Tuitui Tāngata Connections: Our People at UCOL September 2021

Tuitui Tāngata

Te Pae Mātauranga ki te Ao

Universal College of Learning

CONNECTIONS Our People at UCOL

Image by Giordano Stolley Student, NZ Diploma in Photography

Te Wiki o te Reo Māori A Step Closer To

The DFQM

Te Pūkenga’s

Approach To Change

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KIA ORA EVERYONE! It’s been a challenging last few weeks but you all have been amazing. We want to thank all of you for supporting our ākonga, and each other. Moving back to the campus has brought some normalcy back into our lives, but it sure does take time to settle in. We hope you keep looking after yourselves, and your loved ones.

Want to share?

We want to make sure that good news and important updates don’t get shut behind doors – so if you have an idea, or something you’d like to share with your colleagues, please get in touch with the Communications team via communications@ucol.ac.nz. We’d love your contributions!

COVID-19 Vaccines For Our Whānau

Palmy Companion Card

We joined hands with Whanganui District Health Board, Whaiora Medical Centre Masterton, the WW Clinic On Grey (Palmerston North) to boost the vaccination roll out within the community. We are currently finalising the vaccinations for Horowhenua campus.

Bachelor of Social Services Lecturer Rose Boddy’s goal of enabling disabled people to participate more in the community is being realised with the launch of the Palmy Companion Card. This initiative is supported by the Palmerston North City Council and disability support service Mana Whaikaha.

Our joint efforts have helped get 744 people vaccinated to date.

The Palmy Companion Card will allow people with life-long impairments, who need additional attendant companion support, to attend certain events and venues in the city without having to buy a second ticket for their support person.

“It’s all about making it easy for people,” says Sylvie Hickton, Health & Safety Manager.

“Getting vaccinated is one of the best ways we can keep our community safe, and we wanted to do our bit to help out,” she adds.

All events were open to staff, students, and their whānau. Follow up vaccinations are being arranged for early October.

Venues that are already accepting the Palmy Companion Card include the Globe Theatre, the Regent on Broadway, Centrepoint Theatre, and Te Manawa. People can find out more and apply for a Palmy Companion Card here.

Remembering Kevin Baker Kevin started working at UCOL in 2013 and was an integral member of the Whanganui academic team for seven years. He came from an extensive background of professional nursing practice in areas of intensive care nursing, respiratory nursing, and hospice. His love for sharing knowledge naturally led him to teaching.

He taught the professional nursing course to first years but his main focus was on the courses for third years, including areas like primary health, research, and acute complex needs. He was also in the process of developing the simulation area in Whanganui and worked closely with the Palmerston North simulation team to create clinical scenarios.

Kevin was always adaptable and willing to step in and teach in any area that needed support. He will be remembered as a ‘go to’ person, always willing to help. A great person to have robust ethical debates with and always with a wry smile. He always showed great love for his family and had a passion for music. His fine singing voice was shared at many of the ‘in house’ celebrations, including at the Noho Marae and the many Pōwhiri.

To Cheryl and the family our deepest condolences, he will remain forever with love in our hearts and minds.

Working From Home Shenanigans Working from home has been an interesting experience – while tough, there’s sometimes been a few silver linings. Be it spending more time with pets, experimenting with recipes, or indulging in yummy desserts.

Assessment of Prior Learning UCOL has always been committed to your development. One of our four strategic goals is dedicated to making sure you are equipped for the new world. The Executive Leadership Team (ELT) recently endorsed a proposal to financially assist staff in gaining qualifications both directly and indirectly linked to their roles via the Assessment of Prior Learning (APL).

What is APL and how does this benefit me?

APL is a system for recognising learning and skills you have picked up in your professional, personal, and volunteering lives. It enables you to have your experiences assessed, and receive credit towards any UCOL qualification.

This means you could achieve a qualification faster than anticipated, cutting down on tuition fees and course-related costs you may have. It also makes it easier on your time, as you don’t have to attend courses and modules you already know.

The first opportunity to apply for this assistance will be this month. We believe it will give very valuable assistance (both financial and in terms of advice) to you. Financial subsidies will be based on the level of qualification you’re applying for. More information will follow shortly, including a policy, procedure, application form, and timelines.

