North Tec

North Tec was originally started as the Northland Community College in 1978, with a staff comprising of only ten tutors. The college was hailed as "a significant center for learning and an administrative center for courses to be run in the wider community."

In 1987, Northland Community College changed its name to Northland Polytechnic [Tai Tokerau Wananga] and to NorthTec [Tai Tokerau Wananga] in June 2006.

The college is a pathway provider which offers skilled professional courses to students who which to pursue higher studies or improve their skills before joining the workforce.

The college’s vision is to improve lives through education and their sole purpose is that the economic, environmental, cultural, and social prosperity of Te Tai Tokerau Northland grows through education.

The values of North Tec have been beautifully embedded within 4 words in the local dialect which are:

Whakaea (Ambition), Arotahi (Focus), Hiranga (Excellence), and Tutika (Accountability).

North Tec has branched out into many campuses around New Zealand and these are; Auckland, Dargaville, Kaikohe, Kaitaia, Kerikeri and Whangarei.

• At NorthTec, the staff and management are committed to their goals of making tertiary education accessible to all Northlanders. The college offers its students with high quality and industry-focused education, which helps them adjust to the work field before even joining. The courses also come with flexible learning options and a personalised classroom approach.
• Besides providing tertiary education to Northlanders, the college also strives to be inclusive of all nationalities. Therefore, students coming from different national and international backgrounds are taken aboard and welcome to begin their academic journeys here. Because of this, the institute has dedicated teams to help international students navigate their way through their course of study. 
• The students at North Tec receive their education through highly trained and qualified staff members who have qualified experience and a deep understanding of the subject and courses they handle. Most of their teachers have been in the field and are people who understand what it takes to pursue a successful career. The staff aims to equip their students to the best of their ability with the knowledge and skillset required. Besides the qualified staff, the students get access to the latest technologies related to their field of study and get first-hand practical experience while studying.
• North Tec is a big supporter of sustainability and all the operations within the campus follow suit. The students are taught the importance of environmental awareness and conservation and tiny details of the same are inculcated into their daily routine at the campus. For example, the coffee grounds available at the campus Cafe are available for free to staff or students for them to use in their own gardens. The café also uses biodegradable paper coffee cups. There is also a worm farm at the front of the café which helps to convert food scraps to form a landfill.  Staff and students are then able to use the worm liquid for their personal gardens. Another additional food waste is collected by a local pig farmer.
• The campuses of North Tec are centered around the most accessible areas in the country where students enjoy a balanced environment between nature and city life.

Careers and Opportunities

North Tec works closely with industry service providers and has a few partnerships lined up to help provide work opportunities for their students. The college works amongst local businesses to help their students out with industry-related experience through different opportunities like work placements, internships, industry projects, and on-site training.

North Tec also works in partnership with the local stakeholders through channels like Local Advisor Committees and Industry Training Organisations, to make sure that their curriculum is designed in such a way as to meet the industry’s needs.

Success Rate:

• North Tec has a world ranking which falls under the top 15,000 best colleges in the world according to reports by Ranking Web Universities.
• Nationally, North Tec ranks 24th in the whole country of New Zealand for quality educational provisions.
• The excellence ranking of the college goes up to 6,650 worldwide.

Notable Alumni

A few of the notable alumni having graduated from North tec are:

1. Keith Paroa Curry – the first male Plunket nurse.     

Student Services

North Tech is known to provide its students with the best amenities required to help them execute their courses with success. This includes proper and equipped classrooms which have been specially designed to include all aids necessary to carry through the courses, access to exclusive workshops and talks hosted by the college which includes prominent personalities in the field, conventions and computer labs.

The college is also proud to administer their Pastoral Support Team among their students who help the students deal with any issues, personal or professional, they may be facing that, in the long run, might affect their academic performance. The Pastoral Support team comprises a number of well versed, talented and understanding staff that support their students through various counselling services.

Accommodation

The college has appointed an accommodations coordinator for the sole purpose of helping the students find proper and safe lodging accommodations. Some of the housing options include homestay, where students are matched with families who house them during their course of study. Besides the homestay option, student sharing accommodation facilities are also available for home-sharing among students, all of which are located minutes away from the various campuses and are within a reasonable budget. Hostels around the campuses equipped with all the basic amenities are also available.

Medical Services

North Tec has a student health centre on every campus which is being run by their experienced Registered Nurses. The health centre offers a wide variety of professional and confidential health and wellbeing services. Their aim is to promote the well-being of each student by providing high-quality health care in an environment that is created to be sensitive to the student’s spiritual, cultural, emotional and physical wellbeing. Some of the services provided include general health advice, health screening, hearing and vision testing, accident care, wellness and health promotion, lifestyle advice (e.g. Stress Management, Quit Smoking) and referral to a doctor or other health professionals.

Sports Facilities

North Tec is known for its advanced technology in sports facilities. The college has state of the art high performing laboratory services for sports performance enhancement. Besides the sports programmes available, access to equipment and physical activity is encouraged among the students. The college has multiple gyms and physical training areas equipped with facilities to carry out sports like weight lifting, high jump, track running, boxing and other recreational sport exercises.

Library Services

North Tec has a large and furnished library on all of their campus, the library is equipped with all the latest information, computer facilities, projectors, Wi-Fi and a wide-ranging collection of books from various genres as well as a desirable collection of hard to come by books related to the specific courses offered. The students have access to all library facilities to help them with their research work or just for recreational purposes. The North Tec library is accessible both online and offline. The offline libraries are known for their pleasant and friendly study environment.