JOCELYN WILLIAMS EDUCATOR
A T.E.O. 'IS' ITS COMMUNITY -
it makes sense to work together
As an"integrated academic" I think carefully about how any aspect of what I do in Ako will have a payoff in other areas. You can see this below in complex projects like The Living Community where multiple benefits emerged for Unitec. Deep down in the bedrock of that, from a professional philosophy point of view, is my belief that the education provider 'is' the community, and each should be deeply engaged with the other. A Te Pūkenga division like Unitec should be is the sum total of its success in meeting the needs of its stakeholder communities.
In Unitec's catchment area, its "people" in the locality, the lived experiences of potential students and their families in local communities near Unitec but also further to the West and North, the region of Tāmaki Makaurau - these are Unitec's people, first and foremost. We owe these communities our investment of time, to serve their aspirations, to work with them. This is important and visible in the work of many Unitec colleagues and I strongly subscribe to this view of our place as educators in the social and economic ecosystem. What we do by investing in communities has a long-term payoff through reputation, the gradual build-up of success and aspirational models that other young people want to emulate. It's a "what goes around, comes around" philosophy - what we invest will come back to us - or a "pay it forward" principle.
In this sense I've pushed the boundaries to serve stakeholder relationships with dedication, perseverance, commitment, and principled professionalism. This consistent investment of my knowledge, skills and experience has delivered the kind of long-term stakeholder esteem that is the ultimate value that senior leaders have a duty to create. My contribution to the reputation of Unitec over a long period has been considerable, and unwavering. An example that captures this hard-won value is the endorsement of Tom and Mahrukh Stazyk of CUE Haven, jus below this photo:
Mahrukh insisted on driving me to the top of CUE Haven to look down over their creation, the westerly wind brisk that day, their plantings of tens of thousands of natives tumbling down toward the Kaipara. A photo was obligatory. I think I'm CUE Haven whānau now. At an Open Day in 2014.
"Your involvement with CUE Haven has taken our partnership with Unitec to a new level of cooperation and professionalism. You bring a unique combination of communications skills, business acumen and community spirit that greatly enhances the experience of everyone involved. We especially appreciate how you have gone out of your way to understand what we are trying to accomplish and to integrate the practical and theoretical as we partner with students who are utilising CUE Haven as an extension of the classroom.
Bridging the gap between the needs of academic research, assignment rubrics and timetables with the needs and limitations of an ecological project requires sensitivity and flexibility and you have been exceptional in negotiating these challenges. You have ensured that objectives and expectations are clear and well communicated. The end result is that the students are getting a rich experience with real world projects that benefit the community, and our project is getting valuable, state of the art insights from students.
Your professionalism, communication skills, broad perspectives and empathy all contribute to make you a very effective manager and leader, and we are so glad that you are heading the communications department. Your skills make you a unique asset to Unitec - not only as an effective educator, but as an excellent representative of Unitec and tertiary education in the wider community." (Email 25/8/15)
A different context - BUSINESS STUDIES IN THE CBD
2017 - 2020
Even in a less obvious city business context, a "serving stakeholders" approach to applied vocational learning in the middle of Aotearoa's biggest city.can be a game changer. In 2018-2019 we did just that at ICL Graduate Business School, a private provider of mainly Business and IT programmes to International students, but also ECE programmes and Language classes. I taught postgraduate Business classes and led the way as Academic Director for the Graduate Business School, organising guest speakers and workshops, field trips outside the (single CBD multi-storey) campus, group work in learning, and encouraging a colleague to establish a Business Consultancy. The purpose of this was to provide opportunities for businesses in the CBD environs to have teams of students work on business challenges and come up with solutions. These were presented by teams to the "clients" as part of the assessment. The client would choose the best pitch. This was awesome learning - giving something valuable back to the business clients, and the area - and raising awareness about ICL Education Group's presence in the CBD community, available as a partner to businesses or other stakeholders.
