One year later, a haunting tale of two youngsters who confront a lost child at a park, was written by Danny Maalo Aso Aumua and directed by fellow 2009 graduate, Aden Shillito. Kei Hea Te Kuri, written by Ema Rewiti Savage and directed by Ron-London Haretuku, tells the story of half-caste Rarotongan siblings Taki and Toka and the effort made by their friends to reconnect them with their culture. All seems well until Toby the dog runs away.

Both short films will screen publicly for the first time alongside five other productions at the Pollywood 82010 premiere on Sunday, 7 March at the Galatos, Newton. Subsequent screenings will take place at the Otara Music & Arts Centre on Tuesday, 16 March and the Corban Estate Art Centre in Henderson on Thursday, 18 March.

Presented by MIC Toi Rerehiko, Pollywood is in its eighth year of celebrating and showcasing Pacific island directors, actors, writers and artists, from grass roots to established practitioners in film and multi-media art.

Unitec continues to support the development of Pacific island and Maori filmmaking; a testimony to the growing number of Performing and Screen Arts graduates, who have gone on to forge successful careers as filmmakers, actors, writers and artists.

For those of you who are new to Unitec, the reason Unicycle has been established is to raise money for people at Unitec who are going through a difficult time to see if we can lift the spirits and lighten the load a little.

If you have had a spring clean over the holiday break, donations (clothes, books, other unwanted items) are most welcome. Please bring to Unicycle on Friday afternoons or leave Lucie Baker at the Dept of Languages Reception in Bldg 170.

It’s a great cause, so come along and check it out on Friday!

Takapuna
Dates: Monday 22nd February - Friday 26th February
Days: Monday to Friday
Time: 8.00am - 10.00am
Location: 600-2007

Waitakere
Dates: Monday 22nd February - Friday 26th February
Days: Monday to Friday
Time: 2.00pm - 4.00pm
Location: 500-1019 (Common area)

Building 048
Dates: Monday 15th February - Friday 26th February
Days: Monday to Friday
Time: 11.00am - 1.00pm
Location: Building 048 (in the main foyer)

The purpose of these temporary Help Desks is to provide assistance to new students with their computer login accounts.

While other areas of Unitec have had various exchange programs for a number of years, this is the first such collaboration for Performing and Screen Arts. After discussions over a number of years, arrangements for the project finally fell into place in December, with confirmation that five students from the BFA are set to arrive in Auckland at the beginning of February. The students will stay with Unitec for a period of 22 days, and the NZ component of the documentary will be planned, filmed, and partially edited, giving the Chinese students a unique opportunity to experience documentary filmmaking outside their home country. This will be followed up in late June and early July, with a return visit by a group of Unitec film and television students who will travel to Beijing, to complete the documentary and experience filming in a different environment.

Unitec students have been communicating with the BFA students during the summer break, working together to brainstorm possible topics for the upcoming documentary.

“Trying to come up with a topic that can be filmed in Auckland and then Beijing has been really hard”, says Rose Damon, a Unitec student working on the project. “The time constraints are really tight, and with a situation like this it would be easy to just fall into a topic that simply compares the two countries or cultures, which we didn’t really want to do.”

Nevertheless, the students seem to have found a topic that fits. The documentary will take a look at relationships between Chinese and New Zealand couples, exploring the unique challenges such cross-cultural relationships present. Even though the documentary will look specifically at New Zealander-Chinese relationships, the students are hoping to tell a story that is much more universal in essence.

“You don’t have to be from either of those two cultures to be able to relate to the proposed documentary. Most people would know what it’s like to try to work through major differences in a relationship – the cultural aspect adds another dimension”, says Damon.

Coincidentally, the coming Chinese New Year will fall on Valentine’s Day, February 14th while the students from China are in Auckland. In the meantime, research for the project is going ahead in earnest, and the students are hoping to speak to many different couples in New Zealander-Chinese relationships.

“Young and old, straight or gay, married, de facto, divorced… and the terms ‘Chinese’ and ‘New Zealander’ are open to interpretation too. At the moment we just really want to talk to anyone in Chinese-New Zealander relationships who are happy to share a story or two with us.”

