Get set for Massey Wellington graduation ceremonies

Tuesday 23 May 2017

More than 680 graduates of Massey University will cross the stage of the Michael Fowler Centre on Thursday to have their degrees conferred in two separate graduation ceremonies.

Get set for Massey Wellington graduation ceremonies - image1

Like previous years, Massey University's Wellington graduation procession will parade from Parliament to Civic Square.

Last updated: Thursday 2 June 2022

More than 680 graduates of Massey University will cross the stage of the Michael Fowler Centre on Thursday to have their degrees conferred in two separate graduation ceremonies.

Advertising executive Peter Biggs will address both ceremonies featuring graduates from the Massey Business School, College of Creative Arts, College of Health, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, College of Sciences and Professional and Continuing Education (PaCE).

Wellington singer-songwriter Louis Baker, who is earning accolades overseas, and studied at the New Zealand School of Music when it was jointly run by Massey with Victoria University, will perform two songs at intervals of both ceremonies

Māori and Pasifika graduates will also be honoured at additional celebrations on Friday.

Below are research outlines for some of the doctorate recipients.

Maureen Mooney: Sought to understand how children cope effectively with disaster and to identify resources and processes that promote children’s effective coping and adaptation. Five, nine and 15 year-olds, as well as parents, teachers and principals of five Christchurch schools were interviewed. Children and caregivers from two schools in Wellington served as a comparison group. Multiple coping strategies in the children, and in their immediate contexts of family and community were identified that were fundamental to adapting in the earthquake’s aftermath.

Sara McBride: Analysed key preparedness communication documents issued to the Canterbury community before the earthquakes of 2010-2011 to assess their effectiveness. She did so from the perspective of being one of the communications professionals involved in devising those documents. The combination of her practical and academic understanding enabled her to generate insights that offer immediate, real-world guidelines for anyone working in disaster preparedness communication.

Kaye Milligan: Researched the clinical decisions made by registered nurses and the reasons behind those decisions), that affect the health and outcomes for residents living in residential aged care.  These can include the relationships the nurses develop with the resident, their family and the general practitioner; and the individuality of each nurse whose knowledge affected their concern for, and management of, the residents. Other causes were examined within the specific context of the residential aged care sector in which risk aversion, financial constraints and limited support for the development of the registered nurses prevailed.

Peter Clemerson: Examined the notion of cognitive dissonance, the name given to the feeling of puzzlement or discomfort experienced when confronted with contradictory information. He found that resolving contradictions pertaining to survival, reproduction and reputation was more important than resolving non-adaptive contradictions.

Catherine Ross: Investigated the learning environment of teaching advisers in the education system. Her research offers valuable insight into the influences at play in contemporary tertiary education organisations and how those influences impact on the way learning advisers carry out their work.