University wins big at Asia-Pacific Student Accommodation awards gala

Ngā Wharenoho, Accommodation provides a home away from home for over 4,000 students annually. Kaimahi, staff strive to provide kainoho, residents with a holistic support system that helps them reach their academic and personal goals. Throughout the year, this includes ensuring the safety and wellbeing of all residents through building maintenance, a diverse engagement calendar, support structures, academic mentoring and more.

The mahi of our kaimahi was recognised at this year’s Asia-Pacific Student Accommodation Association awards gala, where the University was recognized for excellence in marketing and communication, student experience and facility development.

Since 2021, catered Halls of Residence have provided culturally-focused community initiatives for Māori and Pacific residents. Kaimahi work to provide these communities at Grafton and O’Rorke Hall additional, culturally-minded support through events, academic and leadership support and the establishment of their own Kaupapa. This effort embeds the University’s commitment to Te Tiriti and its Taumata Teitei strategy, as well as focusing on the principles of manaakitanga, whanaungatanga and kaitiakitanga. Crucial to the success of these initiatives is the collaboration with other University departments, such as the Office of the Pro-Vice Chancellors Māori and Pacific, Te Papa Manaaki, Equity and Scholarships, as well as invaluable community support from local iwi, whānau, past residents and even friends from the Auckland Hospital.

Resident engagement in these spaces has also increased by an average of 10% each year as they seek to cultivate their own living values and community. One Grafton Hall resident shared “as a tuakana living on the tauira Māori floor, it has been an incredibly rewarding opportunity for me to connect and support our tauira in what can be a daunting experience….”. While a former Moana Pasifika floor resident shared that “life on the Pasifika floor symbolises something much bigger than any of us – it’s the fruition of some of our parents and ancestors dreams….Our ties to our floor have made us feel seen, heard and especially supported.”

See the tauira Māori floor perform at the 2024 APSAA conference and hear from current Pacific residents at O’Rorke Hall. 

In Semester One 2023, Stuart McCutcheon House opened its doors to over 900 new kainoho for the first time. This new facility boasts three to six-bedroom apartments and numerous common areas, including a large outdoor courtyard, study rooms, laundries, music rooms, games rooms, lounges and a communal kitchen.

Stuart McCutcheon House provides students the opportunity to experience flatting without the hassle of public transport, landlords or managing multiple utility bills. With fully furnished apartments located just down the hill from B201 and the City Campus library, students have everything they need included in one fixed weekly cost.

Since opening, Stuart McCutcheon House has held a 99.5% occupancy rate with a significant waitlist seeking to live on campus in a secure, all-inclusive, affordable housing opportunity. 

Following a three-year working relationship with an external creative agency, the Campus Life Communications and Marketing team brought the annual Accommodation recruitment campaign in-house for creative development. The team sought to revitalise the approach to recruitment, seeking a drastic increase in application and occupancy rates to meet Accommodation’s strategic goals. Following several months of staff and student consultation and market research, the team chose to develop a campaign that would focus on celebrating each resident's individuality and how this can empower the whole of their community. Additionally, the campaign featured dual-language collateral in Samoan and Te Reo Māori to further engage students in Pacific and Māori communities.

The campaign went live in August 2023 and saw significant results when closing in February 2024. While ad spending increased by 31%, impressions, reach, and link clicks all increased between 41-58%. Within the first five weeks of the campaign going live, applications rose by 1,000 per week. Applications increased by 273% for Māori students and 113% for Pacific students. By move-in day 2024, Accommodation had its highest occupancy rate to date at 98.2%.

By centring the residential experience and leaning on in-house expertise, this campaign spoke to prospective residents in a new way. Anecdotal feedback from current residents supports that this highly personal campaign engaged and challenged their perception of what living in University of Auckland Accommodation could mean. See the 2025 campaign.