Unitec Communications Students Special Project–August-October 2015

Unitec is an Auckland based institute of technology with a dual commitment to post graduate and degree level study as well as vocational education and training.  This real world approach to education makes Unitec graduates highly sought by employers.

We have had a long relationship with Unitec and over the years students from various departments have done project work at CUE Haven.

Earlier this year, Dr Jocelyn Williams, Head of the Communications Studies Department contacted us about the possibility of final year Communication students doing a special class project for CUE Haven.

The Communication Studies Department at Unitec offers final year students majoring in Public Relations, Event Management, and Social Media, a Special Project course which engages them in applying the concepts and principles of project management to develop and implement a communication strategy, preferably for a community project.

We met with Dr Williams and lecturer, Prue Cruickshank, to discuss needs and expectations and agreed that the students would be given the opportunity to work on a Special Project to develop a communications strategy for supporting future restoration and fund raising efforts at CUE Haven.

In August, Prue brought her students out to CUE Haven to meet with us, tour the property and learn about the project.  The class included Caitlin, Catherine, Daman, Ellaura, Maria, Natasha, Ryan and Sylvia.  Ani and Nishant couldn’t join us for the day but participated in the development of the plan.

We spent some time getting acquainted and giving the students a history and overview of the CUE Haven project.  We also talked about some of the challenges we are facing and our short and long term plans for the future.

The students asked lots of questions and we explored some ideas about communication and fund raising needs and strategies.

We then went for a tour of the property so that the students could see the work that had been accomplished and get a perspective of the project.

After the visit, Munawaar Naqvi from Unitec’s Media department prepared a short video clip about the student’s visit.  Sylvia did the voice over for the story.  You can view the video here.

We were really delighted that the students’ brief visit to CUE Haven was positive and inspiring.

Over the course of the semester, the students worked to prepare their Plan. Within a few weeks they had developed a draft Plan for our review and comment. The students worked to finalise the Plan and today invited us to Unitec and presented their Unicomm Inc. Sponsorship and Fundraising Plan for CUE Haven.

Each of the students presented a portion of the Plan which included strategies for fundraising, stakeholder relations, events, social media and online identity and networking.

The visual pechakucha presentation highlighted the key points in the Plan. We then had an excellent open discussion about many of the ideas and strategies that the students had identified.

We were extremely impressed with the Plan and also the students’ presentations.  Both were very professional and it was clear that the students had listened to our needs and developed a strategy that matches our needs both in the short and longer term.

The students have given us a lot of new insights on strategies for our future development and we will definitely be developing the ideas further as we move forward.

The timing of this project is perfect because we are beginning to work on organizing the CUE Haven Community Trust and many of the strategies the students identified will help with that process.

Our many thanks to Dr. Jocelyn Williams for initiating and coordinating this project and for her continued supports of our efforts at CUE Haven.  This has been another very successful collaboration with the Unitec Communication Department and as always we have been very impressed with the Unitec students and staff.

Also our thanks to Prue Cruickshank for supervising the Special Project. The students were a diverse group of many nationalities and specialities and Prue got them to work as a team to deliver a good product.

And a BIG Thank You to all the students for their hard work and efforts in producing a state of the art Plan. You have made a lasting contribution to the CUE Haven project and we look forward to implementing your valuable ideas. We would be delighted to have you assist us to further develop your ideas and implement them.

It was a pleasure meeting you all and working with you and we wish you all the best with your continuing studies and in your future endeavours.  Keep in touch.

Thanks again!