Support services in different tertiary institutions as well as those in high schools vary depending on what they wish to offer as well as the demands from the students.
Students are often thought to not be taking advantage of careers advisors and other resources in regards to their future choices. Sometimes careers advisors may not be that helpful and so before gaining university entrance it is important to look at the quality of services offered at high school level so that students are equipped in the transition into tertiary studies.[13]
This section will also focus on a few student support services that are offered by the University of Auckland and these are the Tuakana mentoring programme run in association with different faculties of the University, MATES which is linked to DREAM and in liaison with another part of the university and AUPISA (Auckland University Pacific Island Students Association) that is the representative group of the different Pacific ethnic groups and is the branch of social and academic life for many on campus.
New approaches are in dire need for the ways in which careers advisors look at the students’ capabilities and take in more then just their academic performance. The ‘Whr24U’ programme is new and appears to be quite transparent in its potential to take in characteristics, attributes, academia and other associated necessary information needed to find possible courses and universities that a student will be interested in. [14]
This is still a new programme, in terms of implementation it will take time for results but in regards to Pasifika students both of high school and tertiary level this type of approach is better suited as it takes in to account more then literacy and numeracy results which are reported to be weaknesses for Pasifika students.[15]
The Tuakana programme itself is effective in that it has backing by the university and is a recognised part of mentoring facilities that it thoroughly promoted throughout the different undergraduate and postgraduate levels. As with all programmes the dependency is on those that run the programmes and their effectiveness in promotion and going further then the usual targeted audience of first year students. It can also be noted that the response from students is not always reflective of the positive functions that this programme in particular could have in its influence for students, but perhaps the students do not regard it as essential to their learning.
MATES mentoring programme gives opportunity for university students to interact with high school students that are either from a lower deciles group or are just needing additional information and reassurance in deciding what is available for their future. This initiative is good however, the quality of mentors is vital for effectiveness as well as having the skills to be of help to high school students and their needs.
AUPISA is always changing in response to the demands of its members, [16]particularly the first year students and the need for them to find some place of cultural reassurance that there are others on campus that look and think similar to them. Its effectiveness as yet has changed from its original political activist roots for recognition of inequality for Pasifika students to being more socially driven and aligning itself amongst other support services on campus for the benefit of its members.
[13] Smith, Jacqueline. “Race Gap Exposed in Ncea Results.” (2009), http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10571960
[15] Oppurtunities, Equal. “Equal Oppurtunities Annual Report 2004.” p.7-32,39-88. Auckland, 2004.
[16] Williams, Nuhisifa. “A View from the Back, Times between Spaces:Equality of Educational Oppurtunity and Pacifc Students at a University.” University of Auckland, 2009.