2005 Annual report
In a small country with limited resources, a University with high international aspirations may compete with larger, wealthier nations by developing innovative strategies to identify, recruit and retain high quality staff and students from a wide variety of backgrounds. A diverse staff acts as an inspiration and challenge to a diversity of students.
The University of Auckland has a strong and unequivocal commitment to ensuring that talented individuals from all sectors of New Zealand society can participate and succeed in its academic programmes, across all disciplines, at all levels, and as staff and students. It recognises the competitive advantage in reaching out to the widest possible pool of talented people, irrespective of gender, ethnicity or socio-economic status.
In most areas of the University’s operations, very good progress was made during 2005 in the delivery of equal opportunities. All Faculties and Service Units were closely engaged in strategic initiatives that enabled the University to fulfil its commitment to equity in employment and education.
Target equity groups for 2005 included Māori and Pacific staff and students, students from low socio-economic backgrounds, women academic staff and women students in some disciplines, women staff in senior positions, and staff and students with disabilities.
Equity priorities for 2005 included:
- Implementing Starpath, a collaborative project which aims to ensure that students from groups under-represented in higher education can fulfil their educational potential at school and university, and gain access to high skill, high income employment in proportion to their representation in the wider community;
- Effective liaison with the communities that contribute students to the University;
- Financial advice for prospective students from under-represented groups, and comprehensive orientation and induction to aid recruitment;
- Provision of scholarships, mentoring and tutorial support to enhance the retention and success of enrolled students from under-represented groups;
- Professional training, especially in promotion applications and leadership skills, mentoring, and the establishment of effective support networks that will aid staff retention and progression;
- The provision of services appropriate to the needs of staff and students with disabilities and the on-going adoption of newly developed technological support;
- Effective consultation processes that ensure all new building plans are suitable for disability access;
- On-going monitoring and evaluation of all equal opportunities programmes; and
- Further development of statistical reporting to enable tracking of progress, the identification of trends and the rigorous evaluation of success of all equal opportunity programmes and initiatives.
As this, EO Annual Report 2005 attests, major progress was made during 2005 toward achievement of these goals.
EO Annual Report 2005 (772 KB PDF)
