Enter Kāpuhipuhi—Wellington Uni-Professional, recently established to provide micro-credentials and short courses that are tailor-made to deliver the skills and knowledge organisations are looking for.

Wellington Uni-Professional is the home of non-degree teaching at Te Herenga Waka. The 100 percent university-owned subsidiary has completed a thorough market-validation exercise to understand the professional development needed in the market and is expanding the number of programmes and courses it offers for business and organisations in New Zealand and overseas from its previous base of 250.

Micro-credentials—certification that a set of skills and knowledge has been achieved—are proving particularly popular. A partnership with the Department of Internal Affairs in the area of digital accessibility illustrates just what can be done.

“The DIA approached us, wanting to develop a course that would reach a lot of people and equip them to champion the importance of making sure their organisation’s digital services are accessible to everyone,” says general manager—programmes Tania McGowan.

The result is a six-week micro-credential that both partners say is doing an excellent job of providing education at scale to address the widespread digital accessibility issues faced by people with disabilities.

“It’s a great model,” says Wellington Uni-Professional chief executive officer John Milford. “Businesses get a course that meets their specific needs, with input from top academic minds and the reassurance that the qualification meets rigorous academic standards.”

Find out more about partnering with Wellington Uni-Professional and how to sign up for the range of short courses they offer in business skills, leadership, the rapidly growing area of cultural competency and capability in mātauranga Māori, and much more.