Minister Opens Unitec Albany Campus

Media Release
Tuesday 2 August 2011

Minister Opens Unitec Albany Campus

Albany is now a learning hub for vocational education with the opening of Unitec's Albany campus.

The new campus was officially opened by Tertiary Minister of Education Steven Joyce at a ceremony last week.

Previous studies have identified that there is a shortage of vocational educational provision in the North Shore and Rodney areas. Demand is likely to increase noticeably in the future as the population of Auckland north of the harbour bridge is expected to grow from 329,000 now to reach 431,000 in twenty years time.

Unitec Chief Executive Dr Rick Ede says that the campus will provide North Shore and Rodney residents with access to a range of high quality vocational education programmes close to home. "Albany is a technology, innovation and learning hub and the range of programmes offered at our campus will enhance the skill base of people living on the North Shore and support economic development in this area," he adds.

The campus will offer a number of certificate programmes including autotronic, automotive and mechanical engineering, electrical and electronic engineering, multiskill building construction, information technology, animal care and health care, photography, communication studies, foundation learning and English languages programmes.

Around 300 students are expected to study at the campus in 2011, with student numbers growing to over 1,000 within a few years.

The new campus has been designed with sustainability in mind and includes a campus recycling programme, designated car pooling spaces, a worm farm and is close to public transport.

Future electricians, automotive engineers, IT specialists, business entrepreneurs and health care workers will walk through the doors of the new campus from this week as classes began on 1 August.

Dr Ede said at the opening ceremony that over the next few years Unitec plans to expand the breadth of industry areas it covers and also the level of programmes it offers, including applied degrees. "Today is day one of our new campus and in the days to come I'm sure many exciting and inspiring things will happen within these walls and in the workplaces of the region which we can look forward to being a part of," he added.

Photos attached: Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce and Unitec Chief Executive Rick Ede at the opening of Unitec's Albany Campus.

ENDS

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