Kia ora koutou,

The move to Alert Level 3 next week will see the continued online delivery of the majority of our courses.  A very limited number of our students and staff will return to campus.  In line with the Government directive that all teaching and other activities are done remotely wherever possible, we have carefully selected only those courses where an element of on-campus tuition is vital to the successful completion of the course.  I encourage all students to visit their course Moodle for the revised online learning plan which includes your timetables and classes for next week onwards.  For those of you coming onto campus for classes, you’ll be hearing more detailed information on this directly from your course lecturers over the coming days, and they’ll be available for any follow-up questions.

Class materials

In order to assist the small number of you who need specific resources for your classes, we’re working with our Facilities Management team to arrange collection of necessary equipment, tools and supplies from campus.  Again, your course lecturers will be in contact with you about this.

Student Wellbeing

Although most of you will continue with online learning for the coming weeks, we want to reassure the small number of you returning to campus that we’ll have strict Health & Safety measures in place, based on the Ministry directives around bubble sizes, physical distancing and good hygiene practices. In addition, all our student spaces, tools and other equipment will be thoroughly cleaned between classes and throughout the day. We’ll maintain a staff and student register so we can keep track of who’s been on campus for possible contact tracing reasons.  We’ll also continue to stress what we have from the start – that if you feel sick, you should stay home; to wash and dry your hands thoroughly and regularly, and to cough or sneeze into your elbow.

Building Closure

Under Alert Level 3, all Unitec buildings and services will remain closed, except for Te Puna Waiora and those spaces being used for timetabled teaching. The key focus of our Facilities Management, Security and IT staff on site from next week is your safety and wellbeing, and we don’t want any more students and staff on campus than is absolutely necessary. If you have any concerns, please contact your course lecturer or the Student Support team.

I want to acknowledge again the many challenges involved with studying and working from home, and to say what an incredible job you’re all doing. We’ve had really positive feedback from teaching staff on how receptive and engaged you all are, and I want to thank you again for your support and commitment.  We remain totally focused on successful learning outcomes for you all.

Take time over this long weekend to relax and switch off, and look after yourselves and your whānau.

Ngā mihi

Merran Davis
Interim Chief Executive