Unitec develops new NZ Certificate in Animal Welfare Investigation qualification

For the first time, Unitec is a qualification developer, a huge achievement after more than two years of collaborative work between teams.

The new New Zealand Certificate in Animal Welfare Investigation qualification, developed by the Environmental and Animal Sciences pathway, has been approved by NZQA after a lengthy Mandatory Review of Qualifications (MRoQ) process, replacing the existing one. The new Certificate provides the essential industry recognition to become a warranted animal welfare investigator under the Animal Welfare Act 1999. The qualification will be of interest to animal lovers who want to make a difference to the welfare of animals in New Zealand, and may also provide graduates with a base to move into higher levels of academia. The team is now busy writing the programme for Unitec which, if accepted by NZQA, they aim to deliver in 2019.

So what does it mean to be a qualification developer? It means Unitec applied for approval to develop, provided a needs analysis from wide stakeholder consultation, evidenced how the decision was reached on the qualification detail and finally submitted the qualification to NZQA, in order to replace the existing one. NZQA reviewed it through the MRoQ process and has approved it as the official qualification. Unitec has ownership of it, but other tertiary providers can apply to create a course based on the new qualification. We will have oversight of the quality of courses developed by other providers and we’ll be involved if changes are needed.

Congratulations to the Environmental and Animal Sciences pathway, Te Korowai Kahurangi and the wider team of people who’ve been involved in this achievement – people who contributed time, experience and knowledge to support the application and those who provided critical feedback required for its development.