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International Education Conference reveals new pathways to success
The conference is an annual part of Study Auckland's international education programme and featured speakers from throughout the industry including Ministry of Education, Education New Zealand, NZQA, The Mindlab, The University of Auckland, Auckland University of Technology, Howick College and Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design.
International Education Manager Debbie Chambers says the conference provided some interesting insights and direction for the industry.
"There's some incredibly exciting things happening in the international education sector in Auckland with more institutions doing innovative things and thinking outside the box than ever before. It was great to be able to share some of these ideas and best practices throughout the day."
The conference also presented the chance for ATEED to highlight its new structure and focus for international education emphasising the strategic importance of the industry to Auckland.
Part of this work to help grow the sector includes working in conjunction with Education New Zealand's through its Regional Partnership Programme.
This exciting partnership will see ATEED deliver three key projects:
Telling the Auckland Story – Pathways to success: ATEED will work with the Futures Group to provide institutions and stakeholders with multi-lingual and multi-media collateral and case studies to enable them to tell Regional Auckland's education, employment and experiential pathway success stories.
Enhancing the Student Experience: Facilitate a series of events that help international students, education institutions, and employers to connect and engage in order to match their respective needs
Building Capability – New Product Development: Increase the capability of Auckland's international education sector by helping them to identify a particular customer need and then develop a new education, tourism and cultural product, which will then be taken to a specific market to be sold.
Debbie says this year's event really highlighted what an exciting time is to be working in the international education.
"It was heartening to see the support we have from the sector with such a great turnout of attendees and there was a real buzz throughout the whole day. You could see people were hungry for information, new ideas and ways they could work together and share best practice," she says.
"It was awesome to have our student ambassadors on stage. Hearing their stories about their lives in Auckland and knowing that their lives have been changed for the better as a result of studying here makes all the work we do worthwhile."
The Director of Marketing at ACG, Kim Harase, says, "The best Study Auckland Conference to date. It had the right mix of presentations, ranging from government agency updates to industry best practice and student experience. There was something for everyone and the Study Auckland team did an excellent job with the organisation of the event."
Diocesan Director of International Students Simone Clark says, "It was a terrific opportunity to hear from those who are passionate about International Education and appreciate its importance to Auckland. Student satisfaction is key; it is vital that their expectations are met – not only at their chosen educational institution but in their overall experience of Auckland. The panel of current International students and their candid, honest feedback was a highlight for me."
Diverse New Zealand experience on show at the symposium on offshore delivery
Dr Rob Griffiths, Programme Director of Occupational and Aviation Medicine at the University of Otago summed up the mood of over 70 participants from across the university, Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics (ITP), Private Training Establishments (PTE) and educational services sector that attended a symposium on offshore delivery organised by Education New Zealand (ENZ) in partnership with Victoria University of Wellington on Thursday 9 June. Senior education professionals shared their experiences - both the good and bad – in delivering education services offshore. Sessions covered quality assurance, sustainable models, collaboration and the power of partnerships, critical success factors and explored a variety of markets from Singapore to Russia, the Middle East to Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
The future of digital and online learning technologies to transform and disrupt higher education was discussed with examples ranging from early childhood training, software development, and aviation medicine to training in wildlife rescue after an oil spill. ENZ's General Manager Business Development Clive Jones said that the day "created a network bringing together a diverse group at different stages of development who were keen to stay together".
One of the keynote speakers on international trends was Boston-based Richard Garrett from The Observatory on Borderless Higher Education, an education think tank with a focus on transnational education (TNE). Garrett was positive about the huge global opportunity and the TNE potential for New Zealand. In particular, the opportunity to learn from the main TNE providing countries - UK and Australia – and take a strategic approach in partnership with destination countries. His view that offshore delivery was like a permanent start up resonated strongly with participants.
"With around 3,500 offshore international student enrolments there is quite a way to go to achieve the target of 10,000 by 2025 set by the Government's Leadership Statement for International Education. But the diversity of providers, markets and projects showcased at the symposium confirmed that New Zealand has the products, range of capability and interest in moving forward together. ENZ has been challenged to keep the conversation we started in Wellington going" said Adele Bryant, Business Development Manager at ENZ.
For more information contact Adele Bryant.
