NEWSROOM
University of Auckland staff recognised in Europe
with Educators For Impact awards
3 April 2024
Three staff from the University of Auckland Business School’s Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) have received Educators for Impact Awards, across two separate award categories for two separate education initiatives.
Educators for Impact is funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union, bringing together Higher Education educators across disciplines to develop entrepreneurial competencies and employ innovative pedagogies in their educational programmes. The consortium aims to inspire the next generation of changemakers, empowering educators and students alike to enhance their societal impact through thinking and acting entrepreneurially in a variety of fields.
The Educators for Impact initiative was created in recognition of the lack of replicable and cross-disciplinary pedagogies for entrepreneurial skills development that can be easily accessed or incorporated into various contexts.
Peter Rachor, a Professional Teaching Fellow at the University of Auckland Business School, has been named an Innovative Mindset Master. He received the award in acknowledgement of his work leading the Hynds Entrepreneurial Fellows programme. This groundbreaking programme involves delivering entrepreneurship and innovation concepts within curricular across the University in a language and context that is not only relevant but also resonates with students’ respective areas of study.
CIE Entrepreneurial Fellow Dr Deborah Shepherd and CIE Manager Judith Marecek have been named Empowering Learning Journey Heroes. They have received the awards for their work on Summer Lab, an annual four-week intensive experiential co-curricular programme. Summer Lab uses the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals as a teaching framework and instils participants with a variety of skills and knowledge to identify problems and formulate and test ideas for solutions.
Tasha Day from the University Industry Innovation Network says that common to the University of Auckland’s submissions was their interdisciplinary approach and engagement of students as well as commitment to developing entrepreneurial skills across disciplines which stood out to judges. “With their focus on active learning, engagement and the development of an entrepreneurial mindset across disciplines, these initiatives showcase the university’s dedication to empowering the next generation to tackle real-world challenges with innovation and creativity.’’
Professor Susan Watson, Dean of the University of Auckland Business School, says “It is extraordinary for our Business School staff to have received awards for two out of the three available categories from Educators for Impact. It’s wonderful to have our staff expertise and experience in delivering transdisciplinary education recognised in Europe.”
The University of Auckland is the only university in New Zealand to have receive an Educators for Impact award.
CIE Educators For Impact awards recipients:
Peter Rachor – Innovative Mindset Master
Hynds Entrepreneurial Fellows programme
“An Innovative Mindset Master works to embed entrepreneurial education in non-entrepreneurship courses to nurture an entrepreneurial mindset and uses elements of innovation to create a demonstrable impact on their students. Elements of interdisciplinarity are important to all categories.”
By providing expertise and knowledge, Peter contributes to the development of curricula initiatives strategically integrating innovation and entrepreneurship concepts throughout the university. For example, Peter worked with Associate Professor Shane Scahill to integrate best practice innovation, business model and entrepreneurship content in the language of the pharmacist, healthcare systems and District Health Board funding models in support of the Integrated Project for a capstone paper for all Bachelor of Pharmacy students.
Notable achievements of the Hynds Entrepreneurial Fellows programme include the successful integration of Innovation and Entrepreneurship content into fourteen courses spanning seven faculties. Over the past four years, more than 10,000 students have benefited from Hynds initiative curricular activities. The impact has been profound, reflected in remarkably high levels of student satisfaction and engagement.
Empowering Learning Journey Heroes – Dr Deborah Shepherd and Judith Marecek
Summer Lab
“An Empowering Learning Journey Hero uses engaging pedagogies and tools and elements of innovation to enhance the learning journey of students and create a demonstrable impact. Elements of interdisciplinarity are important to all categories.”
Summer Lab is a free, extra-curricular programme designed to make entrepreneurship accessible and engaging. Summer Lab has evolved to have a heavy focus on social entrepreneurship. This has helped to increase the diversity of programme participants, as working towards addressing global challenges appeals to a wide variety of students. Intertwined with the framework of social entrepreneurship are a range of workshops designed to help hone participants practical skills in subjects such as negotiation, which will help participants to develop their venture, or indeed whatever else they go on to do in life.
Pre and post entrepreneurial mindset survey results show that participants demonstrated significant self-identified growth in entrepreneurial mindset – especially in perceived ability to develop their own business, ability to develop entrepreneurial ideas and ability in relation to their overall skills as an entrepreneur.
Feedback from students concerning Summer Lab is incredibly positive. Net Promoter Score is a widely used market research metric that rates the likelihood that a product or service would be recommended to others. The NPS average for the Education sector in New Zealand is 20. In 2023 Summer Lab had an NPS score of 62.
Learn more:
Flipping the script – from entrepreneurship educators to impactful educators
Peter Rachor
Judith Marecek
Dr Deborah Shepherd
3 April 2024
Three staff from the University of Auckland Business School’s Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) have received Educators for Impact Awards, across two separate award categories for two separate education initiatives.
