Tauira Experience Lead Richard Neal will head an organisation-wide project to improve the enrolment process at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa. 

He will lead the Enrolment Project for 12 months but still commit one day per week to his current role. 

The project aims to improve the enrolment processes and communication with tauira after tauira surveys consistently showed these to be areas in need of improvement.  “There is consistent feedback in tauira surveys, and they told us it’s good when you get in the classroom but getting in there can be a challenge,” Richard says. 

Some tauira found the enrolment process quite daunting, and Richard says Te Wānanga o Aotearoa effectively had 16 different ways tauira could enrol. 

“Last year, we compressed the enrolment system to one, and we hit our targets.” 

He says improving the enrolment process involved all kaimahi across the organisation. 

“It’s about working together and improving processes. No area of the wānanga will not be asked to help.” 

He says many enrolments are effectively secured through kaiako while 40% of enrolments are re-enrolments, with one-third of those from tauira who had initially enrolled several years earlier. 

Richard says his team will be working towards a more student-centric enrolment model and will be visiting campuses around the country to hear from kaiako about their experiences of the enrolment process. 

“We’ll be surveying kaiako then we’ll be out visiting kaiako to talk to them about their issues.” 

Tumuratonga Keri Milne-Ihimaera says it is an exciting opportunity to look at enrolments, but it was a complex issue and would not be a quick fix. 

"There are a lot of connecting points, and this gives kaimahi a chance to be involved. Tauira told us it's the worst part of the experience and when that comes from students, we've got to do something about it," she says. 

In previous years, she says, we only looked at the organisation's needs, and now we want to look at tauira needs. 

"However, we can't ignore the good things we are doing already, and I believe we can satisfy the needs of both tauira and the organisation."