Welcome
Welcome from the Head of the School of Government.
Nau mai, Haere Mai, ki Te Kura Kāwanatanga! Welcome to the School of Government!
It’s a real pleasure for me to be able to welcome you to the School of Government if you are a first time 'visitor' and to provide a warm 'welcome back' to those of you who are continuing students or coming back to study with us after a break.
I took up my position here in the School of Government in 2013 and has since been a proud member of this vibrant hub of activity before becoming Head of School in 2022. We are every day trying to making our contribution not only to the public sector in general, but to everyone living in Aotearoa/New Zealand (and beyond) through our teaching offerings, our research and our engagement with various stakeholders.
The School of Government is playing an integral role in promoting better government both within Aotearoa/New Zealand and throughout the Asia-Pacific through its undergraduate, postgraduate, research and development programmes. We are particularly proud of our professional master programmes (Master of Public Policy and Master of Public Management) where we over the decades have delivered skills, knowledge and competencies making the public sector workforce prepared to encounter policy and managerial challenges. But our relationship with these students go both ways as we are constantly being challenged and learn from our professional student groups.
One of the real benefits that the School enjoys is the location that comes with being part of a Capital City University. From our windows on the eighth floor of Rutherford House we overlook the central institutions of the State – a legislature, the Parliament in the Beehive, three central government agencies, and a host of other government departments and entities. This proximity has endowed us with a close relationship and engagement with most of the public service actors, and a real sense of belonging to the ‘Lambton Quay Ecosystem’. We are in a working relationship with the public services as well as with community organisations.
Finally, it should be mentioned that we represent a robust research organisation with a strongly committed group of scholars producing new knowledge addressing some of the challenges in our society, and also putting the Aotearoa/New Zealand flag on the world map of global academic research. Our researchers include, in addition to our core staff, also a number of sponsored chairs. The school also hosts the Institute of Governance and Policy studies which has played a pivotal role in New Zealand policy discussions since the 1970s.
The environment in the School of Government is one in which we are all learners. We, as the staff of the School, learn a great deal from you; and you will learn a great deal from each other, as well as from those who lead courses, and those who provide the course content and whose task it is to nurture and sustain that learning environment.
We are looking forward to connecting with you!
Dr Karl Löfgren
Head of School