“I think institutions of higher learning, and particularly publicly funded or public institutions, have a responsibility to community,” Professor De la Rey says.
Since 2020, UC has run a student success programme called Kia Angitu, that focuses on the first-year experience and provides supportive programmes to help students succeed based off a data-driven approach.
In 2022, UC hosted the Tūwhitia! Transforming Tertiary symposium focused on the systemic changes needed to reduce barriers to success for historically marginalised learners. The success of this called for a second symposium to be held in 2023 by Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, an Indigenous tertiary education provider.
This equity-centred approach impacts far beyond campus, Professor De la Rey says, “we know that an investment in a university education has a positive impact on the whole of society.”
Read the full article on Achieving the Dream.
