Somehow, we are already at the end of semester 1! Being a relative ‘noob’, as my son would say, to this manager gig, I’ve found this semester has been a whirlwind.  So I really enjoyed watching this short video of UC students who graduated in absentia marking the occasion with a photographic opportunity. Yes, it’s marketing spin. But I recognised a Phd student I worked with as a subject librarian and seeing her with her family, and the other students with their whānau, was a timely reminder of why we all come to work each day – to support our students and help them achieve their goals.

Speaking of which, did you know that the UC Pacific Development Team runs an awesome outreach programme to high school students twice a year call UCMeXL? There are some lovely anecdotes in this story from several current UC students about their experiences of participating in this long-running programme.

We have our all staff UC Values workshops coming up and you might have looked up the values on the website. But have you watched the short videos for each value? (Tip: Run your mouse over each value to find the ‘play’ button. Also, Anne stars in the Tiakitanga video!). If you’re feeling a bit unsure about your pronunciation of any of the values, or the associated attributes of Tika, Pono and Aroha, check out this Te Reo Soundbites page which guides you in correct pronunciation with audio clips.

Finally, it’s almost Matariki – and 2022 is the first year Aotearoa is recognising Matariki with a national holiday. I recommend this podcast from Dr Rangi Matamua, who has spent 20 years researching Matariki and whose work has been integral in leading to this moment where we are nationally recognising Matariki. He shares his knowledge of Matariki and tells some great yarns along the way.

Image credit: Robert Gendler, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Nā, Fiona T