Bay's largest tertiary provider turns one

Today marks the first anniversary of the establishment of Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology, being the merged entity of Bay of Plenty Polytechnic and Waiariki Institute of Technology.

It’s been a busy 12 months and Chief Executive Dr Leon Fourie says the institution has been focused on aligning its services and programmes to ensure the right training is available to improve job outcomes and regional prosperity.

Dr Fourie commented “The past year has been an exciting time for Toi Ohomai. We’re now the largest tertiary provider in the Bay of Plenty, and the third largest in New Zealand. That title comes with some weighty responsibility so we’re working across the region to ensure we get it right.”

“We are creating meaningful partnerships – purposeful connections – to ensure our programme delivery is matched to current and future regional needs. This also enables students and employers to have a clear line of sight from secondary school through to employment with tertiary education the pivotal catalyst, providing well defined steps to get there.”

“What our young people and our rohe needs is a strong and growing tertiary education sector that is well connected with regional stakeholders – our industries and businesses, iwi and community groups, secondary schools and other tertiary providers. We intend to fulfil that need, continuing to work closely with all of our communities, to help them succeed. Individual success leads to regional success and regional success means we all gain. It’s a win-win-win!”

Toi Ohomai has had a year of successes, including seeing a record number of graduates cross the stage, many who have postgraduate qualifications. 100% of our Māori nursing graduates are fully employed and one of our students in Tauranga graduated with the highest NZ Law Society exam marks in the country.

Toi Ohomai students and staff celebrated today’s milestone in traditional style with plenty of birthday cake to go around. Bruce Yang, currently in his last semester of study on the Diploma in Hospitality Management at Mokoia Campus in Rotorua said the birthday is another way to celebrate his “fantastic” student experience so far.

“I’m really enjoying studying at Toi Ohomai, it is very good – especially today’s cake! My tutors are really helpful and professional, while the culture and diversity at Toi Ohomai is amazing. Happy birthday Toi Ohomai!”

Tauranga-based Bachelor of Creative Industries student, Isaac Crowe, is also loving his time at Toi Ohomai.

“It’s awesome studying at here. It’s been really eye opening; it’s different to what I normally do – coming from working full-time to going to studying full-time, there’s lots of freedom,” said Isaac.

Toi Ohomai’s first anniversary will conclude on Friday with a special stakeholder event with guest, the Hon. Paul Goldsmith, Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment.

For more information about Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology, visit www.toiohomai.ac.nz