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• INZ student visa processing update

  Immigration New Zealand’s (INZ) Palmerston North Area Office (PNAO) is coming out of the peak processing period for onshore student visa applications, with the last of the March visa applications still to be processed.

  The standard processing timeframe for a student visa application is 20 working days for an online application, and 25 working days for a paper-based application.

  Kimberley Polata, PNAO Head of Operations, said her team is working on applications received within the last 20 days and is committed to clearing these applications by the end of April.

  Progress has already been made towards this, with PNAO sending out nearly 1,800 visa decisions in the last week alone, she said

  “There are approximately 1,100 visa applications where further documentation or information has been requested from the student, and this is required in order to compete the application.”

  Ms Polata asks that education providers check in with their students who are still waiting for their visa decision and ask them to check their email and online applications for communication from INZ.

• Prime Minister makes a cameo appearance in Lifeswap episode

  ENZ had commissioned episode 10 in the Lifeswap animated series, which sheds light on the lives of (German) Jörg and (Kiwi) Duncan and offers a playful look at the cultural misunderstandings that can crop up when they live and study in each other’s country.

  

  Steffen explaining the many Jacinda mouths he had to animate

  The episode has a special cameo from Ms Ardern who voiced a line for the episode. ENZ timed the launch of the episode with her visit to Berlin and nabbed the perfect guest for the launch – none other than Clarke Gayford.

  

  Clarke Gayford chatting to William Connor and Steffen Kreft (slightly hidden) at the Lifeswap launch

  To a cinema full of education agents, alumni and German students, Clarke shared anecdotes about studying overseas, Lifeswap creators and filmmakers Steffen Kreft and William Connor discussed their experience of studying in both countries, and ENZ’s Education Marketing Manager Europe, Olga Elli, spoke about the episode’s genesis. 

  

  A capacity crowd awaiting the episode to play

  Covered in the Tagesspiegel and promoted on Study in New Zealand’s Facebook page (with more than 125,000 views as at 26 April), the animation is striking a chord.

  To give the campaign further legs, the episode will be shown in over 70 university cinemas around Germany over the next two months, screening as a trailer before feature films.

  Ms Ardern also visited the ENZ offices at the New Zealand Embassy in Berlin and agreed to be photographed with a kiwi soft toy (that lived in Olga’s office) to promote ENZ’s “Follow the Kiwi” scholarship aimed at German, French and Italian high school students.

  Ms Ardern gifted this little kiwi to Chancellor Merkel when they met later in the day.

• ENZ signs education arrangement with Atsugi city

  The arrangement was signed between ENZ, the Atsugi City Council and the Atsugi City Board of Education at the New Zealand Embassy in Tokyo on 5 April. 

  The signing was preceded by a two-day visit to Wellington by an Atsugi City Board of Education delegation in late March. They met ENZ Chief Executive Grant McPherson, Deputy Mayor of Wellington Jill Day and visited secondary schools.   

  

  ENZ Chief Executive Grant McPherson with Atsugi City Board of Education Superintendent Takaharu Soda in Wellington

  Already there are tangible results from the signing. Atsugi city is making plans to send a group of junior high school students on a 10-day study visit in August to Wainuiomata High School, Wellington.

   Misa Kitaoka, ENZ’s Senior Market Development Manager – Japan, said Atsugi city is keen to provide more opportunities for Atsugi’s school students as well as English teachers for teacher training in New Zealand.

  Atsugi city will also act as a host town for New Zealand under the Japanese government’s initiative to promote exchanges between Japanese cities and the countries participating in the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics.

  The education cooperation arrangement is the first of its kind between a Japanese host town and guest country.

  Adele Bryant, ENZ’s Regional Director for China and North Asia, said the arrangement will strengthen the education relationship.

  “Atsugi city has begun organising a range of activities to foster a strong relationship between the city and New Zealand in sport, culture and education.

  “The arrangement has highlighted the range of education exchange initiatives that we could further promote as part of Japan’s ongoing internationalisation agenda leading up to and after the 2020 Olympics,” Adele said. 

• Indonesia's school influencer training

  Some 250 participants were trained across two days in Jakarta, with another 100 participants trained in Surabaya. They included counsellors and principals from high schools, vocational schools and madrassah schools.

  Karmela Christy, ENZ’s Market Manager for Indonesia, said school counsellors and principals are crucial to the development of their students. With this in mind, ENZ held training sessions delivered by the University of Otago and Otago Polytechnic.

  “This year’s programme was aimed at empowering counsellors and principals to support and prepare students for working lives that would need to adapt to rapid technological and social change,” said Karmela. 

  

  Matthew Carter (Otago Polytechnic) trains school principals in Surabaya Four Pillar Leadership.

  “The sessions emphasised that the role of the counsellor is not merely about subject choices but also about character and the development of the right soft skills." 

  The annual programme, which was first delivered in 2016, is a partnership with Fortrust Education which supports the coordination of all activities with schools in Jakarta and Surabaya.

