Support for students outside New Zealand

Victoria University of Wellington Students’ Association (VUWSA) advocates provide professional, confidential, and independent student support to help you with academic issues, accommodation, employment, and legal disputes. If you have a problem, they are here to help. They can be contacted by email and meetings can be held on Zoom.

Postgraduate Students Association (PGSA) are a student representative group that consults and supports all Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington Postgraduate students. If you are a student at the University studying at 400-level or above, then you are part of the postgraduate community.

Victoria International Students' Association (V-ISA) represents the interests of international students at the University. V-ISA promotes a blended multicultural environment where students who have an interest in international student issues or would like to meet other students are welcome to join.

Your Student Success Adviser is your first point of contact to discuss all queries or concerns related to your studies—admission requirements, academic transcripts, degree planning or audits, credit transfer, approval of exchange programmes, or for help with any other academic matters. Your Student Success Adviser also provides holistic advice about student life in general.

You can contact your Student Success Adviser directly using contact details in Pūaha or contact your Tītoko—Student Success team by calling 0800 04 04 04 or emailing info@vuw.ac.nz.

Students studying overseas will need access to Nuku, your virtual campus and the online learning environment for all your courses.

The connection works best with a VPN (virtual private network) on any device, or if you don’t have a VPN, use a Windows operating system. Find out more about Nuku.

If you have technical issues, you can get in touch with the Digital Solutions service desk by phone +64 4 463 5050, email servicedesk@vuw.ac.nz, or via webchat.

Disability Services offer a range of online services and support to ensure students can fully participate and achieve their aspirations. Disability includes physical, mental, learning, or sensory impairments. You can access inclusive learning tools, Read&Write and EquatIO to make online written and numerical information more accessible.

The best way to access this support is to book a Zoom appointment with a disability and inclusion adviser via email at disability@vuw.ac.nz.

Read our advice for setting yourself up to succeed in an online learning and teaching environment.

Library services, resources, search tools, assessment guides, and can be accessed through our website. Search the library collection discovery system Te Waharoa to find books, articles, online resources and more. Our institutional repository provides open online access to theses and other research outputs by the University's academics and postgraduate students.

Academics and researchers can access a range of library help services. For specialised research support to navigate our library website, guides contact your subject librarian to discuss your needs.

Email library@vuw.ac.nz for any enquiries.

Student Learning provides academic support to help with your writing, critical thinking, and math skills. You can book an appointment to talk to a learning adviser online to discuss writing strategies and your argument.

Check their calendar for upcoming online workshops, some of which are specifically tailored for students studying outside of New Zealand at a postgraduate or undergraduate level.

Alternatively visit StudyHub for a range of online resources to develop your study skills, including advice for learning online:

• The postgrad study hub has specific resources on critical thinking, writing and research skill.
• The international study hub has resources specifically for international students.

The Faculty of Graduate Research offers workshops aimed at helping research students throughout their candidature—from new student inductions and writing bootcamps, to how to prepare for your oral examination.

You can find more information on their website.

The School of Mathematics and Statistics offers a number of undergraduate and graduate courses in applied statistics which you may be able to enrol in during the provisional period of your doctoral studies.

The University also has a statistical consulting service. You should contact our consultant at an early stage of your project, to help ensure that the planned procedures and study size will be appropriate for the proposed work.

The University’s Manawa Ora—Student Wellbeing team has worked with students to put together a range of online resources including videos, apps, worksheets, podcasts, images, and quick reads to give advice on different aspects of wellbeing. You can also read tips on six ways to wellbeing, focusing on student life.

The Health Coach works with students to help them to achieve their goals for improved mental wellbeing, lifestyle, or behaviour change. You do not need to be registered with Mauri Ora Student Health and Counselling to book an appointment with the Health Coach.

There are other things you can do to help support your wellbeing such as staying connected with those close to you, telling someone you trust if you are feeling stressed and accessing local services that support your mental wellbeing.

You can contact your Student Success Advisor for any health, emotional, and financial concerns or if you don’t know where else to go for help. If you’re a doctoral student, you can contact your Supervisor or your Postgraduate Research Student Advisor at fgr-postgrads@vuw.ac.nz.

Sometimes, you may need extra support and guidance to help you through tough times.

If you are experiencing a high-level of emotional distress or feel at risk of harm to yourself or others, we encourage you to reach out to health professionals in your country for support and if you are comfortable doing so. If you or someone else is at risk of suicide or serious harm, you should first contact your local mental health or emergency services.

Academic and professional staff can offer learning, administrative and pastoral support, but there will be limits to the extent they can support you. If you do disclose to a staff member that you are experiencing a high-level of emotional distress or feel at risk of harm to yourself or others, they will discuss your situation confidentially with other colleagues, including the Student Interest and Conflict Resolution team who may work with you to take appropriate next steps. However, they are not able to provide professional mental health or counselling support or advice.

Students studying outside of New Zealand are not able to access professional medical or mental health care support from Mauri Ora or other allied health teams for a number of reasons. Our health and disability professionals are not covered by insurance to practice outside New Zealand. The Studentsafe Insurance Policy does not cover counselling support for students outside New Zealand. It is also very challenging to provide meaningful support to someone in another country.

It’s important to us that our students are able to study in a supportive and respectful environment.

The Student Interest team is a central point for students to receive advice and support about responding to threatening, inappropriate and concerning behaviour. By identifying concerns early, Student Interest works across the University to respond and resolve issues in a supportive and non-adversarial manner. They assess risks, identify support needs, and work alongside you and others to ensure a safer community.

To have a confidential conversation or receive advice, contact the Student Interest and Conflict Resolution team at studentinterest@vuw.ac.nz. 

Please feel free to contact your Student Success Advisor if you are not sure who to contact and they will advise you or put you in touch with the Student Interest team, or other teams as appropriate. As a doctoral student, you can get in touch with your Supervisor or your Postgraduate Research Student Adviser via fgr-postgrads@vuw.ac.nz.

In a life-threatening emergency, you should contact your local emergency services.

The student newsletter Whītiki goes out to your email inbox fortnightly during term time to keep you updated with all the important university updates. You can also stay connected with our student community through our student blog myView and on our social media channels.

There are a variety of online tools, information, resources, and advice on our website and online career centre to help you build your employability, prepare for interviews, and prepare for your career.

Book an appointment by Zoom with a career consultant for advice on career decision-making and job applications. Appointments are available all year and can be booked on CareerHub as well.

Final-year students can sign-up to our Alumni as Mentors programme. You can also register to take part in some activities of the Wellington Plus Programme, the University’s service and leadership development programme to develop your social responsibilities and employability skills.

At Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, our lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual/agender (LGBTQIA+), and takatāpui communities are known as the Rainbow community. We offer a range of services and resources for students who identify with diverse sexual orientations and sex and gender identities.

You can email us at rainbow@vuw.ac.nz to schedule a Zoom appointment.

Student Finance Advisers offer appointments by Zoom. We provide confidential and non-judgmental financial mentoring and budget advisory services to students. Email student-hardship@vuw.ac.nz to arrange an appointment.

Find information about managing your money as a student, including free online courses and tools from Blackbullion, an online financial learning programme. We also offer a number of financial wellbeing workshops on Zoom. You can email student-finance@vuw.ac.nz with any questions about fees.

You can take part in a number of activities within the Wellington International Leadership Programme online, including our core seminars and experiential opportunities.

The University has a Resource Agreement for Thesis Students which applies to postgraduate research thesis students in all schools. The agreement outlines the study space and furniture, resources, and support available for all postgraduate research thesis students.