Staffing Positions

The issue of culturally appropriate staff for Māori students within all levels of education is being addressed through a number of mediums: the recruitment of more Māori in the teaching profession; national standards to ensure quality teachers are produced; and the increasing provision of Māori medium teaching programmes.

Within the tertiary sector the need for more Māori staff is apparent. Māori staff are suffering from work overloads due to the fact that many informally and voluntarily fulfill roles which in most cases cannot be avoided. These types of roles include pastoral care, extensive academic support and a welcoming confidant who is identifiably Māori.

Many Māori staff accept these roles, despite the fact that they fall outside their job description. A commitment to the Māori community often drives this acceptance. Within tertiary providers where there are no designated Māori student support positions, the discharge of these roles is largely undertaken by other Māori staff.

A similar situation exists in Australia where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Centres or Units are identifying key issues, particularly in terms of staffing and resources. Increasing pressure for the units to become "mini-universities in themselves" (Anderson et al, 1998) has resulted in a high staff turnover or burn-out.

Whilst the units are struggling to move away from support and become legitimate academic centres, staff are constantly balancing workloads to ensure teaching, student support, research and community service are maintained alongside an open door policy for students. Some providers have addressed staffing issues by employing staff primarily for student support.

At another level of support, the need for more staff in decision-making positions is identified as the leverage to ensure the needs of the Māori community are reflected with authority across the tertiary provider. It is widely preferred that a Māori, rather than non-Māori, staff member be appointed to Māori specific management positions.

Some tertiary providers have already established such a position. The University of Auckland has a Pro Vice-Chancellor (Māori) and Victoria University has employed an Assistant Vice-Chancellor (Māori).

Anderson et al suggest that best practice is exemplified when staff at senior management level of the University promote and support indigenous education as evidence of its commitment to supporting higher education for Indigenous Australians. Therefore, whilst the establishment of a senior management position for an indigenous staff member is accepted, this must be supported by senior management and across the provider.

The establishment of a Māori position at a senior management level should be a priority and long term goal for every tertiary provider. Similarly, providers should be committed to providing Māori staff members to specifically deal with academic support and pastoral care. Not only will this relieve the workloads of academic staff but it will also provide Māori students with effective and specialised care and a friendly face for Māori students to turn to.

Case Study: Maori Law Students' Co-ordinator, Victoria University of Wellington.

Victoria University enjoys a location geographically accessible to a number of the Capital's resources. Its close proximity to Parliament, the central business district and the legal community has influenced many Māori students' choice to study at Victoria, particularly in the area of law. Accessibility to such resources filters into faculty life.

The presence of Māori students within the Law School is such that the school offers a number of services to its Māori law students. An orientation for Māori law students includes a tour of the Law Faculty, a Law Library treasure hunt, a scavenger hunt and pizza evening.

In recognition of the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi, the Faculty allocates up to 10 percent of places in first and second year papers to Māori 'Quota' students. Māori students who do not gain entrance to Law, based on their academic merit, are required to attend a one and a half-day Māori 'Quota' selection hui. This hui is held on the University Marae, Te Herenga Waka, where prospective Māori students are informally interviewed according to criteria which includes commitment to te ao Māori, academic performance and ability to manage workloads.

Ngā Rangahautira is the Māori Law Students' Association at Victoria University, focusing on enhancing the understanding of law amongst Māori students and encouraging a commitment to kaupapa Māori. Various social, cultural and academic events are organised by Ngā Rangahautira including a BBQ to welcome Māori students', a Māori ball, attendance at Te Huinga Rōia (Māori Lawyers National Conference) and a Māori graduates dinner and photographs.

The Māori Law Students' Room offers Māori students a space to study and mix with others. The room has a computer with internet access, a printer and paper for use, telephone, tea and coffee facilities, a microwave and a fridge. The Faculty provides the space and internet access and Ngā Rangahautira provides the remaining facilities.

An integral connection between all of the services above is the Māori Law Students' Co-ordinator position designed specifically to address the academic support needs of Māori students studying at the Faculty of Law.