  This year, ENZ also partnered with Jakarta Capital City Government. Jakarta Vice Governor, Sandiaga Uno, as well as New Zealand Ambassador to Indonesia, Trevor Matheson, were also involved.

  

  ENZ representatives, school counsellors and the Fortrust Education team together.

   

   

• Massey links up with Dutch social scientists

  Researchers from the Sociology of Development and Change group at Wageningen University in the Netherlands were hosted by Massey University’s School of People, Environment and Planning earlier this year.

  Together, they created and signed The Mordor Accord (referencing the Lord of the Rings film scenery where it was signed) and developed a collaborative workplan addressing issues to do with the environment, food, political economy and development studies.
  
  Massey Professor Glenn Banks, Head of the School of People, Environment and Planning, says the school jumped at the opportunity to work with Wageningen.
  
  “Massey and Wageningen have been working together for a number of years but it is only recently that we started a discussion between social scientists at the two institutions,” he said.

  “The main objective of the collaboration is to kick-start joint teaching, research and grant development, and to help strengthen and broaden the relations between the two universities.
  
  “We are also looking to gain from their strength in Latin America and Africa, where they do a lot of work. [In turn], they get a lot from us in the Pacific and Asia where they are looking to expand their research and are seeking networks and joint opportunities."

  In future, the partnership will translate into work programmes with joint publications, research grant development and applications, and staff and student visits and exchanges.

  Some of these are already underway – a Massey University Sociology PhD student Stella Pennell is leaving in mid-year for a three-month visit to Wageningen as part of her study.

• Study in New Zealand website delivers greater value

  Euan Howden, ENZ’s Student Attraction Director, says prospective students are increasingly using StudyinNewZealand.govt.nz (SiNZ) to search for study options, with new statistics showing use of SiNZ’s search widgets (stand-alone applications) surged 117% from last year.

  “The addition of the ‘Find a course’ search widget last year, alongside existing widgets for institutions/schools, scholarships and agents, has considerably improved engagement.

  “This shows the site is delivering value to prospective students as well as New Zealand providers who want to attract students to their unique education offerings.”

  Those using the new search widgets are finding what they are looking for much quicker and are spending more time reading the results, an average of 4.22 minutes, which combined with a bounce rate (people who leave without reading further) of 5.9% is an outstanding result – the industry bounce rate average is 40%.

  “The recent improvements to the search widgets have significantly increased our target audience’s exposure to content about why they should choose New Zealand, and we’re very pleased with results to date,” says Euan.

  

  
  The SINZ search widgets allow prospective students to search for courses, institutions, scholarships and agents.

  This improved search performance coincides with a suite of other initiatives designed to improve site performance and deliver greater value to students.

  Other updates include:

  • Default search results are now randomised if a user has not used any search filters. This is a change from the previous approach of presenting results in alphabetical order and means preference won’t be given to institutions with names beginning with ‘A’.
  • The start date refinement filter has been removed due to inconsistencies in the data available from institutions, which led to inconsistent search results.
  • Keyword search will be enabled in the search widgets to allow for more intuitive search results for users.

  These changes are in addition to the launch of My StudyNZ, which helps to connect students to New Zealand study options.

  In the last year, more than one million users visited the SiNZ website. To maximise the potential of SINZ for your institution, ensure your institution’s profile is complete and up-to-date.

• Latin American agents tour New Zealand

  The trip was organised by Carlos Robles, Director of IEP’s New Zealand Choice Schools, a consortium of 14 New Zealand secondary schools. It began in the north with a visit to Kerikeri, and covered schools right through to Dunedin – hitting Auckland, Te Puke, Napier, Rotorua, Wellington and Queenstown in between.

  Carlos said the diverse range of schools and settings gave the agents useful insights into what New Zealand offers as a study destination. 

  “At Kerikeri High School, the agents participated in a Sailing Academy with the students, while in Queenstown they witnessed the modern facilities and collaborative learning approach at Wakatipu High School,” said Carlos.

  “It showed agents the range of education experiences that Latin American students can have in New Zealand and that often aren’t available in their home countries.”

  In Napier, the group visited Taradale High School and William Colenso College before hitting Western Heights High School in Rotorua where the students performed a haka. The whirlwind trip ended at Te Puke High School. 

  ENZ’s Senior Market Development Manager Brazil, Ana Azevedo, said the agents returned to Mexico and Brazil with a deeper knowledge of the secondary school possibilities they can share with their students.

  “It reinforces that experiencing a Kiwi classroom first-hand is a great way to inspire agents to promote the variety of high-quality education offerings in New Zealand.”

  The agents also had some time for adventures including taking in the sights in Queenstown and Milford Sound, spending an afternoon at Te Papa in Wellington, cycling through the vineyards in Napier and relaxing in the hot pools of Rotorua.

  

   

• Indian students look to Kiwi universities

  The third round of the New Zealand Excellence Awards (NZEA) was announced earlier this month at a student and media event, with John Laxon, ENZ Regional Director for SSEA and actress Kriti Sanon, ENZ’s Brand Ambassador for India, on hand to present.

