Te Toiahurei (Māori) Pro Vice-Chancellor (Māori)
Ngāti Kahungunu and Kāi Tahu with strong affiliations to Ngāti Raukawa and Ngāti Rangitāne.

The role of Te Toiahurei is to provide strategic advice to the Vice-Chancellor and the Senior Management Team to assist the University to meet its obligations under the Treaty of Waitangi.

A wide net is cast with particular emphasis on Māori staff and students, the culture and environment of the University and extending out into the wider community.

As Toiahurei, Piri leads the Toihuarewa – a faculty equivalent academic forum where Māori academic interests are examined, debated and discussed.

He convenes and chairs Victoria’s Treaty of Waitangi Advisory Committee (TOWAC) which has the goal of helping the University achieve its Treaty of Waitangi obligations.

A graduate of Victoria and Otago Universities, Piri became Victoria University’s first Assistant Vice-Chancellor (Māori), Te Toiahurei in July 2000, and was appointed Pro Vice-Chancellor (Māori) in May 2003.

He has a strong background in the arts, and administered the well-known Te Māori exhibition. In June 2001, he was formally recognised as a Tohunga Huarewa – one who has strived for and attained a pinnacle of excellence with regard to knowledge of Māori performing arts.

Before joining the University, Piri was an adviser to the Chief Executive of Te Puni Kōkiri. He has also been Assistant Director-General of the Department of Conservation, Assistant Director of the QEII Arts Council and Director of the Māori and South Pacific Arts Council. He holds a commemorative medal for service to the arts.

Contact details

You can find Piri in the Robert Stout Building, Room 201
Phone: 0-4-463 5220
Email: address

Ngāti Maniapoto
Co-ordinator, Māori and Pacific Students Mentoring Progamme – Manaaki Pihipihinga (care and support for new growth)

Melissa is Samoan and Māori and her role involves coordinating mentors for Māori and Pacific students doing first year papers in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Faculty of Commerce and Administration.

The mentoring programme aims to help retain Māori and Pacific students at Victoria by helping them to successfully complete their studies by providing a supportive learning environment.

Established in July 2001, Melissa’s full-time position sees her manage approximately 50 mentors to provide academic assistance to around 80 students. She also provides training and ongoing support for mentors and monitors and evaluates the interaction between mentors and students.

Each mentor is a current student who has already completed their first year at Victoria and volunteered to provide course-related assistance in areas such as course readings, tutorial work, lecture material and assignment tasks. Mentors and mentees are paired up by papers and have weekly sessions for an hour in the mentoring room. Mentors also encourage social networks between participating students.

Subject specific and social development workshops are offered along with social activities and functions and links to Māori and Pacific networks at Victoria and in the community.

Mentors are selected from all ethnicities based on referrals, academic achievement and understanding of cultural issues.

A Māori and Pacific Students Mentoring Room is provided on campus for meeting with mentors and other students, studying or taking time out. The room includes a computer facility and a kitchen.

For more information on the mentoring programme, please visit www.victoria.ac.nz/st_services/mentoring/

Contact details

Melissa is based at 14 Kelburn Parade
Phone 0-4-463 6015
Email: address

Frances' main role is the recruitment of Māori students. She provides course information and advice to potential Māori students, attends careers expos, conducts school visits and organises various recruitment events.

Contact details

Room 109, Level One, Hunter Building
Phone: 0-4-463 6668
Fax: 0-4-463 5193
Email: address

The Kaiwawao Māori is available to provide support, advice and assistance to all Victoria Māori students on all aspects of social and academic university life.

Liz helps Māori students, particularly first-year students, to understand the culture of university life and to seek and use services offered by the Student Services Group.

There are a wide range of support services available for Māori students studying at Victoria - from health services and learning support to mentoring programmes.

While Liz is able to provide direct help, she also helps Māori students to identify and access the most appropriate services to suit specific needs, issues or concerns.

Liz acts as an advocate for Māori students and a liaison point between students and academic and general staff members at Victoria.

Contact details

You can find Liz at Kirk Wing, Hunter Courtyard, Room 007
Phone: 0-4-463 6001
Email: address or address

Bronwyn is the Personal Assistant to Liz Richardson, the Deputy Dean (Equity), Faculty of Science and Faculty of Architecture and Design.

Bronwyn is the Coordinator for Te Rōpū Āwhina Pūtaiao and Te Rōpū Āwhina Waihanga Hoahoa (Āwhina) - the Māori and Pacific Nations groups supporting science and architecture and design.

