Toi Ohomai is home to 14,000 students across the Bay of Plenty and South Waikato.
Toi Ohomai is home to 14,000 students across the Bay of Plenty and South Waikato.
In May 2016 Bay of Plenty Polytechnic merged with Rotorua based Waiariki Institute of Technology. Recently the Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister, Steven Joyce, announced the new name for the institution - Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology.
Toi Ohomai is home to 14,000 students across the Bay of Plentyand South Waikato - they're the third largest institute of technology in New Zealand and the largest tertiary provider in the region. They're also one of the Bay's largest employers, employing more than 1,000 specialty teaching and administration staff, innovators and industry experts.
More than 150 programmes are taught across the region, from master's level to degrees, diplomas and certificates. Specialty areas such as forestry, immigration, marine and aquaculture, tourism and hospitality, and road transport and logistics attract students from around New Zealand and the world.
The institute might have a new name, but you can expect the same high standards of education that they've provided to our region for more than 30 years. You only need to look at the amazing things their students have gone on to achieve to know how important that education is.
You'll find their graduates around the globe as accountants, All Blacks, artists, beauticians, Black Sticks, builders, business owners, educators, engineers, environmentalists, managers, marine biologists, nurses, property developers, sports trainers, tourist guides, truckers - and everything else you can imagine!
The institute has two campuses in Tauranga (a business school in the CBD and a larger campus at Windermere), two in Rotorua (a specialised wood processing facility at Waipa and a larger campus at Mokoia), one campus in each of Taupō, Tokoroa and Whakatāne, as well as more than 68 delivery sites throughout the wider region.
For local students, that means they don't need to leave home to get a quality tertiary education. Many find the applied nature of learning at a technical institute is a more effective way of learning than in traditional lecture theatres.
It also provides exciting options for some of our local sporting heroes who are able to combine careers as high performance athletes alongside flexible study options. A win-win for the region when trying to retain top sportsmen and women in local sport - such as one of the Black Sticks newest squad members, local girl Amy Robinson who has just completed a Bachelor of Sport & Recreation with Toi Ohomai.
Coming up next week (December 12 - 14) Toi Ohomai will be celebrating their first cohort of graduating students in Tauranga. Kicking off with a street parade (Monday, 12 December at 3.30pm) leaving from Red Square the students will make their way up Devonport Road to Holy Trinity. If you're heading into the CBD, help Toi Ohomai celebrate the many successes of their hard working students by giving them a shout out.
