Mission Statement
The University of Otago Language Centre and Foundation Year are committed to providing pathways to further educational opportunities through excellence in teaching and a supportive, stimulating campus environment.
Educational Purpose
- to provide students with a flexible environment which will improve their access to learning and their choice of ways of acquiring knowledge
- to produce high quality students with the capacity to engage in lifelong learning
- to respond to the changing needs of the community and students by offering courses designed to meet those needs
- to maintain an appropriate balance between institutional autonomy and the requirements for accountability
- to protect the freedom of staff and students to question and test current knowledge, to advance new ideas and to state controversial opinions
Values
- academic freedom and integrity: individual and institutional
- accountability: for implementing the University's/Company’s mission and educational purpose and for ensuring effective management of resources
- collaboration: with organisations and institutions with compatible goals locally, nationally and internationally
- consultation and communication: internally and externally
- creativity: in intellectual and artistic endeavours
- development: of students and staff
- equity: in employment and educational opportunities
- ethical standards: at the highest level in teaching and in personal behaviour
- excellence: in teaching and learning
- freedom: from discrimination
- partnership: with the tangata whenua, particularly Ngai/Kai Tahu, through honouring the articles of the Treaty of Waitangi
- commitment to the Articles of the Treaty of Waitangi
- to encourage greater Maori participation within New Zealand’s tertiary environment
- to support iwi initiatives that address iwi needs
- to develop mutually beneficial partnerships with iwi in teaching and administration
Goals
Development
- to provide a range of high quality courses to meet developments in the state of knowledge, and changing demands and priorities
- to offer courses in professional and post-experience continuing education and in other areas of continuing and distance education
- to cooperate and collaborate with local, regional, national and international organisations and institutions
- to ensure ongoing policies and practices which acknowledge the partnership with Ngai/Kai Tahu and other iwi
- to develop further equal educational and employment opportunities
- to provide opportunities for staff to enhance their competencies in teaching, learning, assessment and research
- to maintain an international perspective through recruitment of students from outside New Zealand
Resources
- to acknowledge staff as the Company’s most important resource
- to ensure the efficient, effective and responsible use of resources through an audit and review process of budgets and expenditure
- to identify strategic priorities and channel appropriate resources towards these
- to obtain additional resources to strengthen teaching and learning within the Company by:
- encouraging collaborative activity with other organisations and institutions
- encouraging commercial initiatives which are consistent with the University's and Company’s educational purpose and goals
- ensuring that the Company's physical resources are maintained and developed to preserve and enhance its campus and family environment, in accordance with changing needs
Excellence in Teaching, Learning and Assessment
- to review and effect continuous improvement in courses, programmes and teaching performance, in order to enhance the learning experience of students and to meet existing and emerging intellectual and cultural needs of students and society
- to promote and reward excellence in teaching, learning and assessment across all disciplines
- to ensure that all facilities for learning provide the maximum opportunity for all students to develop new knowledge, skills and attitudes which will promote lifelong learning and intellectual independence
Excellence
- to maintain and enhance the Company as a centre of excellence
- to identify areas of strength in staff and provide funding for projects of excellence and strategic relevance
- to ensure that resources are available to support staff development to high international standard
- to evaluate excellence through appropriate performance indicators, including peer review, and to allocate funds competitively on the basis of performance
Students
- to continue to recognise the importance of students as an integral and vital part of the Company
- to continue to attract students from all economic, cultural and social backgrounds
- to ensure that tuition fees are fair and equitable
- to increase the number of Maori students, particularly in disciplines in which they are under-represented
- to develop the capacity of all students so that they reach their optimal potential as scholars
- to ensure methods of teaching, learning and assessment are valid, fair and of a high international standard
- to provide support through a wide range of services and facilities to meet the needs of all students
- to provide support to students with disabilities
- to develop a Student Charter
Staff
- to attract and retain staff of the highest calibre
- to promote a culture in which all staff work together to further the Company’s mission and have the opportunity to participate in policy development
- to provide equality of opportunity in employment
- to maintain and enhance appropriate staff development and training policies and practices which will enable all staff to acquire the skills necessary to meet the changing needs of the Company and to develop their careers
- to review annually staff performance to ensure that good performance is maintained, merit recognised and excellence rewarded
- to provide support to staff with disabilities
Management
- to continue to provide support to serve the needs of the whole Company in the achievement of its mission and goals through effective and efficient management
- to maintain and enhance appropriate consultative procedures and the transparency of process
- to maintain a formal process of strategic planning at all levels of the Company, including an ongoing programme of review of all activities
- to review regularly management performance and the success of the Company in achieving its goals
- to develop appropriate measures of accountability for devolved or delegated decisions
- to provide a safe and healthy working environment for all staff and students
- to meet all statutory requirements and reporting obligations
Community Relationships
- to seek to enhance the Company's relationship with the community in order to provide a service for the betterment of both
- to improve public awareness of the activities of the Company and their contribution to the social, cultural, and economic development of New Zealand society
- to interact with individuals, institutions and organisations locally, regionally, nationally and internationally to promote the Company
- to encourage staff to use their professional knowledge and skills to contribute to the community, and to recognise this contribution when evaluating performance
- to make available, where appropriate, and within existing constraints, Company resources for community enrichment
- to consult and interact with graduates and supporters to promote knowledge of the mission and goals of the Company
- to develop further relationships in Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland where the University also has a physical presence
Commercial Initiatives
- to ensure that commercial initiatives undertaken are consistent with the Company’s mission and strategic direction
- to ensure that staff and students are protected from commercial exploitation
- to identify and develop appropriate commercial initiatives capable of obtaining additional resources to strengthen teaching, learning, and research within the Company
Profitability
- to ensure that the Company is a profitable entity