Koreans land safely into New Zealand schools
They are in New Zealand for an eight-week programme that includes English language provision. The programme is a direct result of the Free Trade Agreement signed in December 2015 between New Zealand and South Korea.
Peter Bull, ENZ General Manager International, said the Korean students are the children of farming or fishing families, and are all high performing students.
"The opportunity to study in New Zealand and to represent their family, school and Korea in this inaugural year of the scholarship scheme saw students go through a selection criteria that whittled down over 2,000 applications to the 150 selected."
ENZ partnered closely with the Schools International Education Business Association (SIEBA) to implement the scholarship scheme in New Zealand through its member schools, and to help manage the logistics involved in coordinating such a large group of students at once.
Peter paid tribute to SIEBA for also delivering orientations in the three regions to ensure that the transition into New Zealand life was as seamless as possible for the Korean visitors.
A highlight of the orientation programme occurred at Canterbury's Pudding Hill Lodge, near Methven. The students were welcomed with a waiata from some talented Mount Hutt College students. This was followed by a very warm welcome from Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce that was then reciprocated by the Korean students.
The other welcome ceremonies were held at St Paul's Collegiate School in Hamilton, which was attended by the Korean Ambassador, and President of EPIS, the Korean agency responsible for the implementation of the programme, and at Garin College in Nelson.
As agreed under the KNZFTA, 450 students will be granted scholarships to study in New Zealand over three years.
The arrival of the students has made the headlines in the local press. Here are just some of the stories which have been published so far.
The Timaru Herald, Korean students to stay and study in South Canterbury
Stuff, Korean students keen to explore South Canterbury
The Marlborough Express, Korean students arrive in Malborough
Otago Chemistry lecturer attracts a crowd at Kuching fair
Jane Goh, ENZ's Marketing and Strategic Relations Manager, Malaysia, said that around 150 students, parents and teachers in Kuching met with representatives from higher learning institutions, high schools and polytechnics from New Zealand at the fair.
These included Riccarton High School, UC International College (UCIC), University of Canterbury, Lincoln University, The Ara Institute of Canterbury, University of Otago, The University of Auckland, University of Waikato, New Zealand Tertiary College (NZTC) and Academic Colleges Group (ACG).
During the fair, Dr David Warren from the University of Otago gave a lecture on the relevance of chemistry today to teach students how best to study and excel in the subject.
Dr David Warren delivers a lecture on 'Chemistry and its relevance in today's life' during the New Zealand Education Fair 2016 held at Kuching Hilton Hotel.
After the lecture, all participants were given a chemistry quiz contest. Rebecca Chen from Lodge International School won the main prize.
Rebecca Chen from Lodge International School – the top winner of Chemistry Lecture and Quiz.
Charles Finny's address to the India New Zealand Business Council
Charles Finny
India and New Zealand have been friends and trading partners for a long time, and thanks to our Commonwealth heritage, our democratic tradition, and our shared love of cricket, we have much to celebrate.
The Indian community here adds richness and vibrancy to New Zealand life, through great food, music, art and sport, diverse business ties, and annual festivals such as Diwali.
New Zealand's economic future is very much tied to our key trading partners. India is currently our 10th largest trade partner, and the Government's vision is for India to become a core trade, economic and political partner. The importance of the relationship is reflected in the visit in April of the President of the Republic of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee and, of course, our Prime Minister John Key will visit India later this month.
We have been negotiating a Free Trade Agreement bilaterally for several years and we are both part of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
One of the strongest parts of our relationship is in international education. Last year international education was probably the largest single item exported from New Zealand to India.
India is, and will continue to be, an important part of New Zealand's international education strategy.
Every day, tens of thousands of Indian international students, alongside other international students, are helping New Zealand to build our research capability and global linkages, to fill skill shortages and enrich New Zealand culture.
The India New Zealand Business Council is a valued partner in our international education strategy. A number of education providers and immigration and education consultants are Council members, and all members play an important role in ensuring Indian international students have a positive experience in New Zealand. You do this not only through recruiting and employing them in your businesses, but also in providing leadership in upholding high standards when it comes to their treatment and welfare.
Many members of our Indian community have come to live in New Zealand after studying here. If we can continue to work together on skill development (and I'll touch more on this later), then the transfer of knowledge, innovation and best practice will not only benefit the individuals involved but also our respective countries.
