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Mentoring programmes for students have been made ‘popular’ with the increase in New Zealand universities over the past 10 years. These programmes have targeted the groups of ‘low achieving’ students, especially those of Pacific ethnicity, who have been identified as students who need academic support. For the universities, the main priority has been to increase the academic achievement levels of the students. Mentoring has value and it is beneficial for all of those involved. However, there needs to be examination and analysis of mentoring programmes, especially with regard to the impacts. As a practitioner and theorist of mentoring, I present a personal exploration of the interpersonal relationships formed in mentoring between myself and my students so that a clearer depiction of mentoring relationships may occur for those have a keen interest with Pacific students. The nature of mentoring in a university context is challenging but with the philosophical approach of appreciative mentorship, the challenges quickly fade into the background. Mentoring as a process of relationship development is critical for the successful academic futures of Pacific students in tertiary education.

Information literacy (IL) enables individuals to discover new ways of thinking and new knowledge across a range of platforms, tools and media. It hopes to enable them to fit into the world of research and scholarly communication. This paper aims to describe the development and current practices in IL program at the University of the South Pacific (USP). This case study puts emphasis on how IL at USP reflects the educational priorities of the University and the region. Discussions on socio-cultural context hope to provide insights on developing a framework based on global standards that address the cultural aspect within students’ learning environment in the 12 member countries.

This paper mainly used desktop research and document analysis to present the IL model which is cohesively embedded within the University’s strategic plan and research skills development framework.

The results are summarized in three sections: paradigms and models as basis, current content and mode of delivery, methodologies and design for instruction and socio-cultural insights.

At present, this study will cover Fiji (the Main Campus) and Vanuatu (School of Law). Other member countries with USP presence such as Cook Islands, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga and Tuvalu are considered as part of the future design. Ultimately, a comprehensive model that is applicable for 21 other campuses in the ten member countries will be designed. It also hopes to be replicable in the entire Pacific context.

This study provides baseline data to develop future strategies for implementation in the regional level.

This paper deals with definitional issues of IL related to Pacific cultural contexts that goes beyond a single country, one national identity as it deals with 11 countries, a different model for networked paradigm for IL.

Māori and Pacific school leavers, who tend to be clustered in low-decile schools, are less likely than any other ethnic groups in New Zealand to begin degree-level studies, to succeed in their first year, and continue with their studies. This chapter will draw on the research findings from a prospective, longitudinal, qualitative study of student transition from secondary school to university (Madjar, McKinley, Deynzer, & van der Merwe, 2010). The study was an in-depth, longitudinal one with young people in transition, recruited in their last term of high school and followed to the end of their first semester. A sub-sample was followed until the end of their second year of university study. The chapter will discuss the critical importance of engagement, both academic and social, for student success in university environment. We will also explore the significance of connections with the students’ whānau (extended family) and community, and the peer connections and their impact on students’ experience of transition.

The research surveyed the competency of information literacy of senior high school students in Fiji. This is to evaluate the strong predictors of information literacy.

The study adopted a survey research design whereby a five-point Likert scale self-reporting questionnaire was administered to Year 12 and Year 13 secondary school students. The data were analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software-descriptive statistics of calculating the mean and standard deviation, a correlation and linear regression analysis to deduce the strong predictors of information literacy.

The study showed that 81% of the students surveyed were average to above average information literate. The strong predictors of information literacy were the ability of an individual to collaborate and share safely online, the ability to share files securely and the ability to access the credibility of any resource assessed on the digital platform.

The current study evaluates information literacy of a cohort – stating how information literate the participants are, comprehending the strong predicators of information literacy so that there is an appropriate and effective implementation of interventions for the desired improvements.

The results can be used to improve information literacy of students at all levels of education in the Fiji Islands.

If the youths are information literate they will be able to effectively contribute towards the development of their economy. Since the work environment today is technology oriented and involves a lot of information, being information literate means knowing how to use the information and differentiate between good and bad information. Hence, contributing effectively towards whatever task is performed.

This research if the first ever research done on evaluating the information literacy of individuals in Fiji.

Provide insights on the feasibility of connecting classrooms at a number of universities in the Asia Pacific region in a sustainable and low cost manner through the use of video conferencing.

Collaborative project implemented by a network of universities in the region.

A new form of innovative educational program is feasible based on the effective use of technology which is now readily available as a result of university investment programs, but under utilized due to lack of familiarity or negative perceptions amongst faculty of how to effectively employ this technology in their teaching.

A viable model of university collaboration has been identified and there are no insurmountable barriers preventing other educational programs with the same design. A key limitation relates to whether or not other educational institutions would see the benefits of this model in a highly competitive education marketplace.

Collaborative approaches to teaching in an inter-university context could prove very effective especially when dealing with complex topics like climate change, energy, and food security where the sharing of knowledge is crucial. Social implications: A connected classroom in the inter-university context opens up students and faculty to a diversity of perspectives that may be more appropriate than the traditional way of teaching, especially in this rapidly globalizing world.