The position was initially operated on a voluntary basis by senior Māori students in the Law Faculty. Eventually the institution recognised its responsibility to address the needs of its wider students and two positions were created; the Māori Law Students' Co-ordinator and the Pasifika Students' Co-ordinator. Initially created as part-time positions, the Māori Law Students' Co-ordinator position has been extended to a full-time position following workload increases.

The Māori Law Students' Co-ordinator is responsible for setting up an academic support programme for Māori students through the organisation of:

• Māori student tutorials
• study groups
• study trips
• intensive study sessions
• Māori Law functions with the Māori legal community
• orientation activities
• scholarship information
• the Māori Quota admission process
• The tuakana/teina mentoring programme.

The annual Māori Law Students' Camp, held just before exams, is an intensive study session spanning a weekend. The weekend is broken up into sessions according to each paper. Māori students opt to attend sessions based on the papers they are enrolled in. The sessions are run by Māori and Pasifika tutors which, along with food and venue, is funded by the Faculty.

In 2000, a second camp was run two weeks after the initial Māori Law Students' Camp. Many non-Māori law students recognised the initiative as beneficial to all students and, as a consequence, another was held which was open to any law student. As a result of the huge success of the camps and the need to cover revision for mid-year and end of year exams, a further camp will be held mid-year in 2001.

The Co-ordinator is responsible for administering the Māori Student Tutorial Programme which, due to financial issues, is combined with Pasifika students. Senior Māori and Pasifika students are encouraged by the Faculty to take up tutoring roles to allow for additional tutoring to Māori and Pasifika students. The Tutor Assistance Programme is designed to give Māori and Pasifika students the opportunity to gain tutoring experience.

Many previous Māori and Pasifika tutors identified a need for training and preparation so a Tutor Assistance Programme is organised by the Faculty at the start of the academic year. Candidates are required to sit in on tutorials facilitated by experienced tutors and assist the tutor with tasks for a period of approximately three weeks.

During the fourth week, the candidate will either facilitate or co-facilitate the tutorial under the supervision of the current tutor. It is expected that the candidate will gain the necessary experience, positively contribute to the tutorial, assist with student enquiries and give rise to an improved tutor student ratio.

Participation in the Tutorial Assistance Programme does not guarantee candidates with any future tutoring employment. The candidate is assessed on their ability to present information consistent with course objectives, as confirmed by the current tutor. Feedback is also received from students and the candidates themselves. Any issues and concerns are discussed and candidates may then be invited to attend the Tutor Training session held in November.

Effectively the Tutorial Assistance Programme will create a pool of potential tutors for the mainstream tutorials, as well as the Māori and Pasifika students' tutorials.

The advantage of a Co-ordinator's position is that there is scope for provision of services that fall just outside academic support. Career development is accessed through a network of Māori lawyers and Māori involved in law. Liaison with key Māori community members enables reciprocity of information regarding graduate students and employment opportunities.

Communication from the Co-ordinator with Māori law students occurs through attendance at key events, an open door policy which allows contact at all times, and the establishment of personal relationships with Māori students. In addition, the Co-ordinator circulates a monthly newsletter via post or email to Māori students and staff including Māori outside of the Faculty and Māori outside of the University community. Promotion of events, tutorial timetables, scholarship information, pānui and all issues pertaining to Māori students are communicated to a wider audience and helps to build relationships.

Equally as important is advertising of the Co-ordinator's position. This year the Faculty has funded a pamphlet outlining the role of the Māori Law Students' Co-ordinator. A Co-ordinator web page is currently under construction which will be linked to the Faculty of Law web page. Additionally the Co-ordinator is profiled in the Law Handbook, available to all law students.

Any Māori student who visits the Dean of Students is directly referred to the Māori Law Students' Co-ordinator, increasing the profile and usage of the Co-ordinator. An identifiably Māori face often appeals to Māori students within a predominantly non-Māori environment. The success of the position largely depends upon its perceived value within the institution. A supportive and proactive Dean has been critical in the establishment, maintenance and promotion of the position.