To read more about APL, click here. If you have any questions regarding APL, please reach out to apl@ucol.ac.nz.

In partnership with

A Step Closer To The DFQM Our staff at the Horowhenua campus have worked hard to ensure we welcome students with dyslexia. Their hard work will soon be recognised, as the first Institute of Technology Polytechnic (ITP) in the country to be awarded Ako Aotearoa’s Dyslexia-Friendly Quality Mark (DFQM).

The DFQM is a new initiative to promote an inclusive learning environment for dyslexic people. The initiative is a first for the Southern Hemisphere, and is funded by the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC).

We were the only ITP to be accepted for the pilot initiative. Once accepted by Ako Aotearoa and TEC, our team started assessing its current environment and resources for students, mapping them against highly detailed dyslexia-friendly standards. The pilot initiative was eight weeks long, followed by time afterwards for further improvement, and preparation. Our team conducted multiple walk-throughs of the campus, evaluating the signage, resources, and support provided. We are currently awaiting a final verification visit from Ako Aotearoa, and hope to be able to announce we’ve earned the DFQM soon after!

A big thank you to Vicky Beckwith, Yvonne Seng, Lee Thompson, Melissa Lepper, Megan Attwell, Sam Gilbert, Kevin Qin, and Billie Comiskey for having such a positive and supportive attitude through this journey.

Plans to roll this initiative out to Manawatū, Whanganui, and Wairarapa will be coming next.

Te Atakura Approach Just As Helpful With Staff As It Is With Learners Ian Drew (Head of School – Technologies, Programme Leader – Hospitality) has taken to Te Atakura’s teaching approach like a duck to water. He feels it’s a natural fit for the hospitality team, as Manaakitanga is integral for all hospitality operations to succeed.

Ian has practised Te Atakura with learners for four years.

After moving to leadership roles, he now spends less time tutoring, and more time leading his team. “I noticed that many practices I followed towards learners, were similar to the approach we used within our team. So I decided to share this experience with my Te Atakura coach,” says Ian. Te Atakura was introduced to address the disparity between Māori and non-Māori student achievement, but has helped students from a variety of backgrounds.

It focused on six important values: Manaakitanga (respect, generosity, and care), Kōtahitanga (unity), Mana Motuhake (autonomy), Whakapiringatanga (safe and secure), Ako (a two-way dynamic form of learning), and Wānanga (interactive). So it doesn’t come as a surprise that Ian’s ideas were embraced by his team.

He has continued building his expertise, under the guidance of his coach. “I attend as many Te Atakura workshops and community practices as I can, and always pick up something useful. I find it very helpful to meet like-minded people, who are keen to have discussions and exchange ideas as we go forward,” says Ian. A military warrant officer in his old life, Ian says that in a lot of ways, he had been following this practice for years. “I felt like I was giving a name and direction to my life-long approach,” adds Ian. Ian’s journey from attending Te Atakura training to adapting it into his leadership has been a wonderful one so far but there’s still plenty more to do. “There’s always something to learn or improve on, so there’s always work in progress. That said, I wouldn’t have known about it if I hadn’t started working on it with the Te Atakura team,” says Ian.

TE WIKI O TE REO MĀORI MĀORI LANGUAGE WEEK Learn Te Reo pepeha and how to introduce yourself.

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Te Wiki o te Reo Māori @ UCOL Te Wiki o te Reo Māori has been celebrated each year since 1975. It commemorates the presentation of the 1972 Māori language petition to parliament.

The Communications and Raukura team worked with re Reo speakers across our campuses to create two videos celebrating te Reo. The first helps you introduce yourself, and the second teaches you the names for locations on our campuses.

UCOL staffer Kira Matenga-Lancaster created an amazing playlist of te Reo songs for all to enjoy. Each day, we had the day of the week popping up in te Reo on our ‘Message of the Day’, and many staff found ways to bring more te Reo to the campus and our classrooms.