People in the Auckland area can contact Rose Damon, a Unitec film student:

Email: rose.damon@hotmail.com
Phone: 021 023 01808
Skype: rose.damon

We’ve got Katchafire, Tahuna Breaks, Elemeno P, Ladi 6, Sunshine Sound System (featuring P Digsss the peacekeeper – from Shapeshifter!), Dane Rumble, Ivy Lies and DJ Karn Hall playing live, loud and free for you on Thursday 25th of February as part of USU’s Orientation 2010.

There will be market stalls, food, a licensed area and games and even if you graduated last year, make sure
you come along because once again Sounds in the Sun is free for everyone - you don’t have to go to Unitec!

Be at the Unitec Rugby Fields from 12pm on Thursday 25th of February for the biggest Orientation event in the country! Last year saw over 8,000 people rocking out in the sun - don’t miss out!

Katchafire

Katchafire are a Maori reggae band from Hamilton, and our regular at Sounds in the Sun. They have achieved phenomenal success over the last few years both nationally and internationally with singles like “Giddy Up” and “Who you with”. Katchafire always give a mean performance at Sounds in the Sun and are once again back, by popular demand.

Tahuna Breaks

Tahuna Breaks are an Auckland-based uplifting funk, rock, roots reggae eight-piece formed in 2005. They won a Juice TV Music Award for Best Roots / Electronica Video in 2008, and if you went to the Big Day Out this year you would have seen them there ruling the lillypad stage!

Ladi6

Ladi6 is a former member of Christchurch hip hop act Sheelahroc, now recording and performing with DJ Parks. Nominated for countless awards and supporting some of NZ’s best: Shapeshifter, Scribe, Fat Freddy’s Drop, 50 Hz, Solephonic her performance is not to be missed.

Sunshine Sound System

Sunshine Sound System is made up of: DOWNTOWN BROWN… - The Doctor on the Turntables, P-DIGSSS..- Souljah of all Righteous Movements (Shapeshifter), KPz aka KILLA PUHA..- Activist Pushing for the Truth and Rights and SWITCH A.K.A Stauny Pops..- New Zealands best paid crate carrier..

Dane Rumble

Dane is an Auckland-based singer, songwriter, musician. Former member of hip-hop outfit Fast Crew. Moved into more of a rock/pop direction for his solo project after the group disbanded in early 2009. His debut single “Always Be Here” reached #13 on the RIANZ New Zealand Singles Chart and his second, “Don’t Know What To Do”, reached #10 and his current single “Cruel” is shooting up the charts.

Ivy Lies

This Auckland-based alternative pop-rock girl band was formed in 2006 and formerly know as Starlett. But now Ivy Lies are coming into their own with their youthful enthusiasm, stage presence and the intent reminiscent of Blondie, The Pretenders and The Bangles.

The service will provide a number of advantages over the existing system and make it easier for you to communicate, share, and collaborate with other students.

What are the benefits?

Gigabytes of email storage, so there will be no need to worry about a full inbox.

Instant messaging from within your mailbox.

Google Calendar to manage your due dates, create events and share calendars with others.

Google Docs to create and share documents, spreadsheets and presentations online.

Access to your information from anywhere with an internet connection. You will also be able to access your email and calendar from your mobile phone.

When will this happen?

The service will be launched in mid-January, 2010

We are currently in the process of moving all email accounts from studentmail.unitec.ac.nz to our new domain: Wairaka.com

Once your Gmail account has been set up you will automatically get redirected to it if you try to log into your old email account.

Do I need to do anything?

No. Your old email address will be linked to the new one and you will still have all your old messages.

You will receive another email in a few weeks to keep you informed of our progress.

Will I still be able to use my old password and username?

Yes. You will have the same username and password.

Will I lose my old emails?

No. All of your emails will either be automatically transferred to your new account or you will have sufficient time to decide which emails you wish to transfer.

We are currently finalising these plans and will keep you updated.

What will happen to emails sent to my old address?

Emails sent to your old address will automatically be sent to your new Gmail account.

If you have any questions related to this change, please call the ask I.T. Help Desk on ext. 8484.

Not only will the winning band play at Homegrown with the likes of Shihad, The Feelers, The Datsuns, Midnight Youth and Liam Finn they will also walk away with a $17,500 prize pack including:

· $5,000 cash

· A $5,000 video grant from NZ On Air

· A $2,000 advertising campaign from MySpace

· $2,500 music equipment from Music Works

· A supply of sponsors product from Jim Beam

· Airplay of one of the band’s songs on The Rock, Kiwi FM and C4

· Flights, accommodation and all round rock star treatment at Jim Beam Homegrown

· The opening set on the Jim Beam Homegrown Rock or Indie Stage

The Jim Beam Band Search provides a great launch pad into the music industry and is open to any Kiwi band as long as they can play 45 minutes of original songs.

