THE UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO ‘DISTINCTIVENESS’ Approved by Council: 8 August 2007 Why do we need to be distinctive? Enhanced differentiation across the tertiary sectors and within the university sector is a key goal of Government’s Tertiary Education Strategy. From Government’s perspective, a distinctive contributions approach recognises the key strengths and differences between tertiary organisations. This is to ensure a diversity of education provision, develop critical mass and expertise, assist decision‐making and minimise undesirable duplication. The University of Waikato is developing its distinctiveness in three different respects. Firstly, it is defining its distinctiveness in relation to its academic portfolio and its teaching and research excellence. The University’ special academic strengths are already evident, for example, from our PBRF rankings. We are taking a strategic approach to the development of those areas of teaching and research strength through the academic planning exercise that is currently underway. This is crucially important, because a person’s choice to enrol, to apply for a job, or to be associated with the University in any other way is usually based on the University’s academic standing in their chosen discipline. Secondly, the University is building on its reputation for being student‐centred, for treating students as individuals, and demonstrating a genuine concern for their well‐being. Thirdly, and in parallel, the University is defining its genuinely Aotearoa/New Zealand identity, which extends beyond the excellence of its teaching and research and its student focus, and which is unique in New Zealand. Our genuinely Aotearoa/ New Zealand identity The core features that we have in common with all world‐class universities are set out in our Vision – excellence in teaching and research and international connectedness. These are the essential features of a university. The third over‐arching theme in our Vision is distinctiveness, which we have not defined until now. Whatever we define as our distinctive qualities, we must be confident that they can stand up to challenge. They must be true, in terms of both our heritage and our future development. The University of Waikato is already aligned unambiguously with emerging perceptions of Aotearoa/New Zealand national and cultural identity. New Zealand’s history began approximately 1000 years ago with the arrival of the ancestors of contemporary Māori. The story of New Zealand’s identity as a nation state began in 1840 with the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, which is our founding document and still governs the relationship between the Crown and Māori. New Zealand is a small country, with an extensive coastline, abundant natural resources and a ‘clean green’ image which is the impetus behind the way we market ourselves to the rest of the world. Our ‘clean green’ image is also closely linked to our concern for the sustainability of our environment and our natural resources, and to the value of agriculture as our most significant export earner. 2
Even though it is not an exclusive aspect of what will define Aotearoa/New Zealand into the future, “Māoriness” is an essential aspect of Aotearoa/New Zealand’s identity and it is our Māori heritage and culture that sets us apart from the rest of the world. Waikato is the only University in Aotearoa/New Zealand whose name is in the indigenous language of this country, Māori. The University’s location, origins, partnerships with Māori and unique regional and cultural resources have always been fundamental aspects of its identity. It has always placed a high level of importance on its role as a key driver of social well‐being and economic growth in its region. The Waikato is the heartland of land‐based industries. The development of linkages, both nationally and internationally, which strongly reflect the primary economic activities and capability needs of the Waikato and Bay of Plenty are a top priority. As a nation, we honour and celebrate our cultural and sporting heroes. We take special pride in those aspects of our character represented by the ‘can‐do attitude’ and the ‘no.8 wire mentality’ ‐ those iconic qualities that have become fundamental to our identity as New Zealanders which are innovation, determination, tenacity, ingenuity, hard work and self‐belief. These are all qualities inherent in our origins as a university, our approach to the many challenges we have faced over the decades, and our branding. New Zealand has displayed leadership in many respects and the University of Waikato has been at the forefront of many new ideas and initiatives in its 40‐year history. Our most plausible claim to distinction is that we are a New Zealand university, aware of our relevance and responsibilities to our region, and determined to compete on an international stage. We are “New Zealand’s university for the world”. This central idea of being “New Zealand’s university for the world” rests on three distinctive and interdependent components: • Sustainability • Māori • Leadership In isolation, they do not make us unique. Our real distinctiveness comes in their synergy in the context of our Aotearoa/New Zealand identity. They have significance only when combined and assimilated across the whole fabric of the University. Sustainability Consistent with internationally agreed definitions, ‘sustainability’ is about meeting the needs of current generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. The University of Waikato already offers a wide range of programmes related to sustainability, across many disciplines, with local, national and global perspectives. We engage and collaborate with a network of tertiary and research organisations which reflect and serve the social, cultural, environmental and economic development of the Waikato and Bay of Plenty and the nation as a whole. To give greater effect to this element of our distinctiveness, the University of Waikato will: • incorporate the theory and practice of sustainability into the curriculum and course outlines of a much wider range of disciplines • include the theory and practice of sustainability in the grouping of “fundamentally important subjects” to which all students will have access from 2008 i 3