The Marketing team along with Mediaworks organised on-air interviews with Mike Kawana (Wairarapa) and Tahi Gotty (Manawatū). They were helping teach key words and phrases, and the correct meaning and pronunciation for Palmerston North’s iconic areas respectively. These interviews aired on the local breakfast shows, and were also shared on social media.

If you want to keep bringing te Reo into your daily life, we have a few basic resources, including karakia options, on Teams Portal. Check them out here: Maori Greetings - All Documents (ucol.ac.nz)

Te Pūkenga’s Approach To Change Over the past few months, Te Pūkenga has been working on change leadership, and what this means for us collectively. Working alongside us to ensure our successful transition for 2023 and beyond, they have set up Change teams at each subsidiary.

Our team, in the roles requested by Te Pūkenga, are: Roles Change Manager

Team member Dr Carolyn Hamilton Carolyn has extensive experience and background in developing and implementing strategies and solutions aimed at growing organisational capability. We have engaged Carolyn on a part-time basis in this role, as we don’t have the capacity within UCOL to take this on.

Subsidiary Chief Executive People and Culture Leader Communications Lead Local Te Pae Tawhiti Rep and Union rep Managers

Linda Sissons Dan Lester Chris Beech Damian Peeti Bronwyn Paul and Paula Birchall

The team will look at engaging with student representative Elliot Tuck, and Te Pūkenga staff representative Jess Costall.

Teams around the network have now been set up. Different workstreams that Te Pūkenga have underway will provide the basis for the Change team’s work.

Other noteworthy appointments •

Linda Sissons has been appointed to Te Pūkenga International Working Party to work with Education New Zealand (ENZ) on Te Pūkenga’s medium term International Education strategy.

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Sam Huggard has been added to UCOL Board as Te Pūkenga Councillor. The former National Secretary of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (2014-2019), he is an experienced non-for-profit sector leader, with 20 years’ service across trade unions, the community sector, and students’ associations. His governance experience includes government, non-for-profit, academic, and industry advisory bodies.

We will continue to take a transparent approach to all our communications with you – and expect a monthly cycle of information and communications flowing from Te Pūkenga. We will be transparent and timely in passing information onto you and will take up opportunities for us to collaborate as they happen.

Professional Development @ UCOL Dr Ingrid Huygens will be running more Tangata Tiriti – Treaty People workshops at UCOL. Staff who have attended Ingrid’s workshop have rated her workshops highly: both in terms of the understandings that they have gained, and the way in which the workshops have been delivered. We encourage you to attend to update your knowledge of Te Tiriti o Waitangi/the Treaty of Waitangi and to further understand the importance of Te Tiriti/the Treaty in an education context.

When: Wednesday 6 October, 9am to 4.30pm Where: Manawatū campus, Room 6-1-14 When: Thursday 7 October, 9am to 4.30pm Where: Whanganui campus, Room E-2-15

We are also offering a facilitators’ workshop for those who teach students about Te Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi.

Please note that in order to attend the facilitator’s workshop, you must have done the introductory workshop in the past, or be attending one of the introductory workshops listed above.

When: Friday 8 October, 9am to 4pm Where: Manawatū campus, Room 7-2-07

Gender and Sexual Diversity We are offering a workshop on Gender and Sexual Diversity: Creating an inclusive environment for our rainbow staff, students, and whānau. This free training opportunity will include content about definitions and terminology, experiencing homo/bi/transphobia, and how discrimination and inclusion happens in the workplace.

When: Wednesday 13 October, 12.30pm to 3pm Where: Whanganui Campus, Room TBC

If you’re interested in attending any of the above mentioned workshops, email capabilityleader@ucol.ac.nz.

NZIPP Iris Awards The New Zealand Institute of Professional Photography (NZIPP) Iris Awards saw UCOL receive the Silver Spool Award, which is given to a person or group who has provided a significant and valuable contribution or service to NZIPP. See some of our students amazing entries below. For more images, click here.

Taken by Bachelor of Creative Media student Adele Rycroft

Taken by Certificate in Intermediate Photography student Julie MacLean

SEPTEMBER 2021

TE WIKI O TE REO MĀORI MĀORI LANGUAGE WEEK Learn the Te Reo for the places around campus

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