As you may or may not remember, the first assignment that my group did for the New Zealand class was focused on the Bay of Plenty Polytechnic. From the get-go I was excited to go to this institution because it very much resembled a Community College (Polytechnic’s are basically the community colleges of New Zealand), and because I work at a community college, I was interested in what take-home lessons I could learn from this institution. What I didn’t realize was how much I would love the institution and the people we encountered while there.
This was the first institution that we did the highly anticipated “powhiri”, or the welcome ceremony done in the institutions marae (at least how it was done here). Most of the introductions and welcoming was done in the Maori language so other than knowing that we were being welcomed and introduced to the institution it was hard to know what we being said. Carney then introduced us to them (it was an awesome experience to be introduced, and here ALL the different countries we represented French/German/Finnish/English for me alone).
I’ll be honest, through most of the ceremony I was worried about doing the “hongi” or the greating where you are supposed to touch your most and forehead to the nose and forehead of the other person. Even though I am aware of how meaningful that gesture is, it was really uncomfortable at first (and will hopefully get better). The only time that I’ve EVER been that close to someone’s face is when I have kissed someone… and that’s not something I do with total strangers. I suppose in a way were weren’t total strangers (seeing as the ceremony we introduced ourselves to each other and basically became “family”), but that doesn’t make it any less uncomfortable to a girl like me that has a very large personal bubble. Maybe experiencing the hongi will be good for me.
After the ceremony we met Kuku.
(this is the only picture I could find. I'm about 90% sure that's him, his hair was shorter when we met with him)
I can honestly say that this man is, in my opinion, the ideal student affairs professional. As much as I love interacting with people, interacting with people I don’t know is often a very hard task for me. I’m not good with “small talk”.
But, after the powhiri, before we were allowed the leave the Marae we had to engage in a conversation with someone we didn’t know and really get to know them (have an engaging conversation). Kuku said he wanted to see that we were engaged with our eyes and that we were staring at the persons soul. Wow. Okay, this may seem like the basics of making conversation, but he was able to describe it in a way that really forced me to do just that. I hate eye contact. I have nystagmus, an eye problem that makes eye contact very difficult, but Kuku intimidated me (in a good way) enough to make me really be intentional and PUSH myself do to just that. It was really hard. I felt that the conversation was forced at times… but guess what? I learned something about the person I was interacting with (I don’t remember her name but I know she was from Wellington and attended Victoria), and by golly, I learned that I could make eye-contact if need be. I’m sorry, but that was really intimidating for me but it will definitely but something that sticks with me. But, more than that, the power that Kuku had in pushing us to be uncomfortable. I don’t know how he did it… but we all LISTENED and interacted, something I hadn’t truly seen on our trip until now.
After the powhiri, we met and got a general overview of the institution. Remember the buzz words in the mission that I mentioned were used in my pre-reflection about the Bay of Plenty Polytechnic? They used them! It was explained that the main goal of the institution was for students to reach their potential, and for the institution to fully reach it’s potential. I feel like through our first project, I really was able to get a truthful idea of what this institution was like, and they met/exceeded my expectations.
Bay of Plenty Polytechnic is like Owens Community College in many ways. For one, they rely on partnerships with other institutions for class offerings and helping students to transfer to a larger institution after Bay of Plenty Polytechnic. One thing that I found interesting is that they even have classes taught at this institution that aren’t tied to the institution in any way (use their facilities, but don’t teach their classes or work for Bay of Plenty Polytechnic).
One of their prime focuses at this time is engagement. It was explained that,
Without engagement students are “just a number and we have plenty of numbers in this game”.“This game” meaning higher education in general. It was apparent that there was tension that was caused by “academic elitism” (ahem… Auckland and Otago). Um, HELLO, that’s exactly what I was talking about when I wrote my reflection about Auckland. Great institutions like THIS (Bay of Plenty Polytechnic) are thrown to the wayside because of ELITISM… so frustrating.
One of the aspects that I loved most about Waikato was Debra Tanfield’s heart being totally in it for the students.
That’s what I felt ALL of Bay of Plenty Polytechnic was like. They focused on the “journey” of the student rather than looking at them like they are just another number to add to their statistics. They even went as far as say “if you aren’t comfortable with walking our walk, don’t bother applying here (for a job)”. The whole idea of this institution is to “provide support, professional development, and personal development” for their employees. Yeah, this was the first institution that I can remember talking about what they need to do to improve, that wasn’t focused on the STUDENTS. I feel like this institution understands that it’s more than the student population, it’s the people that work there and how and what they provide to students. Student services at it’s best (and they don’t even realize it). All the buzz words that we often hear as student affairs professionals in the United States were said but employees of Bay of Plenty Polytechnic, and they weren’t forced either. Their goal is a value added experience versus focuses solely on performance.
During the day we were given an “assignment” of sorts, and we mixed with employees of Bay of Plenty Polytechnic, and focused on ways that we can help students stay enrolled or get enrolled at Bay of Plenty. Among the many things that we all recommended (all recommendations that could help Owens Community College), the thing that stood out more than our ideas was the way the all the professionals of the institution reacted. Instead of tell us things they do and things we should do, they listened… THEY TOOK NOTES.
This is the first and only institution that we visited that listened to OUR ideas and actually took notes (I saw it, I watched). IT wasn’t just “duly noted”-type attitude it was… a “wow, that’s a great idea I want to remember this”-attitude. That was just a GREAT thing to see. They acknowledge that they needed to grow and change, and that they weren’t perfect and showed that they were actively and intentionally looking for new ways to improve. This wasn’t just a trip for us, we were there so THEY could learn too. I never got that experience from anywhere else. I would want to attend an institution like this, that obviously cares about their growth and direction.
Advising and Counseling
I found it interesting that they had no Career Center on campus and they refer students to “Careers New Zealand”. Although I believe it is great to have resources to refer students to, I think a polytechnic of all places would benefit greatly if they had an office to send students that needed help deciding their major or career path. More-so, Bay of Polytechnic says that they want to create students that will help the community (in the bay, for the bay), and having an office to help students to get jobs and write resumes seems important.
Counseling is another referral service. However, it fully funds students to seek help from an outside professional for up to 100 sessions (which is 2 a week for a year, definitely something that could help benefit a student in need). From what I’ve seen, the mental health issues at Bay of Plenty Polytechnic, and all of New Zealand, are similar to that of the United States.
Overall, I loved of visit to this institution, I feel they welcomed us and were whole-heartedly honest with us about their short falls AND strengths. I felt like this institution understood what students affairs truly means (without understanding it). What they are doing, and working towards becoming, is an institution that focuses on the holistic development of the student. More so, they care about the student as a person that can be molded and developed rather than a number to add to their statistics and charts.
The discussions that we had throughout the day were amazing, and on top of that we were given a campus tour by some amazing students of the institution who I could tell truly loved the institution. I felt a part of something while there, something I haven’t felt at the other institutions on this trip.
After a fufilling day at Bay of Plenty Polytechnic we were treasted to an amazing dinner at "Adel's Pub". I was able to taste test (aka drink) different wines to figure out my favorites (I've never done a wine tasting before). Favoriates: Sauvingnon Blac, Pinot Gris, and Chardonnay. YUM! Plus, we got to see a dog and cat for the first time in New Zealand (you know, actually INTERACT with the animals, I loved it). It was a wonderful time with wonderful people.
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