Registrations for the Band Search are open from November 30th to December 21st with bands only needing complete a simple entry form on MySpace. On December 21st 30 bands will be selected to move on to a public voting stage that will take place between January 11th and January 29th when the winning band will be announced.

For all the information click here

Wherever possible, Unitec will reallocate or reschedule assessments which are disrupted or affected by industrial action. This may require extended marking times and the delayed entry of student grades into our records systems.

Where reallocation or rescheduling of assessments is not possible, Special Assessment Circumstances (SAC), including aegrotats, may be used.

Formative assessment information may be used to inform these grading decisions. Processing SACs, including aegrotats, may necessitate deferring confirmation of grades. All actions will be consistent with academic statutory obligations.

Download the academic statute

Information about the strikes

Six tertiary institutions – Bay of Plenty Polytechnic, Northtec, Western Institute of Technology, Whitireia Community Polytechnic, Wintec and Unitec – have been negotiating with the TEU to agree to new collective terms of employment for TEU members. Over the last couple of weeks, the tertiary institutions and the TEU have met three times to discuss these terms of employment. Both parties have made revised offers and have had the support of a Department of Labour mediator. However, an outcome that meets the objectives of all involved has yet to be found and negotiations are currently on hold.

Around 260 academic staff from Unitec who are in the Tertiary Education Union (TEU) have chosen to take industrial action because they are not satisfied with the new employment agreement they have been offered. This is only about half of the staff at Unitec so, for many of you, your classes will still be on.

If you are unsure whether your classes/exams will be on, please check this website and Blackboard first, but still come to Unitec if you are unsure because some classes will continue. Unitec have agreed to organise reimbursements for students who travel in to Unitec and have their classes cancelled (more information below). You will still be able to access the library and computer labs however, due to health and safety reasons, some of the trades areas and medical lab areas will be unavailable if they can’t be supervised.

If you are effected by the strikes please come in to the USU office in Bldg 180 and see Aimee, the USU Student Issues Advocate. She can help advise you on what to do, explain how to go about lodging a Special Assessment Circumstances claim, a reimbursement claim or a student complaint.

If you prefer, you can also complete and return a Student Grievance Form below.

What’s it all about?

The TEU (Tertiary Education Union) is representing academic staff from six Polytechnics across the country in a Multi-Employer Agreement. This means that six Polytechnics must negotiate employment changes together as a collective. Not all Unitec staff are in the Union and so some staff will not be on strike because they have individual agreements.

At the moment TEU has rejected the recent employers’ offer of a two percent salary increase with no back-dating and an 18 month term from the date of signing. Institutions also want discretionary leave to be at their discretion rather than staff as it is for other staff on individual contracts. Institutions also want to increase teaching days by ten percent.

The discretionary leave for Unitec’s union members is currently over-and-above what is offered to staff on individual contracts. Under the current agreement the union members potentially get four more weeks of holiday leave totalling potentially 9 weeks annual leave plus another 2 weeks professional development leave.

USU’s Position

USU understands that this is a stressful time for the majority of you and we are opposed to the decision made by Union members to strike during the exam preparation period. We do have some sympathy for pay claims and understand that industrial action is sometimes necessary. However, we have continued to advocate that action that effects students should be a last resort and all other options should be pursued first.

We believe there was ample opportunity for staff to strike board meetings, committees and their own research projects whilst students were on holiday during the mid-semester break. This would have been a more effective method of directing the frustration towards Unitec Management instead of students. At the very least, attempting these actions first would have been a sign of putting students at the forefront of their concerns.

To complicate matters we have made over numerous attempts to meet with the TEU to discuss our concerns. However, our requests have been refused.

It is not known how long the industrial action will continue for but rest assured that we will be doing everything we can to address your concerns, ensure that your needs are met and keep you up to date as soon as we are informed. You are welcome to leave your comments below.

Information about reimbursements for travel costs.

If you travelled to Unitec on Wednesday 16, Thursday 17 and/or Monday 21 September only to find your class cancelled due to industrial action, you can now claim reimbursement in the form of MTA vouchers. This reimbursement will be based on travel distance in mileage from your address registered on the Unitec database. Claim forms for reimbursement are held at the cashiers’ offices at Mt Albert and Waitakere.

