It was a privilege to be invited to attend the National Hui for Te Mana Akonga. I had the opportunity to request membership at the Annual General Meeting and was rewarded with friendly support and a vote of confidence for EXMSS. EXMSS is a little unusual in its membership request as it does not have a roopu that acts on behalf of Maori members, instead EXMSS has an Executive member (Tiri Porter) who attends to the needs and wishes of Maori extramural students as a part of that executive role.
Tapu Te Ranga Marae
As members of Te Mana Akonga we will be able to further develop our services and representation of Maori students with the support of a national peak body. If there are pressing concerns or particular services that our students would like us to focus on then we urge them to get in contact.
I was so stoked when I heard about this. It was a great conference and knowing that EXMSS is now involved makes it that much better. Don’t worry about being a little unusual for not having a roopu that only acts on behalf of Maori members, there are a couple of roopu that are like that (for example, weltec and wisa).
The good thing about Te Mana Akonga is that it runs in conjunction with NZUSA. So it is not only Maori students that benefit from this (even though it may seem that way).
Te Huinga Tauira (also known as the National Hui for Te Mana Akonga) is a great experience. You learn so much about what is going on in the world of tertiary education. It also is a lot of fun (if your into the whole drinking thing) and the kapa haka is always a great show.
So the question is, is EXMSS taking anyone to Te Huinga Tauira 2011??? and if so, can I come???