Countries that have innovative and skilled workforces prosper and it is the education system of a country that nurtures those skills.
The education experience that New Zealand offers is first rate. Our universities are world-class – all eight are rated in the top 3% globally, and we offer quality qualifications and hands-on vocational learning through our institutes of technology and private providers.
This quality has clearly been recognised by the Indian student audience, as we have experienced significant growth over the last three years – from 13,000 to 29,000 students between 2013 and 2015.
Such growth has demonstrated New Zealand's strength as a world-class education destination, but it has also created some challenges as we adjust to manage this demand. I will spend some time outlining how the Government is ensuring a sustainable education sector – particularly for our Indian students and stakeholders.
Our education system has strong government oversight, a commitment to continuous improvement and we place student success and wellbeing front and centre.
We do this through a comprehensive framework of support, and many of us have a role to play here. These include the main government agencies, Education New Zealand, Ministry of Education, New Zealand Qualifications Authority, Tertiary Education Commission and Immigration New Zealand.
Other key players include education providers and the agents they use, employers and businesses, community and ethnic groups and other support services.
This extends also to our bilateral relationship – we have regular catch ups with the High Commissioner of India to New Zealand, Mr Sanjiv Kohil.
All of us have a collective responsibility to ensure the experience of our international students is a positive one and results in positive outcomes for them and ultimately for our businesses and New Zealand society and economy.
We welcome international students who come here with genuine intent and means. But New Zealand, like any sovereign country, will take steps to protect our borders and deal decisively with fraudulent or unlawful behaviour when we see it.
Immigration New Zealand has invested heavily in intelligence gathering and verification support resources for immigration officers in India. As a result they have become more aware of risk and fraud in the market.
The visa decline rates from India are evidence of a significant effort by Immigration NZ to manage students and agents who submit false and misleading information in visa applications.
Immigration New Zealand is doing a lot of work to educate providers about student selection, and the need to manage their agent networks.
Immigration New Zealand and the Immigration Advisers Authority also ran a campaign in India earlier this year encouraging people to use a New Zealand licensed immigration adviser if they are seeking assistance to come to New Zealand.
I think it's important to acknowledge at this stage too that New Zealand is not alone in facing issues of student visa fraud and dishonest agent behaviour. The United States, Canada, Australia and other countries all face the same challenges.
New Zealand government agencies are committed to acting in a fair and reasonable manner when dealing with students affected by issues of provider quality, or when students' personal circumstances are, for a variety of reasons, less than straight-forward. Each student is dealt with on a case-by-case basis.
The New Zealand Qualifications Authority, for example, is working with a group of former IANZ Level 6 students who were required to undertake reassessment to confirm their preparedness for study at another provider, EDENZ. More than 210 students will need extra support and assistance to get them to a standard where they can continue their studies. This is being provided to students at no additional cost so that they can move on from this period of change and continue their studies.
And, throughout this process, advice, support and counselling is being made freely available to all of the affected students.
Some of the issues that international students are experiencing are an important reminder that the majority of our international students are young adults, not only crossing geographical divides, many for the first time, but more often than not, cultural divides, away from the familiarity and care of family and friends.
The New Zealand government agencies I mentioned earlier are working closely together on these issues, to ensure all international students are treated fairly and are well cared for – that they feel welcome, are safe and well, enjoy a high-quality education and are valued for their contribution to New Zealand.
This joint-agency work on international student wellbeing has focused in recent months on Auckland where the majority of international students are located. It has involved a wide range of community meetings and student focus groups to ensure student needs and concerns are being heard and addressed.
We must maintain high standards across our international education industry. Equally, we are determined not to let the actions of a small number of individuals damage the reputation of an entire community, nor devalue the contribution that students from India and elsewhere, and our education providers, make to New Zealand.
Most providers are doing a very good job for their students. Satisfaction rates among students surveyed by the International Student Barometer in 2014 and 2015 ranged from 88% to 94% as being satisfied or very satisfied with their overall experience at their New Zealand institution.
Government agencies are working with providers to address any issues with quality, including insisting they work with reliable education agents in India.