  This round of NZEA is the biggest yet, with 34 scholarships together valued at $215,000 NZD. The scholarships are jointly funded by ENZ and all eight New Zealand universities, offering deserving Indian students partial scholarships to study at New Zealand universities.

  On the back of the awards, ENZ also partnered with Universities New Zealand to launch the New Zealand Master’s campaign in India, promoting industry-linked 18-month taught Master’s qualifications for Indian students, with flexible options to suit a student’s career trajectory.

  A dedicated microsite to help students explore options is now live.

  ENZ’s Country Manager for India, Jugnu Roy, says both initiatives show there’s a growing interest among Indian students for tertiary qualifications in New Zealand universities.

  “In particular, they are drawn to the flexible nature of the way New Zealand courses are structured and the fact that all our universities rank in top 3% of the world globally (QS world rankings).

  “That they can access these ‘Future-proof’ programmes that help prepare students to enter the global marketplace is what makes us stand out as a study destination compared to other countries.

  “Both of our announcements were well received by students and media – ENZ’s scholarship team saw a surge of high quality applications coming in for the 2018/19 round of NZEA.”

  To amplify both announcements, ENZ and some New Zealand universities are organising a Counsellor Training Webinar later in the month to equip agents to help promote these initiatives to prospective students.

• New Zealand academics star in event season in India

  ENZ’s Country Manager for India, Jugnu Roy, leveraged the in-market presence of 14 New Zealand researchers and academics by putting together a third Guest Lecture Series (GLS).

  “The GLS showcases New Zealand’s research strengths across a range of disciplines, particularly STEM, sustainability and nutrition which were of great interest to the audience, and reinforces the quality and global rankings of New Zealand’s universities to prospective students.

  

  L-R: HE Ms Joanna Kempkers; Shri Manish Sisodia, Deputy Chief Minister Delhi and John Laxon, RD ENZ.

  “The GLS was a big undertaking, with 44 lectures across 23 premier Indian institutions – it was very well-received by Indian students and academics.”

  In addition, ENZ put together a high-powered Academic Conclave, attended by New Zealand academics as well as academics, researchers and industry experts from across India. It featured workshops on topics of mutual interest for both countries including smart cities, research collaboration and future-proof education.

  The event was inaugurated by New Zealand High Commissioner Ms Joanna Kempkers, Deputy Chief Minister and Education Minister of Delhi Mr Manish Sisodia, as well as a video message by the Human Resource Development of India Mr Prakash Javadekar.“The programme aimed to introduce and progress collaboration opportunities between countries,” said Jugnu.

  The event was inaugurated by New Zealand High Commissioner Ms Joanna Kempkers, Deputy Chief Minister and Education Minister of Delhi Mr Manish Sisodia, as well as a video message by the Human Resource Development of India Mr Prakash Javadekar.

• Alumni embrace tikanga Māori in Vermont

  The North American Whānau Council – East Coast is one of three Whānau Councils worldwide (the other two being Europe and the USA’s West Coast) and is made up of AUT alumni who attended the Noho Marae weekend at AUT’s Ngā Wai o Horotiu marae.

  There, students learned what it means to be whānau and experienced a range of Māori cultural activities including sleeping on the marae and learning waiata and the haka.

  

  Jason King (centre) Senior Lecturer of the Faculty of Maori & Indigenous Development, AUT with brother Charles and wife Andrea.

  Originally a student-driven initiative in Europe, the Whānau Councils are now supported formally by AUT and Jason King, AUT’s Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Māori and Indigenous Development. Jason and his wife Andrea make an annual trip to each of the Whānau Councils’ AGMs.

  Lewis Gibson, ENZ Field Director, North America, attended this year’s events with students from Champlain College (currently hosting its first Māori student on campus) and the University of Vermont (UVM) where AUT has exchange programmes.

  “The Whānau Councils act as local communities for alumni to maintain their connections to each other, New Zealand and Māori culture.

  “They’ve also been instrumental in helping US universities connect with their own tangata whenua; the Chief of the Nulhegan Abenaki tribe, Don Stevens, attended Whānau Council events this month to show support. For these students, it was the first time many had had any interaction with the Abenaki.”

  Lewis said the experience these students had at AUT’s Noho Marae has profoundly impacted them, turning them into lifelong advocates for New Zealand, its education system and Māori culture.

  “By embracing an indigenous culture on the other side of the world these students have found a home away from home and a whānau they belong to.”

  This sense of belonging has remained long after those students left New Zealand. Today, a large number of alumni from both UVM and Champlain College have become teachers, sharing Māori culture in their own classrooms with their students.

  “By incorporating lessons and culture from New Zealand, these alumni are exposing US students to the benefits of a New Zealand education, as well as actively sharing their positive New Zealand education experiences with their peers in the wider community.

  “This encourages more US students to participate in study abroad opportunities in New Zealand, and further entrenches the kiwi connections in Vermont,” Lewis said.