AUT Business School named as the best!

    This was the first time that AUT had entered in the competition. Judges said it won for its “new Business School building, utilising international best practice models, a student centred focus and an innovative approach to learning”.
    Ms Bygrave says the school is particularly proud of their original learning method which helped them win.
    “We understand it was our consistency and coherence of turning our philosophy into practice; that we’ve tried something new in New Zealand, something ambitious, and we’ve not only delivered but that it’s successful,” she says.
    Their approach includes using much smaller class sizes, where students sit at round tables with laptops where lecturers are able to have one-on-one time with the students. 
    Prior to winning the award, representatives from the AUT Business School had to endure a rigorous interview process, which included preparing a 10-page entry form based on Baldrige Criteria and a three hour interview.
    Meeting Baldrige criteria turned out to be a major feat as it is a thorough evaluation based on many categories including, leadership and planning, customer and market focus, provision of business support, evaluation and improvement, and results.
    “These awards celebrate business support so we had to translate the criteria, a measure of business excellence, into our higher education environment.”
    “The three-hour interview was about showing what we were doing in the AUT Business School and producing the evidence of that. It was about explaining every detail of our application,” says Ms Bygrave.
    The award was presented at a Black Tie Gala dinner on April 17 at the Logan Campbell Theatre.
    AUT was represented at the ceremony by a range of lecturers, alumni, postgraduate students and business advisors.