12 May 2020
Elliott Harris
By email:
[FYI request #12368 email]
Dear Mr Harris,
I write in response to your Official Information Act request of 3 March 2020. Firstly, I must apologise for
the delay with this reply.
You asked for the following:
A summary of how the University's pastoral care practices and processes have been altered or
changed in order to ensure its compliance with the Education (Pastoral Care of Domestic
Tertiary Students) Interim Code of Practice 2019.
If the University considered that it was already compliant with the Education (Pastoral Care of
Domestic Tertiary Students) Interim Code of Practice 2019, what practices, processes and or
services does the University provide that enable it to believe so?
How have individual contracts with students, within an accommodation context or otherwise
been changed to as to recognise the University’s obligations under the Education (Pastoral Care
of Domestic Tertiary Students) Interim Code of Practice 2019?
What additional pastoral care systems (if any) have been put in place for 2020 in the
accommodation context?
How many complaints are made on average per year against the University under the Education
(Pastoral Care of International Students) Code of Practice 2016? (The details of the specific
complaints need not be outlined)
The University considers that it is compliant with the Education (Pastoral Care of Domestic Tertiary
Students) Interim Code of Practice 2019. As Code provisions are embedded in most aspects of the
University’s student-focused operations, it is not practically possible to give a comprehensive listing of
practices, processes and services which support University compliance. However, I can report that the
majority of relevant University services and policies are detailed publicly on the University website and
so are available to you. In particular, I draw your attention to a range of targeted academic and pastoral
support to students (see for example
the Student Services, Student Learning Development an
d Campus
and Collegiate Life Services webpages) and to the University’s publi
c Policy Library.
Regular reviews of the care students in the Colleges are undertaken. One change the University
immediately made following the Mason Pendrous death at Canterbury (prior to the Code coming out)
was to implement a uniform requirement of two room visits per week by staff across all our
Colleges. This is not a specific requirement of the Code, but we felt it to be good practice
nonetheless. In addition to this, in response to the Act, the Colleges are ensuring:
Pastoral care staff have been made aware of the Code and its requirements in their training.
Sign out procedures are strengthened.
An enterprise-wide database is being used for recording resident issues.
Clear protocols are in place and are known for reporting and escalating concerns about
residents.
Incoming residents and their care-givers are clear about the University’s approach to pastoral
care.
All relevant documentation is being reviewed and if necessary, updated.
For completeness, I note that the University is engaged with other New Zealand universities and
Universities New Zealand in work on reporting and sector-wide complaint mechanisms in relation to the
Code. We expect this work to be ongoing across 2020 as part of the Code’s implementation.
As regards your question about complaints under the Code of Education (Pastoral Care of International
Students) Code of Practice 2016, on average the University sees less than one case per year referred to
the statutory complaints body.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Yours sincerely,
Claire Gallop,
Manager, Policy and Compliance,
Office of the Registrar