Agents play a key role at the beginning of a student's international education journey in ensuring that the students are informed and make the right choices, and know what to expect as a student in New Zealand.
The reality is, the seeds of what will be a positive or negative international student experience are often sown before the student has even left India.
Education agents are central to the Indian market, with more than 90% of Indian students using agents when applying to study in New Zealand. There are thousands of agents in India, and the Government is promoting the use of high-performing agents through:
Education providers having a responsibility for agent performance and advice under the revised Code of Pastoral Care, which I'll talk more about shortly
Education New Zealand and Immigration New Zealand providing more information on agent performance to education providers and students, including through the Immigration New Zealand website
Education New Zealand revising the ENZ Recognised Agencies programme, to ensure we better support and promote the use of high-quality agents in markets such as India.
I'm interested too in your thoughts as to what we can do together – at both a government and business level – to ensure that Indian students are working with genuine agents? Perhaps that's something we can discuss at the end of this address.
The onus is also on students to ensure they have the financial means to support themselves in their study, and to take responsibility for understanding the requirements to study in New Zealand, including the immigration requirements. When students apply for a visa, they must sign their application as a true and accurate record and have the documents to support their application.
The cross-agency wellbeing work I mentioned earlier complements the pastoral care Code of Practice which New Zealand was the first country to introduce and which was recently strengthened with effect from 1 July.
Only education providers who are approved signatories to the Code are allowed to enrol international students. To maintain this privilege, they are expected to meet high standards of service delivery, in accordance with the Code.
The strengthened Code now means that providers are directly accountable for the behaviour of their agents. Expectations include carrying out reference checks of agents, having a written contract with agents, actively monitoring agents and terminating contracts where there is evidence of misleading, deceptive or illegal behaviour, or where an agent is breaching the Code. The focus is on creating sustainable growth by prioritising higher value, higher quality students.
Tough sanctions are now available to deal with providers who fail to manage their agents, including the removal of the right to enrol international students. Enforcing the Code is the responsibility of NZQA who are working closely with Immigration New Zealand to ensure providers proactively comply with the Code.
At the same time, as I mentioned earlier, international students also have an obligation to come here with genuine intent – that their primary purpose is to study, and they have the means to do so.
Working in New Zealand while studying is a way to complement the classroom skills they learn and to really engage with New Zealand's everyday life. It is not intended as a lifeline to cover living costs.
Not having enough money to support themselves creates vulnerable students who are easy to exploit. This is the reason why Immigration New Zealand has a minimum level of fund requirement for international students to cover their time here.
And of course when students do get jobs, New Zealand employers have a legal and moral responsibility to uphold New Zealand employment law, to pay for hours worked and to honour the minimum wage. Everyone in New Zealand has the right to protection through minimum work rights.
I urge Council members to show leadership in modelling and upholding these rights in the Indian community, in your businesses and through your wider networks.
We continue to encourage individuals to come forward if they have specific examples of exploitation. This is the only way we can address these issues.
The support and input of the New Zealand communities of our international students is also vital to good outcomes.
INZBC has a crucial role to play in helping to bridge the gap that may exist through differing cultural contexts, where, for example, some international students aren't aware that their rights in New Zealand are protected.
I'd like to applaud the contribution of INZBC members who acknowledge the opportunities that a New Zealand education can offer Indian students in terms of skills and knowledge transfer.
To be truly successful we need to attract students who have the best potential for positive outcomes to New Zealand. These are the students coming to New Zealand to study high-value programmes that can put them on the path to further study, or to work in high-demand areas in New Zealand, India or across the world.
Our 'target South' India strategy focuses on attracting genuine students interested in pursuing high-level qualifications in our education market.
As part of this strategy we established a presence in Mumbai in early 2015 and have since focused our promotional activities in the south and west of India where students have higher levels of visa approval rates and student mobility.
This strategy involves promotion across a variety of channels, including digital, social and traditional media, promotional events and scholarship initiatives, academic exchanges, and education fairs.
Education fairs continue to be a strong recruitment channel for us in India, providing outreach to students and families so they can discuss the benefits of New Zealand as a study destination. These fairs are well supported by industry, with more than 30 New Zealand providers attending each of our fairs this year.
We will continue to adjust the locations and formats of fairs to anticipate local market conditions, and they remain an important part of ENZ's India promotional strategy.
