Corporate information
- School of Art, Hocken Collections, Uare Taoka o Hakena, University of Otago (S05-135b)
Background
Old gold, new gold - Otago is a place where people become pioneers.
A land defined by distance becomes home to those with vision, resourcefulness and enterprise; a micro-culture of capable, inventive people. Those who have called Otago home have mined wealth in the soil and seas, built sound businesses and educated men and women who have gone on to change the world.
New Zealand's first School of Art was founded in Dunedin in 1870. The country’s first technical college was established here in 1889. From these roots Otago Polytechnic was born; a school of technology pioneering practical education in fields such as engineering and adventure, building and design, commerce and computing, hospitality, horticulture and health.
- Stonemasonry, Cromwell Campus
We count among our achievements the world’s first three-year bachelor’s degree in midwifery, the first tertiary training restaurant open to the public, the only stonemasonry programme of its kind in Australasia.
In the 21st century, Otago Polytechnic stands proudly alongside the University of Otago as an integral part of the region’s educational and intellectual capital. But more than this, we strive to understand the way the world is turning and the skills required to succeed in the future.
We are in the process of developing the most advanced Rapid Prototyping Facility in Australasia to provide our product design students with invaluable experience and the opportunity to undertake collaborative projects with industry. We have made a commitment to develop the Polytechnic as a sustainable organisation and provide leadership in sustainable education and training into the future. We continue to develop and foster our relationships with industry so that our students can see, understand and learn to address the challenges they will face as professionals in the real world.
The best measure of our success is our graduates; our goal is to send them into the workplace armed with practical skills, the ability to generate original thoughts and ideas, and the capacity to adapt to the ever-changing work environment.
We prepare them to go forward by providing the sort of stimulating, questioning and creative learning environment that builds confidence to succeed in the workplace. We seek out energetic lecturers who succeed in their own right, share their enthusiasm for learning with others and teach methodologies that lie at the cutting edge of industry.
Our ability to consistently produce skilled, capable, visionary graduates reflects our proud history of education delivery and the personalised learning environment that comes from our size and focus on fresh-thinking.
Below are links to further information and documents about the Polytechnic.