Dr Terry Fulljames is hanging up his education hat after a career spanning nearly 50 years in the education industry.

For the past eight years, Terry has worked at the Bay of Plenty Polytechnic as academic director where he has been at the forefront of some significant achievements for staff and students.

Polytechnic chief executive Dr Alan Hampton says these achievements have included enhancing the capability of academic staff as teachers and improving systems.

He says Terry has also had a hand in processes to provide a strong focus on supporting students in achieving both their qualifications and vocational goals.

'Terry has had a key influence in the development and performance of the institution in the past eight years.

'He has been a consistent and powerful advocate of the power of tertiary education and training, its ability to change lives and create futures, and the right of all to access this opportunity.”

Renowned for his passion and enthusiasm for education, Terry is the inaugural chair of the Tertiary Partnership's Joint Academic Planning and Development Committee, helping to shape how the partner institutions (Bay of Plenty Polytechnic, the University of Waikato and more recently, Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi) work together.

A key achievement of the Committee includes the extension of diploma to degree pathways,

'I have had a lifelong passion for education,” says Terry.

'Having worked in tertiary for 25 years, it has really shifted my focus to school leavers and mature students entering tertiary study.”
He says he is delighted with the changes he's seen within the Polytechnic and through working with the University of Waikato and other stakeholders to set up the Bay of Plenty Tertiary Partnership.

'It's been exciting being part of this critical development for Bay of Plenty Polytechnic.
'I will watch with interest as the partnership with the University of Waikato and Awanuiārangi develops further over the next few years and the tertiary campus is completed in the CBD.”

Terry has been the Chair of the TANZ Academic Committee (Tertiary Accord of New Zealand, which comprises seven ITPs across the country), he is an External Evaluator for NZQA Quality Assurance (covering the PTE, ITP, ITO and Wānanga part of the tertiary sector), Deputy Chair for the Aotearoa Region of the Association for Tertiary Education Management, and a member of an international panel of reviewers for the Oman Academic Accreditation Authority.

Locally, he sits on the Secondary-Tertiary Curriculum Advisory Committee which, along with support from ITO's and Priority One, has been working to gain a Trades Academy for the Western Bay in 2013.

He also sits on the Regional Tertiary Providers' Forum and Priority One's Instep Steering Group (representing the tertiary sector).