Celebrating longstanding ties with Wellington business community

Ties between Wellington businesses and the University and other parts of the tertiary education sector were celebrated at a recent networking function at the Museum Building.

The University hosted the Wellington Employers’ Chamber of Commerce and the Association of Tertiary Education Management.

Vice-Chancellor Steve Maharey is a member of the chamber and patron of the association, which works to advance the professionalism of tertiary education administration and management. Its members include staff of universities, polytechnics, wananga, private providers and government departments throughout Australasia.

Wellington campus registrar Deanna Riach is a member of the association's Aotearoa committee. Ms Riach expressed delight that more than 110 members of the various sectors were present for the function.

“The objective of this function was to highlight the benefits of collaboration between business and tertiary education in the fields of research and development and education and training. A network meeting such as this presents an excellent platform to enhance links between industry and univertities.”

Ms Riach cited the recent OLD SCHOOL/NEW SCHOOL exhibition of work by graduates from the School of Design, which celebrated its 125th anniversary this year, as an example of how the training provided by the University in the long term benefited the city.

“All of these initiatives reflect how important collaboration between tertiary and business sector is,“ she said. “We welcome the opportunity for further development in these areas.“