Māori students within the Law Faculty are still a relatively untapped resource. The Faculty understands that to attract more Māori students to law there must be a standard of commitment. The maintenance and effectiveness of such a position is therefore an integral element of the wider system of support that is offered to Māori students.

Case Study: Kaitakawaenga Maori, Massey University

As one of the largest providers of tertiary education to Māori students, Massey University provides a number of support services to ensure Māori student needs are met in all aspects and in all areas of university study. On the Turitea campus in Palmerston North the Colleges of Business, Sciences and Education employ a Kaitautoko Māori (Māori Student Advisor) to provide support for all Māori students: internal; extramural; full-time; or part-time.

The Kaitautoko Māori Service aims to encourage and assist Māori students to achieve the goal of successfully completing tertiary study. Kaitautoko provide support which includes study skills workshops, essay writing workshops, study groups, scholarship and grants information, course planning and advice, liaison with academic staff, a Māori staff and student network and referrals. Each Kaitautoko provides College-based support within the specific context of that area of study. The Massey University campus at Albany provides a similar position of Kaihono.

A more specialised support position has been established within the Library on the Turitea campus, Kaitakawaenga Māori. The position was developed two years ago as a traditional librarian role. This was quickly transformed into more of a liaison position between the Library and Māori students because of the simple fact that Māori students were not seen to be utilising the Library as much as other students.

The Kaitakawaenga was therefore initially responsible for transforming not only Māori student perceptions of the Library as a resource, but also altering the library environment itself, in order to present a more Māori-friendly space.

Slowly, progress has been made to improve the surroundings. The Māori name for the Library now shares space with the English on the outside of the building and bilingual signs are now incorporated throughout the library premises, quite a feat when you discover that apart from Te Pūtahi-ā-Toi (Māori Studies), no other building on campus has bilingual signage.

Māori art students were commissioned to produce bicultural pieces of artwork for the foyer and the New Zealand and PasifikaCollection Room. The pieces are large and identifiably Māori, attracting the eye and letting Māori students know that there is a Māori presence within the Library.

Whilst the changing environment was one important step, the Kaitakawaenga Māori is required to venture outside the library premises to draw Māori students into the Library. Promotion of the Library is communicated through tutorials, in lectures and wherever a group of Māori students are gathered. The Kaitakawaenga takes a very active, and predominantly kanohi-ki-te-kanohi (face-to-face) role in recruiting Māori students to the Library.

Once Māori students are attracted to the Library a number of continuous activities maintains this interest. Various celebrations are held including Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori (Mäori Language Week). Māori-orientated displays appear in the main foyer. Guest speakers, such as Moana Jackson, are brought in to speak, using the Library as the venue. It is expected that the more the Māori students visit the Library, the more they will return and use its resources for study-related matters.

Other services offered by the Kaitakawaenga Māori include:

• tours of the Library and its resources for Māori students
• implementing Māori-based events such as Celebrations of Waka; Te Wiki o te Reo
• one-on-one research consultations with Māori students
• Māori academic and general staff tours of the Library
• an e-list of resources including new publications and websites which is distributed to all Māori staff at Massey University.

The production of a brochure detailing how to access Māori information and use databases proved very popular. Brochures are not yet produced in te reo Māori only. However, those currently published by the Kaitakawaenga Māori are visually appealing to Māori and the information is Māori-focused.

The extent of the Kaitakawaenga Māori role does not just stop at the Turitea campus. The role is extended to the Albany and Wellington campus' through regular visits. Realistically the role is not as extensive on these campus' because of geographic and time factors. Ideally the creation of a Kaitakawaenga Māori position on each campus will allow discussion and increased support for Māori students.

Commitment from the institution is illustrated through supportive management and an understanding of the obligation for the Library to cater to the needs of Māori students. Management welcomes the guidance the Kaitakawaenga Māori provides in making this commitment a reality. Commitment is further illustrated in agreement to fund specific initiatives put forward by the Kaitakawaenga Māori who operates without a set individual budget.