We are trialling new initiatives in-market too. In August, ENZ partnered with New Zealand universities and Indian institutions to host a series of guest lectures by eminent New Zealand academics in cities in South India.
The lecture series was extremely successful in raising awareness of New Zealand's technical expertise in the areas of engineering, science and business, and building institutional partnerships between our countries.
We have also boosted the numbers of scholarships aimed at Indian graduates interested in pursuing post-graduate study here. The New Zealand Excellence Awards, announced mid-year, offer scholarships to 35 Indian scholars at all eight of our universities. There is also the Christchurch Educated Skills Scholarship for India which targets post-graduate students studying courses in skill shortage areas that are directly related to the Canterbury earthquake rebuild.
In closing, I'd like to repeat how much the social, cultural and economic contribution of Indian students to New Zealand is valued. I want to acknowledge again the Council's part in that, as well as its important role in demonstrating leadership to the Indian business community when it comes to recruiting, employing and supporting Indian international students.
While we all play a role in the welfare and outcomes of our international students, we also have a collective responsibility to share and promote the positive contribution that international education makes to our communities.
As a result of the policy changes that we have already introduced you will notice that the number of Indian students coming to New Zealand will have reduced to levels similar to that we achieved in 2013. As we solve some of the problems I have discussed today that number may slow further before starting to grow again.
Can I end by emphasising that over the longer term we look forward to welcoming as many high quality Indian students who want to come to New Zealand to study higher end qualifications who meet our entry criteria. We look forward to working in India and here with stakeholders such as the INZBC to ensure that we have a sustainable level of Indian students in New Zealand and that this vital part of the bilateral relationship is not put further at risk by the actions of a few.
The EAIE 2016 builds partnerships
The EAIE conference took place last month in Liverpool, with more than 5000 participants from over 80 countries in attendance. This included ENZ, which coordinated a branded New Zealand pavilion that showcased six universities and four Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics.
ENZ's Regional Director Americas and Europe, Lisa Futschek, says that partnerships such as NMIT's confirm how important EAIE is for New Zealand providers wanting to work with overseas institutions.
"Face-to-face relationship building is invaluable in this industry, allowing providers to discuss opportunities in a friendly but focussed environment," she said.
"Each year EAIE brings together not just European, but global key industry players. It therefore provides a perfect platform for New Zealand industry to establish new and develop existing international partnerships."
In light of its new partnership, NMIT will begin on-campus promotion of the exchange opportunity to Kiwi students in 2017.
The EAIE is not a student-facing event, similar to its North American counterpart, NAFSA (Association of International Educators) but an important business to business event on the annual international education calendar.
Left: Will Tregidga, International Development Manager from Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology (NMIT) with Silke Bochow from Cologne Business School.
On the eve of the EAIE conference, ENZ hosted a New Zealand networking function, A Taste of New Zealand in the heart of Liverpool, for New Zealand institutions along with their existing and potential European partners. The New Zealand High Commissioner in London, Sir Lockwood Smith, officially opened the event, delighting guests with his passionate promotion of New Zealand as an international education destination. He shared with the crowd his pride at having introduced the world-leading integrated Qualifications Framework as Education Minister in the late 1980s.
Sir Lockwood brought the evening to a fitting close by leading Ngati Ranana Kapa Haka group in a spontaneous and rousing rendition of "Now is the Hour".
Sir Lockwood Smith at A Taste of New Zealand in the heart of Liverpool
Education New Zealand has another successful year in Japan
The series began with a reception for the 30th anniversary of the Auckland-Fukuoka sister city relationship. Sir Bob Harvey from Auckland Council and Mr Soichiro Takashima, Mayor of Fukuoka City, were among the 120 guests who attended to celebrate the friendship and education exchange. The group also enjoyed a powerful haka performance by 20 students from Fukuoka's Seiryo High School, who visited Auckland Grammar School in August this year for the Game On English Rugby programme.
While in Fukuoka, ENZ held an education fair with exhibitions from 30 New Zealand providers and organisations. The fair had more than 300 visitors – many of whom queued to speak to New Zealand representatives about their study options. ENZ's Senior Market Development Manager – Japan, Misa Pitt, said the interest was not surprising, given the variety of New Zealand education programmes on show.
