P-cubed Newsletters

Contents HeadsUp November is always a busy month for School ‘happenings’. Last week we had the new Dean’s visit, the New Stage 1 course workshop, the year’s last staff meeting and Nick Lewis’ Professorial Inaugural. Next up we have the Ako-sponsored ‘The Teaching...

Contents HeadsUp Hearing Masters/ Hons presentations, DCOs appearing in my email inbox, being consulted on catering for the end of year party…all signs that year’s end is fast approaching.  Even the supermarkets have starting stocking Christmas fare. And in the last...

Contents HeadsUp To say we live in challenging times is both an understatement and a truism. By way of one example, Saturday’s NZ Herald ran a story whose headline referred to the new Waipapa Taumata Rau Stage 1 offering as “University of Auckland’s Treaty of Waitangi...

Contents HeadsUp I am constantly delighted by the readiness of members of the Environment team to pick up a paddle and help move the waka forward. This last week has been a good example as I have drafted the Annual Report and 2025 Plan required by the Faculty.  A Head...

Contents HeadsUp Happy Te Wiki o te Reo Māori! Spring is here. There’s startlingly white puawānanga (NZ clematis) blossom in the bush and kowhai trees dropping their gold petals. The kuaka (bar-tailed godwits) have returned from Alaska and soon the plaintive call of...

Contents HeadsUp Two Saturdays ago I witnessed a number of ‘under-sung’ heroes of our School in action. Over the course of a very full day of thousands of visitors to campus, I observed those who staffed Environment’s stand at Open Day engaging with prospective...

Contents HeadsUp Like the weather of late, it’s a turbulent time. A waiting until things are clearer, perhaps. We await the release of the University Advisory Group on the future of NZ universities. We await a new Dean’s tenure and understanding of her priorities for...

Contents HeadsUp It has been a fortnight of firsts in some unsettling ways. The hottest days ever (global average) was recorded on 22 July, with 21 and 23 July also exceeding the previous record. At the same time and unseasonally warm weather in Antarctica is driving...

Contents HeadsUp Well, Semester 2 has begun. That came on fast.  Thanks to everyone for making our roughly 47 Semester 2 courses happen.  It’s a changing-of-the-guard kind of semester. We welcome the pilot versions of some new courses (SCIGEN 102 Waipapa Taumata...

Contents HeadsUp Many will be having a welcome return to focusing on research during these weeks between semesters. I’ve found a few days to tidy up a collection of papers and, apropos this activity, an article about academic journals and publishing took my attention....