and will automatically mirror to the enrolments portal.
Progress to date
We’ll be starting interviews for the Student Enrolment Manager positions as soon as possible. The existing NSEM team and a project team have moved to the old library in B110, and all new roles will also be based there. Please feel free to drop in to have a look and talk to the team – I’m sure they will get a boost from any visits as they will be entering a pretty intense few weeks shortly.
The technology improvements will be released in phases starting in mid-November. However the process and people changes have already started – in fact some changes were made during the Semester 2 enrolment period. We are working with Concentrix to identify and transition appropriate activity back into Unitec – it is clear that a significant amount of complex enrolment process should reside with us.
And on re-enrolments – Annette Pitovao will be leading an intense effort with the SEMs to capture the maximum number of returning students – there has been great work done here in the past, and we want to increase this. You can expect to hear more about this in the next couple of weeks from the team.
Ngā mihi
Will Seymour
Executive Director Operations
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18 September 2017
Tēnā koutou
After ten months at Unitec I am well settled and very much enjoying working within an organisation that focuses on teaching, learning, research and employment.
The very special opportunity that we gain being part of a Tertiary Institute, is the chance to return to study ourselves. We have a wide choice of development options available here, supported by professional development leave. I’ve recently attended several Unitec learning programmes, and they introduced me to new thinking and different viewpoints which help me in my current role. Unitec also encourages us all to engage in further formal study or complete unfinished qualifications.
As many of you complete your ADEP plans this month, and again at the start of next year, I encourage you to really explore what development (the D of ADEP) opportunities would help you reach your career goals and lift your performance in your current role. It might be gaining your Practice Passport, studying towards a Masters of Applied Practice, completing a short course or learning to speak Te Reo.
We recognise development as a core pou of Performance Partnering (ADEP process). Take a look at the short motion graphic where we explain development at Unitec.
I encourage you all to think about your next steps in your own learning path and discuss this with your manager.
He pito mata ka kitea, ka puawai
Seek out potential so that it may blossom
Mary Johnston
Executive Director, People and Safety
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11 Mahuru 2017
Kia ora
KO TE REO MĀŌRI TE ORANGA MOTUHAKE O TE IWI
Nāku te marenganui ki te whakatākinga ngā pitopito korero tuarua o te wiki, mo Te Pou Tukutuku Hou, i raro iho te korowai o te wiki o te reo Māori. Kua tūtuki pai ngā mahi rangatira rawa mo ngā whare e rua a Te Puna me Mataaho. Mo tēnei wiki, ko tāku kia koutou, aro mai ki te āko i te reo Māori. Whaia ake tētahi huarahi kei Te Whare Wānanga o Wairaka, hei awhi, hei manaaki i a koe, ki te korero i te reo. Ahakoa he iti he pounamu.
Ko tētahi huanga mahi o Te Whare Wānanga o Wairaka, ko te āheitanga ki ngā rauemi hei tautoko i a koe. I roto o Te Pou Tukutuku nei, ka kitea ētahi o tātou, ngā korero o Anaru me Gia, e hāngai pū ana ki tō rāua tino kaingakau ki te ako i te reo. Anō hoki ko ngā putanga o ngā pia o te Kura Po. Tūmeke rawa!
Nei te mihi ki a Tākuta Josie Keelan mo tōnā i hakaritengia ngā rārangi kauhau mo te wiki o te reo Māori.
Ko te tikanga reorua he tino taonga, anā, ko tōku tino hiahia kia maha ake te hunga ka āhei ki te ako i te reo Māori.
Hei whakatepe i ōku korero, ka mātau koe ki ngā reo e rua, ka tū pakari koe, ka mohio koe ko wai koe? ka tūpono koe ki tou ake tino rangatiratanga.
SURVIVAL OF THE MĀORI PEOPLE IS THROUGH ITS LANGUAGE
It is indeed my privilege to introduce the news for the second week of the new Pou Tukutuku under the umbrella of “Māori Language Week”. All the positive energies, commitment and satisfaction have now been acknowledged for the two new structures Te Puna and Mataaho.
For this week, my challenge to you all, is to have a go at Māori language. Seek the many available pathways at Unitec to guide and support you in your learning. Do read in the recent Pou Tukutuku, stories of why Anaru and Gia are so passionate about Māori language at work. Marvel also at the scripts from the students of Kura Pō. Awesome indeed!
Grateful thanks and appreciation to Dr Josie Keelan for organising the lecture series for the Maori Language Week.
To be bilingual is indeed a gift, so I would love to see as many people as possible take up the opportunity to learn.
In closing, you become bilingual, you stand confident and proud, you know who you are, and you believe in your own authentic greatness as a human being.
Matua Hare Paniora
Pae Arahi