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demonstrate leadership within the Aotearoa/New Zealand tertiary sector in the generation of technologies and IP which help protect our social, cultural and ecological environment, locally and nationally expand and strengthen our linkages and partnerships internationally, which create innovative and enabling technologies and build expertise in support of economic and development outcomes directly relevant to our region’s needs work closely with the Bay of Plenty Polytechnic to support the development of new industry clusters in the Bay of Plenty which meet current and future development needs in the Bay be proactive in inspiring our students and staff to promote and implement sustainability values and practices in the community embrace sustainability values and practices in the management of our own campus, operations and activities include among the priorities for strategic investment areas and activities that impact directly on the sustainability of Aotearoa/New Zealand’s economies, communities and environment. Māori The University of Waikato has led the way in terms of partnership models with Māori in the tertiary sector. The University resides on Tainui land, under the cultural mantel of the Māori King Tuheitia and his iwi, within a catchment area recognised as having the most densely populated Māori constituency in the country. The Waikato is a vast economic powerhouse in terms of Māori land, wealth and educational output. Since its establishment, the University has been committed to the iwi forum of Te Rōpū Manukura, which represents the 16 iwi aligned to the University. It has a very strong record of support for Māori student and staff communities with a focus on leadership and academic excellence. The inclusion of Māori as an element of our distinctiveness is authentic to our legacy and is consistent with our overall positioning as a quintessentially Aotearoa/New Zealand university. To give greater effect to this element of our distinctiveness, the University of Waikato will: •
actively invest in the principle that Māori success is Aotearoa/New Zealand’s success, by increasing our focus on strategies to improve the academic success rates of Māori students and staff, especially at degree and postgraduate levels •
support Aotearoa/New Zealand’s unique opportunity of differentiation in the global market by expanding and strengthening research connections and linkages that create economic opportunities for Māori include te reo and tikanga Māori in the grouping of “fundamentally important subjects” to which all students will have access from 2008 i strengthen our partnership with Te Rōpū Manukura to achieve educational and research outcomes that contribute more significantly and substantially to Māori sustainable development and well‐being demonstrate leadership within the Aotearoa/New Zealand tertiary sector in research on Māori language, cultural and heritage matters construct as an iconic feature of our campus a beautiful and highly distinctive ceremonial entrance to the University, designed in keeping with the concept of a modern urban Marae. •
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Leadership By ‘leadership’ as a point of distinction for the University of Waikato, we mean ‘inspirational leadership’. The objective is to enable and inspire people towards their full potential in the pursuit of a shared and meaningful purpose and in the enhancement of social, economic, cultural and environmental outcomes for everyone. 4
The University of Waikato already has a very strong reputation for teaching and research in various aspects of leadership across most disciplines. To give greater effect to this element of our distinctiveness, the University of Waikato will: • role‐model inspirational leadership throughout the university • incorporate the theory and practice of inspirational leadership into the curriculum, pedagogy and course outlines of a much wider range of disciplines • include the theory and practice of inspirational leadership in the grouping of “fundamentally important subjects” to which all students will have access from 2008 i • expand the use of work placements in the curriculum as a means of enabling and inspiring graduates to achieve personal and collective goals in the workplace • provide encouragement and incentives to staff to incorporate aspects of inspirational leadership into their teaching, scholarship, research and management agenda • offer specific training in inspirational leadership to staff • provide community‐based inspirational leadership development training and activities • encourage staff to engage in community‐based inspirational leadership roles • design and operate university‐wide systems according to world best practice, within a continuous improvement regime. How? Our Aotearoa/New Zealand identity and the three composite elements of Sustainability, Māori and Leadership, will be infused, as appropriate, through all we do. Each Faculty/School will be free to interpret these distinctiveness elements in accordance with their own disciplines. In some cases, they might be perceived more as qualities or values that are reflected in curriculum content, in the way we manage ourselves and our campus, and in our interactions with stakeholders. In other cases, they might be perceived more specifically as graduate attributes. What Next? After all is said and done, our success as a university will lie in delivering excellence ‐ that is, by being better at everything that we do. But our image and our identity are also crucially important aspects of what we can offer as a university to our students, staff and stakeholders, beyond the excellence of our teaching and research and our student focus. By giving practical effect to our claims to distinction, we demonstrate that we are a unique and valuable component of a wider network of tertiary provision in New Zealand. A plan setting out detailed actions, responsibilities, outcomes and timelines for delivering on our claims to distinctiveness, in the terms outlined above, will be developed over the next two months in consultation with students, staff, and stakeholders. The Vice‐Chancellor will communicate with the university community about activities to give effect to the University’s distinctiveness through a variety of means and forums, including his campus‐wide presentations, relevant committee reports and the intranet. July 2007 i
Through the 2006 Reconsideration of Qualifications it was recommended by APC, and approved by Academic Board, that from 2008 students would be encouraged to include at least 30 points of papers in their bachelors degree programmes from a list of fundamentally important subjects. The range of fundamentally important subjects is to be agreed in 2007.