She coordinates the day-to-day administration of Āwhina which provides Māori and Pacific Nations students with additional academic and pastoral help through a whānau support system.

Three fully-resourced whānau rooms are provided for students, two located on the Kelburn Campus and a whānau room on the Te Aro campus.

Bronwyn also supports other Equity and Āwhina initiatives, including the Āwhina Outreach Programme.

Contact details

Bronwyn can be found in Cotton Building, Room 154
Phone: 0-4-463 5987
Email: address

Liz is of Samoan and Fijian ancestry and is the Deputy Dean (Equity) in the Faculty of Science and Faculty of Architecture and Design.

Before moving to Victoria University, Liz spent five years at the University of Waikato, firstly as Kaiwhakaako (Science) at Te Tīmatanga Hou, then as the Equity Co-ordinator in the School of Science and Technology. She established Te Pūtahi o te Manawa mentoring support for Māori students in science and the 'Gateway to Science' and 'Science Transition Course' bridging programmes for mature students. Liz worked for 12 years as a secondary school science teacher.

Liz convenes the Equity Committee for the two faculties at Victoria University, is currently a Toihuarewa member, an executive member of the Aotearoa Tertiary Equity Committee, a member of the Pacific Working Group for the Tertiary Education Strategy 2002-2007 and numerous Pacific Community Reference Groups.

Liz has a strong commitment to ensuring Māori and Pacific achievement in tertiary education, especially in disciplines where they are under-represented.

Equity initiatives for science, architecture and design students such as comprehensive mentoring support through Te Rōpū Āwhina Pūtaiao and Te Rōpū Āwhina Waihanga Hoahoa (Āwhina) and Āwhina scholarships have removed barriers to academic success at undergraduate level and enabled increasing numbers of students to secure funding for postgraduate study. The Āwhina Outreach Programme provides Māori and Pacific pupils at local low decile secondary schools with mentoring support in science.

Other equity initiatives include a Science and Technology Transition Course that prepares mature learners for a positive start to science and technology degrees including the Bachelor of Information Technology, and the Vic Science Experience that provides year 11 pupils with hands-on laboratory and field work experience.

Contact details

Phone: 0-4-463 5748 or 029 463 5748
Email: address

PhD Candidate
Tainui – Ngāti Haua, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Tamaterā.

Senior Lecturer in Māori Education based in the School of Education Studies and Kaihautu (Director) of He Pārekereke– the Victoria University Institute for Research and Development in Māori and Pacific Education.

Wally’s key role is as researcher and lecturer in the field of Māori education. He is particularly keen to encourage and mentor Māori scholars into postgraduate qualifications through to doctorates but is equally excited by the possibility of engaging all students into the various domains of Māori education such as curriculum, pedagogy, assessment, leadership, change management, history and research.

His academic interests and expertise lie in the area of educational sociology and his research interests cover teacher education and developments in Māori education.

As Director of He Pārekereke, Wally is involved from Victoria University’s perspective in the National Institute of Research Excellence for Māori Development and Advancement: Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga (Horizons of Insights).

Through his association with Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga he chairs the Wellington regional arm of the MAI Project (see MAI ki Poneke). This Māori and indigenous postgraduate research programme encourages the research interests of Māori and Pacific Peoples’ graduates.

In addition to Wally’s research and teaching commitments, he was on the Board of Studies for the partnership agreement between Wellington College of Education and Victoria University.

As an ex-public servant, Wally often assists and provides advice to government departments like the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Māori Development, the Education Review Office, the New Zealand Qualifications Authority, Skill New Zealand, and Ministry of Social Development on matters relating to Māori education.

He is also a member of Toihuarewa (the ihonui within the University) and the University’s Academic Committee.

Contact details

Phone: 0-4-463 5169
Email: address

Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Raukawa
Victoria University of Wellington Council Member, appointed by the Minister of Education, and Chair of Council’s Finance Committee.

A Victoria University graduate, Shaan is an executive director of the Wellington-based strategic consultancy firm, Guinness Gallagher, and specialises in the natural resource area both in Aotearoa and the Asia Pacific region.

He has been involved in a number of Māori forestry initiatives, including being a member of the Guinness Gallagher team that project managed Fletcher Challenge’s successful acquisition of the Forestry Corporation from the Crown.

Shaan is a chartered accountant, practising barrister and director of a number of private and public sector companies.