Renowned Māori academic to oversee NorthTec course

Media release:

Renowned Māori academic to oversee Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi postgraduate and undergraduate courses from NorthTec

Recently-appointed Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi academic and former Director of Auckland University’s Sir James Henare Research Centre Dr Te Tuhi Robust has been appointed to oversee the delivery of several postgraduate and undergraduate programmes from NorthTec’s Whangārei campus.

Dr Robust (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou) has a doctorate in Education Studies from the University of Auckland. He was formerly a Teaching Fellow of the Woolf Fisher Research Centre and was Research Fellow of the International Research Centre for Māori and Indigenous Education at the University of Auckland in 1999.

In August of last year NorthTec and Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi signed a memorandum of understanding designed to establish and promote a collaborative working relationship that helped meet their mutual education goals.

Their relationship was taken a step further in early September with the signing of a formal agreement that opened the way for Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi to deliver its Masters of Māori Studies, Masters of Indigenous Studies, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) and Bachelor of Education (Tapiri) at NorthTec.

“We are delighted that our relationship with Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi has progressed to this stage,” said NorthTec Chief Executive Terry Barnett.

“NorthTec is committed to Māori and other students being supported to achieve their educational aspirations. This is the central ethos at the heart of our agreement with Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi.”

“Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi has made a commitment to providing quality educational programmes and experiences within Tai Tokerau for Māori communities,” said Professor Patricia Johnston, Head of the School of Indigenous Graduate Studies at Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi who is responsible for Postgraduate programmes nationally.

“One of our goals is to contribute to the social, economic and educational opportunities and advancements for Māori. We are excited about the appointment of Dr Te Tuhi Robust who is well known throughout Tai Tokerau. He brings with him a wealth of experience and knowledge and he is a key figure in this development process.”

NorthTec’s Kaitohu Māori, Taipari Munro, said that the agreement between NorthTec and Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi is highly significant because it is the first time that NorthTec has made a connection with a wānanga that has resulted in that wānanga having a physical presence with an office located on the NorthTec campus.

“This signals a formal acceptance of a wānanga into Tai Tokerau by the largest tertiary provider in the region.

“We are particularly excited that Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi’s programmes delivered at NorthTec will be at postgraduate level and that the development of programme delivery will be overseen by an academic of Dr Robust’s stature and someone who has a strong affiliation to the hapū of Te Tai Tokerau”.

Mr Munro said that the agreement between the two institutions also acknowledges the genealogical relationship between the Mataatua waka tribes from the Northern region and the Bay of Plenty. This connection has been gaining momentum over the last few years.

A powhiri for Dr Robust will be held at the marae on NorthTec’s Raumanga campus on Monday, 12 October beginning at 9:30am.

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