Education fair in Fukuoka
A second fair was also held in Tokyo, with a record number of over 600 visitors, followed by an education seminar with over 100 Japanese agents, schools and tertiary institutions."While our competitors' fairs tend to focus on one particular sector, we have an advantage by offering a wide range of innovative programmes from all sectors," said Misa Pitt.
The interest in the seminar reflects an increase in engagement from Japanese institutions in international education – as well as the Japanese government's internationalisation policy, intended to support their forthcoming sports hosting duties.
"With the 2019 Rugby World Cup and 2020 Olympics coming up, more Japanese students are interested in programmes that combine English and professional training in sports, tourism and hospitality," said Misa Pitt.
Misa also revealed that the debut involvement of the Schools International Education Business Association (SIEBA, the peak body for schools in the international education space) in Japan increased New Zealand's credibility in market, particularly in relation to pastoral care.
"With the new Code of Practice introduced in July this year, I believe SIEBA will play a key role in connecting New Zealand secondary schools with Japanese agents and institutions."
Japan's event series concluded with an alumni reception in Tokyo, with special guests including New Zealand Ambassador to Japan, Stephen Payton, and Michael Leitch, a Christchurch native who, after studying in Japan, now plays for the Japanese national rugby team. Michael gave a moving speech on the similarities between New Zealand and Japanese culture, as well as the importance of overseas education in building character for young people.
Education fair in Tokyo.
Work begins on plan to grow offshore delivery
Education New Zealand is developing an international delivery plan to provide a clear and comprehensive rationale for New Zealand's involvement in the international delivery of education and training. Its findings will be integrated with the International Education Strategy, currently underway.
ENZ Industry Development Manager Adele Bryant said the plan will be comprehensive.
"It will identify and prioritise opportunities, approaches and models that will be competitive and build the best long-term value proposition for New Zealand," Bryant said.
The Observatory on Borderless Higher Education (OBHE), in partnership with the International Graduate Insight Group (i-graduate) have been selected by ENZ to develop the plan.
OBHE is a higher education think tank with a unique remit focussed on 'borderless' education. Richard Garrett, Director of OBHE will lead a team of 8-9 based in the USA, UK, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand. Some of the team members will be well-known to the New Zealand education sector including Stephen Connelly, Director of GlobalEd Services in Australia and Kyla Steenhart, Director of i-Graduate in New Zealand.
The views of interested education providers will be sought over the next three months. The plan is due to be published in May 2017.
Korea and New Zealand sign historic agreement
On 23rd February, New Zealand hosted a Korea-New Zealand education Joint Working Group (JWG) in Wellington, where a delegation of Korean education officials met with officials from the Ministry of Education (MOE), the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) and ENZ to exchange policy updates and sign a Joint Recognition Statement – a landmark document regarding senior secondary school qualifications in both countries.
The statement follows the Comparison of Senior Secondary School Qualifications, a joint research report which concluded that the Korean High School Certificate and the New Zealand National Certificate of Educational Achievement Level 3 are broadly comparable.
New Zealand Secretary of Education Iona Holsted said the signing of the statement will support higher education institutions in both countries to make decisions about these qualifications, with the potential to open up study opportunities for young Kiwis and Koreans.
"The joint statement is a step towards our students being able to have previous qualifications more easily recognised abroad and will provide access to further study that has traditionally been difficult to access.
"While there is still more to do, I'm looking forward to seeing the shared benefits for both countries," Ms Holsted said.
NZQA Chief Executive Dr Karen Poutasi said the Recognition Statement and research report are a result of the two countries' collaborative work under the Education Cooperation Arrangement, signed in 2009.
"The statement is the first of its kind signed by Korea and is a sign of confidence in the quality of education in both countries," said Dr Poutasi.
"The joint research report has helped to promote a shared understanding of the Republic of Korea and New Zealand's education systems and curricula. We look forward to further dialogue between our two countries."
Poutasi now hopes to see more Korean students coming to study in New Zealand, and vice versa.
US students: Adventurers and Future Makers
When talking to American students, Lewis found that most held positive views of New Zealand, but lacked any specific details of what study in New Zealand involved. It got him thinking about the four international student personas and, for the most part, Lewis said US study abroad students fall into two categories – Adventurers and Future Makers.
