Te Kōtuinga Mātauranga

Centre for Academic Development

Find out how the Centre for Academic Development helps academic staff to enhance learning and teaching across the University.

The Centre for Academic Development (CAD)—Te Kōtuinga Mātauranga supports the Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington community in its pursuit of learning and teaching excellence. The CAD team provides practical services that enhance learning and teaching at the University. They work with individuals and teaching teams across a range of areas, including:

  1. the delivery of academic teaching and learning capability development programmes
  2. facilitation of curriculum and course development
  3. faculty-based support for learning and teaching
  4. support for higher education research, research development, and innovation
  5. learning environment leadership, design, and development.

Nuku support

Support for Nuku is generally done through group drop-in sessions, training and self-help online training resources. Requests for additional support can be sent to nuku@vuw.ac.nz

The new Nuku Support Hub sessions will be community run, with experienced guidance from Nuku users from across the University. CAD Learning Designers will also be available to provide help as needed.

The Nuku Support Hub will be run online for 45 minutes (1:30–2:15 pm) on Tuesdays and Thursdays, until the end of the year. Staff can register for a session in LibCal or just turn up. Once you join the 'Nukusupport' Zoom link, you will be admitted to a waiting room prior to being let into the session to receive support based on the availability of the team.

​For urgent or technical issues please contact the Digital Solutions Service Desk.

One-to-one support

Academic staff members at the University can talk to CAD about their individual teaching needs. The team can help with anything from a specific classroom issue to applying for an award or promotion.

New academic staff

If you’re joining the University as a new academic staff member, the CAD team will help you settle in. They run a three-day Orientation to Academic Life programme at the University in February and August each year. All new staff need to attend one within the first 12 months of joining the University.

CAD also provides specific training and ongoing support to new tutors, early career academics, and academic staff working towards promotion.

Workshops for staff

The CAD team runs workshops that help teachers enhance their learning and teaching skills. They can also design custom workshops to meet the needs of a specific group. Workshop topics include:

  • educational technology
  • lecturing
  • small group teaching
  • copyright
  • marking
  • assessment
  • feedback
  • using Nuku for teaching.

Professional development

The Centre for Academic Development offers teachers opportunities to gain recognition in higher education learning and teaching. They also help University staff connect with each other and talk about learning and teaching through Ako Victoria events.

CAD resources

For more help, advice, and guidelines about teaching practice, refer to the Supporting Learning and Teaching section.

For instructions and tips about using technology for teaching or online teaching practice, refer to the Tools for Learning and Teaching in Nuku course or the Teach in Nuku course. You can also refer to the student technology guide MyTech.