| 7 Palmerston North: UCOL REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Community connections at the core T T Richard Loader UCOL graduate Emily Kang is working as an engineering cadet at the Parahaki Bridge site. With campuses in Manawatu, Whanganui, Wairarapa and Horowhenua UCOL Ltd has a proud and wellearned reputation for supporting community learning. The community connection is crucial to what it does, and ensures that its programmes help learners develop in-demand skills. As a modern Institute of Technology and Polytechnic, UCOL’s specialties include Applied Engineering and Trades, Health and Sciences, and Humanities and Business. The Business and Industry Partnership portfolio was established in 2021 to focus on collaboration between learners and local workforces and is headed by Executive Director Jasmine Groves. “Our vision is to bring business into the heart of UCOL and provide opportunities not only for learners and graduates to be in the workplace, but also for workers to be learners,” explains Jasmine. “The Business and Industry Partnerships team works to make UCOL a space where local business and industry communities feel welcomed as a valued partner in the learner’s journey.” Jasmine tells the story about being approached by Te Ahu a Turanga: Manawat Tararua Highway project, and making the assumption it would be a partnership for the benefit of students. “We discovered that the partnership, while benefiting students, could also support their project staff. UCOL is providing local people with training and employment opportunities on a major infrastructure project. “We’re providing experience, training and opportunities in the form of internships, apprenticeships and work placements as well as working together on an in-house Tikanga/ Te Reo Māori programme. Partnerships aren’t just one-off transactional things – it’s about value to both sides.” Driven by the regional community and industry voice, UCOL delivers courses that are actually needed in the regions. “In Horowhenua, for example, we know through regional growth there is a need to build roads and houses and they need logistics. So we build our offerings around those sorts of things.” UCOL also delivers shorter learning courses to communities where the community points to specific needs, such as construction. “Sites might pop up in places like Turangi, Taumaranui or Marton, so that the young people don’t have to leave home to attend “The Business and Industry Partnerships team works to make UCOL a space where local business and industry communities feel welcomed as a valued partner in the learner’s journey.” a course. That flexibility is one of our key strengths.” Part of the Business and Industry Partnership’s role is in the student recruitment space and that is where a perfect storm exists, says Jasmine. With very low unemployment, almost zero net migration (at least until the borders open), shrinking school rolls and an aging population, learners will increasingly come from an in-work environment, rather than straight from school. “Someone might already have a job but find themselves stuck on the ladder without the skills to progress, or they might want to change career. They’re the people who are increasingly coming to places like UCOL.” Coaching students to get the best outcomes when they go into employment is another focus for Jasmine’s team. “It’s what’s beyond the academic requirements that make a person employable. How do they develop leadership, how do they develop their career progression, how does the organisation get the best version of the employee. We have an on-line and in-person service that coaches and supports students through that.” Next year UCOL and the other 15 vocational institutes and industry training organisations throughout New Zealand will transition to become Te Pukenga. Excited about the transition, Jasmine says it will offer huge benefits of size and scale. “As a Te Pukenga student you will seamlessly have a national educational experience no matter where you go. “New Zealand is still a small part of the world and by having an institution that has 10,000 staff and a quarter of a million learners the Te P kenga brand has a huge international impact. “I see it as an absolute opportunity. It’s a very modern way to go, it’s a reimagining of vocational learning in New Zealand.”
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