Hon Dr Shane Reti, Minister for Universities, has announced the reappoint of Hon Amy Adams and the appointment of two new council members, Sina Cotta Tait and Steve Wakefield, to Te Kaunihera o Te Whare o Waitaha | University of Canterbury Council. The UC Council is the governance body responsible for approving things such as UC's policies, degree regulations, Vice-Chancellor appointments, financial and capital matters.
Alongside these members, Tumaru Mataio has also been elected by the student body as the UCSA President for 2026 and will start in January 2026.
The two new Council members, who begin on September 1, will bring a breadth of knowledge and experience. Current Councillor Keiran Horne will finish as a Council member on 31 August 2025.
You can find the other council members here.
Sina Cotter Tait
Sina Cotter Tait has over 20 years' experience in consulting engineering as a Chartered Professional Engineer (Civil), holds an MBA and has completed a PhD in construction management. A former member of the Engineering NZ Governing Board, she's currently serving on the board of CEAS, the Engineering NZ Foundation and the Engineering NZ Competence Assessment Board. Sina is an advocate for increasing equity in professional engineering and sees huge opportunities in the construction and infrastructure sectors to benefit from a change in culture. She also believes in the responsibility for infrastructure leaders to lead on wider societal issues, including education, housing and equity, and currently sponsors the Cotter Tait scholarship at UC for Māori and Pasific engineering students who aspire to make a difference in the world.
In 2021, Sina was awarded the Engineering New Zealand Fulton-Downer Gold Medal for her contribution to the profession and is also the 2021 Governance NZ Women on Boards Emerging Leader. In her spare time, she serves in a number of governance roles across a range of organisations including the North Otago Irrigation Company, the Cashmere High School Board of Trustees, the Canterbury-Kaikoura Lotteries Committee and the Christ Church Cathedral Reinstatement Review Panel.
Steve Wakefield
Steve Wakefield has returned to the UC Council, after an earlier appointment in 2017 of Pro-Chancellor. An accountant by trade, Steve worked in the United States for 11 years after a short stint in London. A believer in lifelong learning, he used his early retirement from Deloitte to pursue a Master of Civil Engineering at UC to build his knowledge in Construction Management.
Steve has a strong motivation to give back to the community. He has worked with the UC Foundation to establish the Jim and Susan Wakefield Fellowship in biomedical engineering to support the world-leading UC Rose Centre for Stroke Rehabilitation and Research, led by Professor Maggie-Lee Huckabee and her team. His commitment is deeply personal, as his step-mother, Susan, was disabled by strokes in 2016. He has also been involved in the health sector in Canterbury for over 10 years with roles on the Canterbury District Health Board, Brackenridge Services (for the intellectually disabled), the NZ Health Innovation Hub, HealthOne, and many health startups.
Steve’s alumni profile can be found here
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