MASSEY UNIVERSITY News
Leading the way as New Zealand’s first athlete friendly university
Massey University has become the first New Zealand university to sign up to a new ‘Athlete Friendly Tertiary Network’ set up by the New Zealand Academy of Sport.
The academy has recognised Massey’s drive to nurture high performance athletes and wants all universities to join the network.
The network will be made up of tertiary institutions that agree to adopt a set of guiding principles to support New Zealand’s high performance athletes to combine their sporting and academic aspirations.
“We’re delighted that Massey is the first member of the Athlete Friendly Tertiary Network. It is very fitting given the considerable support they have given athletes,” the academy’s athlete life manager, Susan Thomason, says.
Massey Vice-Chancellor Steve Maharey says the University has placed huge emphasis on creating a supportive environment for student-athletes both on and off campus.
“We believe Massey is the number one choice for athletes who want to successfully combine their sports careers with their study. Massey allows athletes to study and sit exams wherever they may be in the world, and with the flexibility they need,” he says. “On campus, our Academy of Sport gives young student-athletes the support they need to achieve in their chosen sport and academically, and our campuses are home to high-quality facilities.”
The University employs a high performance co-ordinator who is dedicated to supporting student-athletes with all of their sporting and academic requirements.
This year, Massey is the largest tertiary provider for 119 of the Prime Ministers’ Athlete Scholarship recipients. At last year’s Commonwealth Games, 41 members of the team were Massey student-athletes, with 31 winning at least one medal. Eight of the 10 medallists at the 2010 World Rowing Champs were Massey students.
The value of athletes being able to pursue academic studies is well documented and the Athlete Friendly Tertiary Network will enable a more structured and effective system for both athletes and tertiary staff.
Massey University led the way to sign the agreement followed by Victoria University, AUT University and the University of Waikato.
Massey student-athlete and double Commonwealth Games medallist Amaka Gessler is in training for the World Swimming Championships and World University Games, both in China, this year. “But I’m also continuing studying towards a Bachelor of Science,” she says. “The flexibility and support offered by Massey makes it possible to continue my studies while preparing for, and competing in, these big events.”
Bachelor of Business Studies student Blair Tarrant has just returned from Malaysia with the New Zealand Black Sticks hockey team. “It’s really good to have an opportunity to continue to study while travelling with the Black Sticks. I was studying internally but have switched to distance-learning, with Massey’s help, this year because of overseas commitments.”
Massey launches new life-long learning centre
Dog behaviour, digital illustration, home finance, employment mediation, whanau development and history from a Hollywood perspective are among topics available via Massey University’s new lifelong learning initiative PaCE (Professional and Continuing Education), launched at the Albany campus last week.
The new programme aims to connect Massey’s academic expertise with people seeking new skills and professional development as well as with those wanting to ‘learn for learning’s sake’ without the requirement to do assignments and exams.
Vice-Chancellor Steve Maharey told the gathering the PaCE initiative is driven by Massey’s desire to provide new ways of learning for a diverse array of students and learning needs.
“We are matching what we do here at Massey with the knowledge needs of people in the workforce and the community. We are not a traditional kind of university, we are a change-embracing university,” Mr Maharey says.
“We want to shape the future of the new New Zealand and take the best of what New Zealand has to offer to the world. We can do this because of our reach, with three campuses – in Albany, the Manawatu and Wellington – and distance learning.”
PaCE director Andrea Flavel says the offerings for continuing education and professional development draw on Massey’s strengths and areas of specialisation, including agriculture and horticulture, arts and humanities, communication, design, fine arts, food and nutrition, information technology and computing, kaupapa Maori, land and the environment, languages, music, nursing and health, sciences, social work, teaching and education, and veterinary science and animal behaviour.
PaCE offers customised short courses for industry professionals, such as Life Cycle Management and Whanau Whanake – led by Professor Sir Mason Durie for practitioners working in whanau development, with the first two-day course at the Albany campus, June 30 – July 1. It also offers the Campus Passport for access to a selected course or lecture without needing to sit an exam or complete assessments, as well as English language and university preparation programmes for international students, and conference services.
“For a small fee you get access to learning for general interest or as preparation for future study,” Ms Flavel says.
Mr Maharey said New Zealand has evolved from a mono-cultural, commodity-based, low education to an increasingly urban, multicultural and creative society where people wanted to learn in different ways.
Education: Kristin School
