Kia ora and welcome to the April edition of We are OPAIC

In this month’s issue, you can read all about the events we’ve held for our students over the past month including a trip to a marine reserve and a construction guest lecture. In this issue, you’ll also meet our new Student Representative.

Talk of the Campus

Big range of events lined up

We have some great events lined up for our students in Study Block 2 including a Pink Shirt Day, a wine tasting, and a series of workshops to help students get work ready. Check out our schedule for the block here.

Introducing Student Representative Paolo Duran

New Student Representative Paolo Duran has embraced the New Zealand culture during his time here. He’s learned all about the Māori culture through an experience staying at AUT’s Ngā Wai o Horotiu marae, where he continues to volunteer. He’s also completed a course in Te Reo Māori. Read all about him here.

Students explore Goat Island

Students had a great time exploring the Goat Island area on a trip organised by our Student Success Team recently. For one Nepalese student, it was her first time going to the sea. She was scared at first but ultimately ended up spending the day in the water. Goat Island is a marine reserve just north of Auckland.

Risk Management guest lecturer for students

Construction students enjoyed an expert guest lecturer about Risk Management last month.

Aiman Grace gave the lecture, which was organised by Firas Almughrabi and the Construction Team.

Aiman has experience with rail, industrial projects, hydropower plants, and infrastructure. He has provided management support for various projects including a dam and hydropower plant, water supply systems, and industrial plants.

Firas says Aiman gave a very good, interactive guest lecture on Risk Management and Site Safety in the Construction industry.

“He shared very interesting and useful case studies on construction risk management and health and safety aspects. He highlighted different health and safety scenarios with different associated risks and possible mitigation plans.”

Good interest in Student Ambassador programme

The Student Ambassador evening held in March was a big success. We now have more than 20 new students signed up to be ambassadors with us. Student Ambassadors support and represent their fellow students and help out at events.

Excellent Scholars Celebrated

Congratulations to the students who received Excellent Scholars Awards and Special Awards at our latest ceremony. Our Excellent Scholars were Xuyang Hao, Wei Qi Hong, Jackson Zhang, Leijun Shi, Riya Vishnoi, Shengli Chen, Kashmira Vikas More, Hee Kyung Kim. Our Special Awards recipients were Karl Tan Ipong, Dayyana Angelova Dimitrova and Margo Martine Marguerite Ballesta-Torrente.

Academic workshops on offer

Learning Support will run workshops focussing on academic skills in weeks two and three of the study block. The workshops are designed to equip learners with the skills they need for success in their courses. Check out the schedule here.

New Student Hub now live

This week we’ve launched your new Student Hub. Named Kāpehu by one of our students (‘compass’ in Māori), hopefully, you’ll use it to help you navigate your way through Polytechnic and your study. You would have received an email from OP Communications introducing the new Hub and answering some questions you might have about it. If you have any additional questions about the new platform, please reach out to communications@op.ac.nz.

AT Hop Sticker Renewal for 2023

Auckland Transport has yet to receive new AT Hop tertiary stickers. OPAIC will be notified when they arrive, and our order will be sent to us. When the 2023-2024 tertiary stickers are at OPAIC, all current students will be notified by student email to receive the new tertiary sticker from the Level 1 IT Helpdesk.

In the meantime, Auckland Transport is providing an eight-week temporary tertiary concession which can be applied at any of its Customer Service Centres upon presentation of your student ID. To apply for this, you will need to login to your MyAT account:

Look for the "Apply for a concession" option
Select "Tertiary" for the concession type
Fill out the form
Type in your AT Hop number and the expiry date on your orange sticker
Click “Submit”
Go to your nearest AT Office with your Student ID and AT Hop Card/Key to activate the Tertiary Concession

Employability Corner

Welcome all new and returning students!

The end of April marked the beginning of a new block, where the team introduced new students to the employability centre’s various services, Moodle courses, and one-on-one booking system.

Our booking system can be accessed via a tile on the Student Hub or by using the QR codes found on employability posters throughout campus on each floor.

The team has also scheduled a Tuesday workshop from Weeks 1 to 6 during the block to help students Get Work Ready. The first three of these workshops will take students through the employability Moodle courses and help students lay a strong foundation that will aid them throughout their job-searching journey.

Keep your eyes open for more event invites via email and in our weekly newsletter.

Alumni Mentorship Programme

The Employability Centre is excited to announce that our first Alumni mentorship event will take place in Week 1 of Study Block 2. We look forward to seeing all students who have signed up for the event. If you didn't manage to register in time, don't worry! We'll be sharing more information on how you can participate in the next event later in Study Block 2. Stay tuned for updates!

Employability Centre Services and newsletter

Study Block 1 ended with two weeks of additional one-on-one service support from the Employability Centre, to help students get work ready, as well as a special job-focused edition of our newsletter to help students get great holiday working opportunities.

Be sure to check your student inbox for the latest edition of the Employability weekly newsletter. The newsletter goes out every Monday throughout the study block.

Green Office Toitū update

Green Office Toitū is happy to welcome our newest member to the team, Jiawei Wang (Vivi). She will be working at the Green Office space on Level 1. Feel free to visit her and ask about the exciting things we are up to over there. Come and see us if you’re interested in taking part in sustainability activities.

If you’re interested in joining the GOT team, we always have internship opportunities available. You can send us an email at greenofficetoitu@op.ac.nz. Looking forward to chatting with you!
We also have plenty of volunteering opportunities available. Follow this link to sign up as a GOT volunteer.

Green Office Toitū Workshop

Join the GOT team on Thursday from 12.10pm to 12.50pm on Level 1 for a fun sustainability workshop. We'll explore various opportunities available this block to get involved in sustainability initiatives, both on and off campus. Discover more about our sustainability competitions happening this block and learn how you can win exciting prizes by going green. See you there!