Educators for Impact is funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union, bringing together Higher Education educators across disciplines to develop entrepreneurial competencies and employ innovative pedagogies in their educational programmes. The consortium aims to inspire the next generation of changemakers, empowering educators and students alike to enhance their societal impact through thinking and acting entrepreneurially in a variety of fields.
The Educators for Impact initiative was created in recognition of the lack of replicable and cross-disciplinary pedagogies for entrepreneurial skills development that can be easily accessed or incorporated into various contexts.
Peter Rachor, a Professional Teaching Fellow at the University of Auckland Business School, has been named an Innovative Mindset Master. He received the award in acknowledgement of his work leading the Hynds Entrepreneurial Fellows programme. This groundbreaking programme involves delivering entrepreneurship and innovation concepts within curricular across the University in a language and context that is not only relevant but also resonates with students’ respective areas of study.
CIE Entrepreneurial Fellow Dr Deborah Shepherd and CIE Manager Judith Marecek have been named Empowering Learning Journey Heroes. They have received the awards for their work on Summer Lab, an annual four-week intensive experiential co-curricular programme. Summer Lab uses the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals as a teaching framework and instils participants with a variety of skills and knowledge to identify problems and formulate and test ideas for solutions.
Tasha Day from the University Industry Innovation Network says that common to the University of Auckland’s submissions was their interdisciplinary approach and engagement of students as well as commitment to developing entrepreneurial skills across disciplines which stood out to judges. “With their focus on active learning, engagement and the development of an entrepreneurial mindset across disciplines, these initiatives showcase the university’s dedication to empowering the next generation to tackle real-world challenges with innovation and creativity.’’
Professor Susan Watson, Dean of the University of Auckland Business School, says “It is extraordinary for our Business School staff to have received awards for two out of the three available categories from Educators for Impact. It’s wonderful to have our staff expertise and experience in delivering transdisciplinary education recognised in Europe.”
The University of Auckland is the only university in New Zealand to have receive an Educators for Impact award.
CIE Educators For Impact awards recipients:
Peter Rachor – Innovative Mindset Master
Hynds Entrepreneurial Fellows programme
“An Innovative Mindset Master works to embed entrepreneurial education in non-entrepreneurship courses to nurture an entrepreneurial mindset and uses elements of innovation to create a demonstrable impact on their students. Elements of interdisciplinarity are important to all categories.”
By providing expertise and knowledge, Peter contributes to the development of curricula initiatives strategically integrating innovation and entrepreneurship concepts throughout the university. For example, Peter worked with Associate Professor Shane Scahill to integrate best practice innovation, business model and entrepreneurship content in the language of the pharmacist, healthcare systems and District Health Board funding models in support of the Integrated Project for a capstone paper for all Bachelor of Pharmacy students.
Notable achievements of the Hynds Entrepreneurial Fellows programme include the successful integration of Innovation and Entrepreneurship content into fourteen courses spanning seven faculties. Over the past four years, more than 10,000 students have benefited from Hynds initiative curricular activities. The impact has been profound, reflected in remarkably high levels of student satisfaction and engagement.
Empowering Learning Journey Heroes – Dr Deborah Shepherd and Judith Marecek
Summer Lab
“An Empowering Learning Journey Hero uses engaging pedagogies and tools and elements of innovation to enhance the learning journey of students and create a demonstrable impact. Elements of interdisciplinarity are important to all categories.”
Summer Lab is a free, extra-curricular programme designed to make entrepreneurship accessible and engaging. Summer Lab has evolved to have a heavy focus on social entrepreneurship. This has helped to increase the diversity of programme participants, as working towards addressing global challenges appeals to a wide variety of students. Intertwined with the framework of social entrepreneurship are a range of workshops designed to help hone participants practical skills in subjects such as negotiation, which will help participants to develop their venture, or indeed whatever else they go on to do in life.
Pre and post entrepreneurial mindset survey results show that participants demonstrated significant self-identified growth in entrepreneurial mindset – especially in perceived ability to develop their own business, ability to develop entrepreneurial ideas and ability in relation to their overall skills as an entrepreneur.
Feedback from students concerning Summer Lab is incredibly positive. Net Promoter Score is a widely used market research metric that rates the likelihood that a product or service would be recommended to others. The NPS average for the Education sector in New Zealand is 20. In 2023 Summer Lab had an NPS score of 62.
Learn more:
Flipping the script – from entrepreneurship educators to impactful educators
Peter Rachor
Judith Marecek
Dr Deborah Shepherd
EMAIL
CIE@AUCKLAND.AC.NZ
POSTAL ADDRESS
THE UNIVERSITY OF AUCKLAND BUSINESS SCHOOL
PRIVATE BAG 92019, AUCKLAND