All too often educational projects are implemented as pilots and they are not sustained over prolonged periods of time. This project has been on-going for over a decade.

Given the need to reflect the global nature of business and the need for a Pacific‐Asia focus on management education, a region‐wide PAMI (Pacific Asian Management Institute) consortium can be seen as vital. The consortium would pool scarce international management education resources within the Pacific Basin, and would facilitate transfer of appropriate management knowledge by linking segmented institutions of higher learning. A Pacific partnership of mutual interest would steer the cause of international business to the ideal of humanity, peace and prosperity in this region.

This paper aims to describe the implementation and analyze the outcomes of the Diversity Book Display initiative at the University of the Pacific's Library. Through this program, curated displays were used to promote multicultural learning and inclusivity, as well as to build intra‐institutional relationships with curricular and co‐curricular units engaged in diversity work on campus.

The paper places the University of the Pacific's program within the context of academic library outreach through displays and exhibits, as well as situating it in relation to recent trends regarding library outreach to and collaboration with student services. An overview of the development and implementation is provided along with the results of a multi‐year assessment of the initiative.

The mindful leveraging of collections not only provides opportunities for student learning regarding diversity and inclusion, but also can be a platform to build collaborative campus relationships and elevate library visibility. The Diversity Book Display initiative has been a positive way to engage patrons with library collections as well as with social and cultural issues pertaining to multiculturalism and inclusivity.

This paper describes a unique approach to cultivating partnerships with students, faculty and staff, through co‐promotions of campus diversity and inclusion efforts and the library's collections.

This chapter offers a selective review of the emerging Indigenous Pacific educational research from 2000 to 2018. The Pacific region is home to many and various cultural groups, and this review is an opportunity to celebrate the consequent diversity of thought about education. Common threads are used to weave this diversity into a set of coherent regional patterns. Such threads include the regional value to educational research of local metaphor, and an emphasis on relationality or the state of being related as a cornerstone of education, both in research and as practice. The relationship between indigenous educational thought and formal education in indigenous contexts is also addressed. The review pays attention to educational research centered in home islands and that which focuses on the education of those from Pacific Islands in settler societies since connections across the ocean are strong. Because of the recent history of the region, developments are fast paced and ongoing, and this chapter concludes with a sketch of research at the frontier. Set within the context of an area study, the chapter concludes by suggesting what challenges the region has to offer in terms of re-thinking the field of international and comparative education.

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the digital transformation at universities and forced a rapid transition to online education. Tecnológico de Monterrey leveraged its experience in online education to develop and scale a program of collaborative courses with international partners on the United Nation Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). The pilot program, based on Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL), and focused on the UN SDGs, aimed to provide international experiences to students who were not able to study abroad due to economic reasons (SUNY Collaborative Online International Learning). The formula involves two professors who co-design and co-teach an online subject or part of the syllabus to their joint cohort of students, highlighting the relevant elements associated with those subjects’ contents included in the UN SDGs. However, generating enough courses that reached a considerable number of students and involved an international diversity of partners and topics, added layers of difficulty. For instance, not all academics were prepared to manage an online joint group of students or to introduce concepts of the UN SDGs in their courses. To solve these problems and scale up these courses, we created ‘Global Shared Learning – Classroom’ a program that addresses the necessary elements of faculty matching, joint planning of subjects, online co-teaching, use of technological tools, and the active participation of students. Today we have involved more than 18,000 students and 500 professors from 150 universities. This chapter shows how capacity building and complementary partnerships were built. It includes the elements to design, replicate the model, and overcome technology issues for other universities asking to be part of this program.

This paper aims to examine the issues of underrepresentation and barriers that impede Pasifika students’ achievement and success in tertiary accounting education.

The participants of the study were the second- and third-year students from the “Pasifika” ethnic community enrolled in undergraduate accounting degree papers. The first stage of data were collected through face-to-face questionnaire survey and quantitatively analysed. Further data were collected through focus group meetings held as “talona” sessions and analysed using descriptive narrative, to capture the lived experience of the students.

The findings of the study suggest that low self-efficacy beliefs, low self-regulation and culturally unresponsive pedagogical practices negatively impact on Pasifika student success in accounting education. Better student engagement; use of culturally responsive pedagogy; utilisation of internal assessment tools; and more strategic use of group work could help enhance the retention and success of Pasifika students in accounting programmes. The findings also suggest that the institutional support framework for Pasifika students’ needs to be more responsive to proactively help develop their self-efficacy and self-regulation learning needs.

This research makes a significant contribution by informing accounting educators, support staff, tertiary institutions and other stakeholders including Pasifika students, of potential challenges faced by Pasifika students in completing a tertiary accounting qualification. The findings have the potential to assist in the design and implementation of actionable strategies to enhance the retention and success rates for students from this group.

This research complements earlier studies on barriers faced by students from disadvantaged communities in gaining tertiary qualifications and looks specifically at challenges faced by Pasifika students in gaining an accounting qualification.