Feel free to contact us to express your concerns or tell us about any issues you might have:

Aimee Walker - Student Issues Advisor
Ph: 815 4321 extn 7924
Email: usuadvocate@unitec.ac.nz

Dr Louise Allen - Education Quality Coordinator
Ph: 815 4321 extn 7380
Email: usueducation@unitec.ac.nz

Unitec have also set up an 0800 number that you can call for recorded information:

0800 10 95 90

Information can change quickly and will sometimes become available at short notice, so you may wish to keep checking back for the latest updates.

Unitec have also put together some information in order to answer some questions you may have about the strikes:

TEU Industrial Action Information for Students

Other Options:

• Fill in the Student Complaints Form and send it to Unitec

• Read the Student Grievance Policy

• Read more information on Special Assessment Circumstances.

• Keep an eye on Blackboard - some lecturers have been posting announcements for their students

]]> http://www.usu.co.nz/usu-news/unitec-lecturers-strike/feed/ http://www.usu.co.nz/usu-news/new-element-makes-unitec%e2%80%99s-annual-grad-show-even-more-exciting/ http://www.usu.co.nz/usu-news/new-element-makes-unitec%e2%80%99s-annual-grad-show-even-more-exciting/#comments Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:49:51 +0000 USU Communications http://www.usu.co.nz/?p=6784 New Zealand’s creative industries’ future talents will be on display when Unitec’s annual Grad Show returns at the end of this month.

The Grad Show is a massive public exhibition of student works from the departments of architecture, landscape architecture, design and visual arts, and this year for the first time, includes Unitec’s highly regarded performing and screen arts.

Students from the Department of Performing and Screen Arts who will be showcasing their dance, acting and singing skills, as well as exhibitions in the areas of costumes design, documentary and filmmaking and lighting displays.

The Unitec Grad Show runs from November 25 to November 28 at the Mt Albert campus. It is one of the biggest events to be hosted at Unitec and attracts hundreds of people each year. Many of these students will go on and lead the way in the creative industries in the future.

Executive Dean of the Faculty of Creative Industries and Business, Associate Professor Dr Leon de Wet Fourie, says the inclusion of the performing and screen arts department adds yet another dimension to what is already a successful event.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for our students from performing and screen arts to participate and showcase their talents and add even further excitement to the show,” says Professor Fourie.
“It’s the biggest event on our faculty calendar and rightfully so with the high standard of work produced by Unitec’s talented students.”

Unitec students have again enjoyed many successes this year, and many of them will display their much talked-about work at the Grad Show. This includes design student, Matt Arbuckle who was recently awarded with first runner up in the prestigious Wallace Art Awards (behind Unitec staff members Marcus Williams and Susan Jowsey), and Runi Schoenhofer, a final-year interior design student who has been identified as having a particularly bright future in the industry.

Other highlights include group works from the Department of Architecture including some major projects such as the design a new mental health unit in Whangarei with established architecture firm, AECOM, and the redevelopment of the Lion Nathan Brewery site with Newmarket based firm Chow: Hill Total Design.
Further group projects include the work done by product design students as part of Unitec’s Sustainable Habitat Challenge 09 (SHAC09) entry. The competition is open to groups from various tertiary institutions to design, develop, and build sustainable housing in their local community. Its aim is to make ideas and methods for low-energy, low-resource housing a reality for New Zealand.

Landscape architecture students have also been involved with various projects including the redesigning of Kinder House in Parnell.

The Grad Show will showcase the talents of students from jewellery, animation, painting, photography, graphic design and product and furniture design.

Throughout the four-day event, Unitec’s Building 1 (through Entry 1) will be transformed into a giant art gallery with industry representatives, the media, and friends and family amongst those who attend.

This year in May USU and Unitec ran the annual Student Satisfaction Survey to find out what you thought about services at Unitec.

At the time the survey was conducted there were 14,552 students enrolled at Unitec. Between 2,100 and 2,629 responded to the survey (this number fluctuates throughout the survey as some participants drop out of the survey before completing it), making the response rate approximately 18%.

The survey itself reflects how the students who participated viewed the services on offer at Unitec and indicates their usage of the services, whether they were satisfied and whether they believed the services were important.

