International students deserve a voice that shows up.
I'm running for University Council to make VUW affordable, connected, and accountable.
Studying in another country is challenging. You're navigating a new city, new systems, new costs, new expectations, and often doing it a long way from home.
VUW does some things well. But international students deserve stronger year-round support, clearer communication, genuine community, and a representative who takes your experience seriously.
International students are a vital part of VUW.
You bring global perspective, ambition, culture, talent, and energy. You contribute to classrooms, labs, clubs, halls, research, events, and to Wellington itself.
But international students also face extra pressure. Higher costs. Housing stress. Visa and insurance complexity. Working out how the system works. Finding community. Figuring out where to go when something goes wrong.
That's why international student experience needs a voice at Council level, where the University's major priorities, strategy, and accountability sit. The student member should use that seat to make sure international students aren't treated as an afterthought.
The student member should make sure international students are never an afterthought.
More than a welcome.
Orientation matters. But the real test is what happens after the first few weeks.
Do international students know where to get help? Can you find clear information before small problems spiral? Are you connected to clubs, classmates, support, careers, housing advice, and student voice? Are international student concerns heard when decisions are made?
What I'll fight for
Support beyond Orientation
A good welcome matters, but international student support shouldn't drop off after O-Week. I'll advocate for a year-round approach to international student experience: clearer check-ins, better visibility of support services, and practical pathways into academic, wellbeing, financial, housing, and career support.
Clearer communication
International students navigate more systems than most. I'll press for clearer, better-timed communication, especially before arrival, during the first trimester, before exams, and at key pressure points.
Affordability and value for money
International students often carry high tuition, relocation costs, visa fees, insurance, rent, food, transport, and course costs, with limited family support nearby. I'll argue for student cost pressure to be treated as a serious governance issue.
That means asking how University decisions affect the actual cost of being a student, and demanding stronger attention to value for money, hardship support, and hidden costs. International students are our students. You deserve value, support, and respect.
Community, clubs, and belonging
International students shouldn't need luck to find friends, support, or community. I'll advocate for stronger links between international students, clubs, cultural groups, academic programmes, halls, peer networks, and campus events.
Community is how students build confidence, make friends, develop leadership, and feel like they belong. As former lead of Save Our Clubs, I know student-led communities matter, and I'll fight for clubs to be treated as central to student life.
Academic and career confidence
International students come to VUW to learn, grow, and build a future. They deserve clearer academic guidance, better visibility of learning support, practical career services, and useful information.
Safety, wellbeing, and knowing where to go
Moving countries is exciting. It can also be isolating, stressful, and overwhelming. I'll advocate for student support services to be easier to find, easier to access, and more accountable.
A representative who reports back
The student member of Council shouldn't disappear after election day. If elected, I'll publish regular updates, listen to students, and create clear channels for international students to raise issues during the year.
You deserve a representative who's visible, reachable, and useful.
Eight commitments for the full international student journey.
Support shouldn't drop away once Orientation ends.
International student experience should be planned across the full journey: before arrival, arrival, the first trimester, exams, breaks, housing changes, employment, postgraduate study, and graduation.
Communication should reduce stress, not add to it.
Students need practical, easy-to-understand information about enrolment, fees, visas, insurance, housing, health, safety, academic expectations, support services, and life in Wellington.
Housing stress affects study, wellbeing, and belonging.
International students need better information about private rentals, flatting, tenant rights, bond payments, avoiding scams, transport, and where to get help when something goes wrong.
The cost of being an international student isn't just tuition.
It includes rent, food, transport, insurance, visas, course materials, equipment, health, and the cost of settling into a new country. I'll make sure those realities are visible when the University makes decisions.
Belonging shouldn't depend on chance.
International students should have clear pathways into clubs, cultural groups, campus events, volunteering, leadership, and student communities.
A good student experience should prepare you for what comes next.
International students need careers support that understands their situation: workplace expectations, internships, CVs, interviews, networking, work rights, and planning after graduation.
Services need to be visible, understandable, and accountable.
Students should be able to find the right support quickly: wellbeing, academic, financial, disability, conflict resolution, safety, and urgent help.
Surveys matter, but student voice should also be ongoing.
International students should have clear ways to raise issues, give feedback, and shape University decisions through regular listening, direct engagement, and visible follow-up.
Practical. Independent. Evidence-led. Visible.
I'm running because students deserve a Council representative who shows up. I helped lead Save Our Clubs because student community matters. Now I want to bring that same approach to University Council.
International students deserve representation that understands both sides: the opportunity of studying at VUW, and the extra pressure that comes with studying far from home.
Listen to students. Use evidence. Push clearly. Report back.
I'll fight for a VUW where international students aren't just welcomed, but supported, connected, and heard.
Frequently asked questions
No. I'm running for all students at VUW.
This page exists because international students face specific pressures that deserve specific attention. My main platform covers every student: affordability, support, community, academic clarity, and visible representation.
Council doesn't run every day-to-day service. But it matters.
Council helps set the University's strategic direction and holds the institution accountable. As student member, I'd bring student evidence and student experience into those governance conversations.
A student member can't lower fees alone.
But Council is involved in major financial and strategic decisions. I'll argue for student affordability, value for money, hardship support, and the real cost of studying to be taken seriously whenever decisions affect students.
International students deserve more than a welcome.
You deserve year-round support, clear communication, genuine community, and a voice in the room where decisions get made.
Ask Arie a question
Questions? Reach out any time. International students are always welcome to get in touch.
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