All posts by klw56

Announcements, Events

Discovery Day a hit!

The rain, hail and sleet couldn’t dampen the spirits of 900 Year 12 students, who attended UC Discovery Day on Tuesday.

We had 20 schools on-campus and a total of 870 students – unfortunately Mount Hutt were unable to attend as their school was closed with the snow!

There were 40 sessions throughout the day, with over 60 UC staff and students involved in delivering the event. A big thank-you to all staff who were involved – your efforts are much appreciated. If you were involved, it would be great if you can please complete our staff survey here.

The initial feedback from students and careers advisors was that they had a great day, always knew where they were going and really liked the sessions.

The visiting students created quite a buzz of energy in the Core, with the student atmosphere one of the main highlights of the day. We also saw quite a bit of interaction with the chill out zone in the Core and smiling faces through the windows of the lecture theatres. 

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Announcements

Upcoming! The UCE Sustainability Challenge, 19 – 20 April

The UCE Sustainability Challenge is a two day Challenge running 19-20 April and is open to all tertiary students that are interested in positively contributing to our planet.

It is about innovation around environmental sustainability problems such as waste and carbon outputs. 

In just two days students will be taken through a structured programme that involves brainstorming, idea refinement and market validation in order to identify a solution.

Students will learn how to effectively work with others, how to compromise, how to communicate with mentors and experts and how to present a compelling pitch to a judging panel of industry experts and entrepreneurs.

Students have the option of either pulling together a team of 4-5 or entering individually and getting placed in a team.

Please encourage students to apply here. Final registrations close on Tuesday 17th April, 5pm.

Announcements, Community Notices

Support Te Whare Kohungahunga o UC | Early Childhood Learning Centre

Support Te Whare Kohungahunga o UC | Early Childhood Learning Centre – order your NEW 2018 | 2019 Entertainment™ Membership now!

Welcome to Te Whare Kohungahunga o UC Early Childhood Learning Centre (ECLC), the University of Canterbury’s Early Years Care and Education Centre.  We accommodate children up to six years old, and accept enrolments from UC students, staff and members of the wider community.

You can now purchase your 2018 | 2019 Entertainment Membership! Not only will you receive 25 to 50% off and 2-for-1 offers many of the best restaurants, hotels and attractions in your area but you’ll be supporting us to buy new resources for the children. Find out more at https://www.entertainmentbook.co.nz/orderbooks/9×48149.

The digital app has launched. Purchase now to access exclusive early bird offers, and great value for an extra month.

UC News

NZ Sign Language Introductory Courses

NZ Sign Language Introductory Courses cover finger-spelling alphabet and basic phrases, numbers, some university specific vocabulary and basic grammar. No previous NZSL experience is required and the course is open to both students and staff.

Term 2 classes will be held each Thursday from 12noon to 12.50pm in the Puaka-James Hight building. 

The dates are 26 April, 3 May, 10 May, 17 May, 24 May and 31 May.  Handouts are provided, there is no structured homework though practicing signs between classes is encouraged to enhance your learning. 

Please email me if you’d like to register, and I will send you a payment form (the cost is $60).

Here is some feedback from a previous course:

During term three, I was fortunate enough to learn sign language through a course offered by the University. I signed up to this course because I think as an official New Zealand language it is something we should all know the basics in. 

My speech and hearing is something I take for granted every day and learning sign language gave me a greater appreciation for the abilities that I have, as well as allowing me to communicate with the deaf community. I definitely intend on continuing to learn sign language, to extend my conversational skills and to continue learning about deaf culture.

Sign language is a transferable skill across study, work and our day to day lives. I encourage you all to consider taking this course next time it is offered, you will learn how to sign common phrases, ask questions and master basic conversations. 

Nicola McDonald
Disability Resource Advisor
nicola.mcdonald@canterbury.ac.nz

Staff Success, UC News

Congratulations to Jennifer Brown

Congratulations to Jennifer Brown who has been awarded the prestigious Senior Fellowship by the Higher Education Academy.

We asked Jennifer to share her response to receiving the good news.

Q: What is the Fellowship and why is it important?
A: The Fellowship is to a UK-based organisation called the Higher Education Academy that operates around the world. Their goal is to champion teaching excellence and their focus is on the contribution of teaching to student’s learning experience, a view that is very much in line with our School’s values.

Q: How did it come about?
A: I was awarded Senior Fellowship; this level is for fellows who can demonstrate “a thorough understanding of effective approaches to teaching and learning support as a key contribution to high quality student learning”. For me it is a bit more personal than that! It recognises the great work we have done in the School in placing teaching, and more importantly, student learning, at the centre of what we do.

Q: What does it mean to you to receive this?
A: Our School has a really big impact on student experience at UC – our student numbers alone are the reason for this (about half the UC students are taught by our School at some stage in their time at UC). Our School understands the responsibility we have to the UC community, and we want all students to have a really positive learning experience. What a positive learning experience means will be different for each student and probably if I asked the staff I would get 45 different answers too.  I think I can capture all their views in two words – student success. Student success means more than passing courses while at UC, it means success for life ahead, and equipping students with the knowledge and skills to contribute fully in whatever they do.

Bringing it back to what does this mean for me and why was I recognised – I see my role as the facilitator of a very positive, adaptive and committed School. My role is to communicate the vision we have as a School, to staff in the School and to others outside.

Q: Is there anything else you would like to add?
A: I was invited to apply for the Senior Fellowship and very pleased to have been awarded it. It did involve a lot of hard work in pulling together my portfolio but there was a great team at UC to help (big shout out to Erik Brogt and Eleri Nugent). On reflection, the hard work paid off, and there is a certain sweetness about success after hard work. If success came too easily how would you recognise it?