Pictured above: AuSM Student President Jan Herman awarding Gaye Greenwood with the Best Lecturer {Business Faculty} certificate
If you thought award ceremonies were only for glamorous movie stars and blinged out musicians then you are sorely mistaken.
Last year AuSM introduced a student-driven awards programme to
acknowledge the large number of dedicated staff at AUT University who
go out of their way to provide great service to students. The awards
offered an opportunity for students to recognise the people at AUT
University who help to make their studies truly memorable and who in
some instances help them through life- changing transformations.
A remarkable 900 nominations for 200 staff started flowing in just days
after the ballots were sent out and the awards were presented at an
awards lunch at the end of November. The general vibe from most
nominees was that the eventual winner wasn't important; they were all
just extremely pleased that students had taken the time to nominate
them, and that in itself was recognition enough.
But it wouldn't be an awards ceremony without people to take away the
grand prizes. Sue Raleigh from the Health and Environmental Sciences
Faculty was voted Best Lecturer at AUT University, topping off a week
where she'd celebrated her birthday and biked a (hilly) 40km section of
the Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge.
Librarian Andrew South was voted Best Support Staff (Academic) and
humbly said "The students are so nice and friendly I have to be nice
and friendly back". Debbie Holden who provides Programme Support and
is the Receptionist for Rehabilitation and Occupation Studies students
on the North Shore campus was voted Best Support Staff (Non- Academic)
and also paid tribute to the students she works with.
Despite the fact that this was the first year of the AuSM Awesome
Awards the response received from everyone involved reflected the need
for such a recognition programme on the part of students and
illustrated the high levels of service being delivered by many AUT
University staff.
by Fiona Peat
[published in Debate Issue One, 2008]
for more photos go to our gallery .
