Whanganui education partnership wins nationl award

Whanganui education partnership wins national award

The Whanganui Tertiary Education Collaborative Venture – which sees Whanganui UCOL working with private education providers – has won a national award for Successful Cooperation.

The venture – based at the Matapihi ki te Ao campus and known as WTECV – took first place in the Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics of New Zealand (ITP New Zealand) annual awards, in the category of Successful Cooperation – working successfully with other education providers, the community or industry.

The awards were presented at a dinner at Te Papa in Wellington last night, at ITPNZ’s annual conference. UCOL’s award was accepted by Whanganui UCOL Principal Julia Pedley.

“The awards celebrate the great work being done by polytechnics and institutes of technology across the country. They show that close working relationships between ITPs and industry and community partners deliver winning outcomes for Kiwi students,” said Dave Guerin, Executive Director of ITP New Zealand.

The Judges’ description of the Whanganui venture was: “Convinced that more can be achieved for the city’s learners by working together, Whanganui’s public and private education providers joined forces. The River City collaboration has resulted in improvements in student participation, success and progression. It is a model for how the most can be made out of limited resources by building trust.”

In her acceptance speech, Julia Pedley said the award to the WTECV project recognised the venture’s importance as a first in the New Zealand tertiary education sector - by establishing successful partnerships between a government-funded ITP and private education providers (PTEs), to improve opportunities for students.

She said the win was a great opportunity to acknowledge the significant role of PTEs in Wanganui in the venture’s success. “Everyone involved should take some credit and enjoy this success.”

Julia said the project has demonstrated that competing public and private providers, along with Iwi and regional support agencies, can successfully work towards a citywide tertiary education community that is vibrant, innovative and focused on increasing student participation, progression and successful programme completions.

She offered special thanks to the WTECV project team for their hard work and commitment – and to former principal of Whanganui UCOL Sue Frecklington for her hard work and vision during the first phase of the project.

As well as support agencies in Wanganui, such as Career Services, StudyLink and Work and Income New Zealand, ten private providers are now part of the collaboration: Ag Challenge Limited, Bedford Avenue Developments Limited, Land Based Training Limited, The Whanganui Learning Centre Trust, Trade and Commerce Centre Limited, Training for You Limited, Tupoho Whanau Trust Incorporated, Wai Ora Christian Community Trust, Workforce Developments Limited and YMCA Wanganui Incorporated.

It is the third year running that UCOL has won an award from ITPNZ: Last year the Student Resource Centre at the Palmerston North campus was first for Innovation, and in 2007 the UCOL-wide Personal Education Plan (PEP) won the award for Best Initiative for Improving the Student Experience.

ENDS

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