Whitireia New Zealand is committed to supporting you and your learning. As a Pacific student, we consider that you are a very important part of the community life at Whitireia.
We have developed programmes and networks to support you during your time here, and a strong Pacific focused team who are committed to working with you to enhance your academic success.
Pasifika Academic Support Coordinator
The Pasifika Academic Support Coordinator provides friendly academic and cultural support to Pacific students at Whitireia.
If this is your first time studying at a tertiary institution, you may be looking for support, information and encouragement with:
Financial advice & support
- advice/ advocacy with personal and attendance issues
- assignment planning, writing & referencing
- basic computer and word processing use
- cultural understanding & support
- scholarship enquiries and application support
- Whitireia Online (Moodle) use
What is a Mentor?
A Mentor is someone; a student, staff, church or family member, who has already completed their first year of study and can assist you with course-related tasks such as:
- coping with course readings
- tutorial activities
- understanding lecture material
assignment writing, and other such things as:
- cultural development and activities
- subject specific workshops
- links to Pacific networks
- career pathway guidance
- assessment and referral for learning challenges.
Scholarships
There is a range of scholarship information available to support your study. We encourage you to apply.
For scholarship options see the Scholarships page.
The Pasifika Scholarship Guide provides information about scholarships available to Pacific students. Application forms are available from Customer Services, the Student Financial Advisor and Pasifika Academic Support Coordinator.
Pacific-related subjects and courses
Whitireia New Zealand offers a wide range of programmes, from foundation level through to post graduate. Whitireia is community focused and is the only institution to offer a Bachelor of Nursing (Pacific) programme.
There is also a selection of programmes that Pacific peoples may find they identify with or relate to, such as early childhood education, social services, youth work, arts, nursing, computing, business and mental health, among many others. These subjects are available at many levels.
Pacific Model of Learning
Historically the canoe was an important vehicle for our Pacific Peoples because it was a way of travelling from place to place, trading and survival. We can use the canoe as a metaphor for a Pacific approach to learning and education. The journey of learning is like navigating a canoe to reach a destination. The destination could be successfully completing a course of study.
To begin our learning journey we must always be prepared and aware of the environmental, physical, social, psychological and spiritual factors that can make our journey easy or difficult. Do we have the right attitude, motivation, access or learning environment?
Every canoe needs a crew. It is important to have our family and community members on board, working together as our support people for encouragement and moving towards our desired destination. An example of crew members could be tutors, spouse, family, friends, mentors, WINZ, employer or child-carer.
The crew can't move the canoe without strong quality oars (foe) to help steer our learning forward in the right direction. This means we need the right tools and skills such as physical materials for learning, study skills, motivation, financial support, teaching skills/resources and other things to equip and prepare us for moving forward in our studies.
If we do not have our main support people (crew) and appropriate learning/teaching skills and tools (oars) then we will struggle in our learning journey and may not reach our destination of getting our certificate, degree or diploma. However, as we work together with our family, community and use appropriate learning skills then we will proudly reach our destination - Graduation Day! As Pacific Peoples, this is how we can navigate our way through our education and learning adventures!
Have you got the right crew and oars on board?
Pacific Community Liaison Team
Our Pacific Community Liaison team is responsible for engaging with and developing strong links with our Pacific Communities to ensure their needs are addressed.
Ethnic specific staff are responsible for setting up forums with the following community groups: Cook Islands, Samoa, Tokelau and Tonga. The team is also committed to the Fiji, Niue and Tuvalu communities and other Pacific people.
The Pacific Liaison team can discuss any study-related issues including:
- networking within and outside Whitireia
- support for international students from the South Pacific
- cultural understanding and support
- advocacy