Student Satisfaction Survey 09 - Full Report

Summary of the findings

STUDENT SATISFACTION

The majority (79%) of students who took part in the 2009 Student Satisfaction Survey reported that
they were satisfied or very satisfied with their student experience at Unitec. This overall opinion closely
mirrored the satisfaction rating of all 35 services surveyed, which gained an average of 78% for student
satisfaction. Seven percent of students surveyed reported that they were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with their experience.

Services that students were most satisfied with:
1. MAIA Maori Development Centre (90%)
2. The Sports Centre (90%)
3. The Centre for Pacific Development and Support (CPDS) (89%)
4. USU Events and Activities (88%)
5. Course Information & Campus Help (88%)

The services that the students surveyed were most dissatisfied with were:
1. Student Accommodation Village (42% dissatisfaction)
2. Food and Drink outlets (19% dissatisfaction)
3. Early Learning Provision (18% dissatisfaction – mostly with waiting lists rather than service delivery or service quality).
4. Facilities - Common Space (17% dissatisfaction – particularly at the north end of campus)

IMPORTANCE

Services students thought were most important:
1. The Library (96%)
2. Course Information & Campus Help (89%)
3. StudyLink (89%)
4. Food and Drink outlets (88%)
5. USU Student Job Search (SJS) (88%)

Importantly, Studylink, USU Student Job Search (SJS) and Food and Drink outlets also featured in the top 10 services that students were most dissatisfied with. This is worrying as any services with very high importance for students need to perform at a high level. The overall average for importance of services offered at Unitec was 69% which may indicate that some services might not be relevant to many students.

AWARENESS

Students were most aware of:
1. The Library (99%)
2. Food and Drink outlets (95%)
3. USU Website (95%)
4. USU Events Programme (95%)
5. USU’s In Unison (93%)
The overall average for awareness of services offered at Unitec was 74%. Te Puna Ako rated the lowest of all services for awareness amongst those students surveyed, at 36%.

CONCLUSION

Students surveyed seemed satisfied with Unitec overall, in terms of service provision, with areas of excellence in some pastoral services. Negative hot-spots have been identified in this report in high-profile service areas such as facilities and externally contracted services, indicating that greater knowledge and care of student focused provision is required.
Communication and coordination across all the services surveyed is markedly inconsistent, perhaps indicating that services may be currently under-utilized and in need of a more over-arching vision.

KEY RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE SURVEY

The recommendations below are the overall recommendations for Unitec to consider as a result of the survey’s findings.
1. That Unitec conduct an external review of the Student Residential Village due to serious health and safety issues.
2. That Unitec take immediate action to remedy the poor quality of facilities identified by students studying at the North End of the Mt Albert campus, and that a plan of action is communicated to students as soon as possible.
3. That Unitec develops a unified student service strategy that measures all service areas, including external contractors and those missing services identified in our methodology.
4. That Unitec review the internal communication and promotion of student services on campus.
5. That Unitec implements a student satisfaction component to new and existing contracts between Unitec and contractors, with a termination clause for poor performance.

Unitec has written a letter of response to these key recommendations:

Letter of response

USU Students’ Association response to the survey

USU Students’ Association at Unitec rated consistently highly in the awareness and satisfied categories however the importance ratings could be higher, highlighting the need to deliver services that are important to a wider range of students and to ensure better service is provided in the area of gaining employment – a core reason for attending Unitec. We as an organisation will accept all recommendations outlined in the survey.

Overarching recommendations for USU:

1. That USU conduct an immediate review of its Student Job Search

2. That USU focus on catering for a wider demographic of students, which is consistent with the wider Unitec student demographic.

3. That USU put in place measures and systems to ensure that no student enquiries get lost in the system.

Strategic Solutions:

• USU publish its 2008 careers research project and conduct more research into career expectations on campus. We will ensure a more direct relationship with the SJS national student organisation creating a more responsive and better service.
Outcomes: Research project and 15% increase in satisfaction in 2010.

• USU will research a full current and future Unitec demographic profile in order to better serve and predict the service needs of our students. Outcomes: Demographic profile that influences 2010 USU business plan.

• USU will develop a better student referral and internal communications programme.
Outcomes: No comments about lost student inquiries in 2010 survey.

USU has written a more in-depth response to the results of the survey:

USU’s Student Satisfaction Survey Solutions Report