The Adventurer persona
"Adventurers are students who see study abroad as an opportunity to experience new things and places, and to have fun while learning more about themselves," explained Lewis.
"Most of my time with these students was spent mapping out the closest mountains to their university of choice, or explaining how to road trip around the country."Adventurers are students who see study abroad as an opportunity to experience new things and places, and to have fun while learning more about themselves," explained Lewis.
"They're an easy sell for New Zealand but there were a number of other students who weren't as convinced."
Lewis believes this second group of students are in the Future Maker category. For them, career outcomes are top of mind, and education is seen as the road to get there. Lewis said these students were concerned that New Zealand's appeal to thrill-seekers meant that the academic components wouldn't be up to standard.
"For these students, study abroad is a serious opportunity. Beautiful pictures of Fiordland aren't enough – they need cold, hard facts of New Zealand's high quality education.
The Future Maker persona
"Because of the perception of New Zealand as a place for outdoor adventure, many students were surprised to hear that they could study subjects like mechanical engineering, IT or physiotherapy in New Zealand, and that all universities ranked in the top 3% in the world.
"They also had many enquiries about internship opportunities and programmes that combine study and work experience."
Lewis also saw that alumni play a powerful role in this market.
"At one fair, alumni from the University of Southern California were key in piquing the interest of their fellow students, sharing that their courses in New Zealand were cross-credited, and that the Tongariro crossing was just as beautiful as the pictures.
"That's the balance needed – students who are able to attest to both the academic rigour of courses in New Zealand and the adventure opportunities."


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8/2: Lester on the hill
by evan brunell | Aug 2, 2008 | Dana Eveland, Game Threads, Jon Lester, Oakland Athletics
Prev. Gm: Oakland Athletics (53-55) @ Boston Red Sox (62-48) Dana Eveland (7-7, 3.88) @ Jon Lester (9-3, 3.17) 7:05 PM EDT | Fenway Park (Boston, MA) TV: NESN RADIO: WRKO 680, SBN 1150 GAME NOTES: Mike Lowell got a boo-boo and even though he says he's fine (has...

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
First Lady of Classical Guitar coming to Cornwall
October 24, 2018 — Changed at 10 h 36 min on January 14, 2019
Reading time:	1 min
Nick Seebruch
CORNWALL, Ontario – Residents of Cornwall are invited to An Intimate Evening, with the First Lady of Guitar Liona Boyd.
Boyd is coming to Aultsville Theatre in Cornwall on Saturday, Nov. 3.
Boyd said she is excited to return to Cornwall, and recently passed through the area on a VIA Rail train on her way back from Storyfest in Hudson. She said that while in Hudson, she met several fans who were excited to see her show in Cornwall.
Boyd is being accompanied on this tour by her young protégé, Andrew Dolson.
Boyd said that her performance will include a mix of songs across a variety of albums.
"There is a lot of variety and I hope people bring their kids," she said. "If people can be exposed to good music and classical guitar, they might be inspired like I was."
Boyd said that this show will not be one to miss because it is likely to be her last show in Cornwall.
"I'm almost positive that it will be the last time I visit these smaller communities," she said.
Boyd explained that she hopes to start work on other projects, like writing children's books.
Tickets are available at the Civic Complex Box Office. Call 613-938-9400 for more information.
Family fun at OPG
CORNWALL, Ontario – The third annual Family Fun Day at OPG, geared towards entertaining attendees of all ages, impressed many locals on Saturday, July 13, including…
Splashing into summer at diving competition
CORNWALL, Ontario – Over 20 young locals showcased their skillful and freestyle dives at Reg Campbell Park on Saturday, July…
SLIDESHOW: Plenty to be proud of at Cornwall Pride Parade and Festival
CORNWALL, Ontario – Members of LGBTQ+ community and supporters took to the streets with flags and megaphones…


In December 2006, President Felipe Calderón announced that Mexico would begin a campaign to target drug traffickers. Since then, as the Mexican government deployed its army and federal police to cities and communities across Mexico, more than 10,000 people have been killed in drug related violence.
Overall, a large majority of Mexicans see illegal drugs as a very big problem, with a greater share saying so today compared to 2007. When asked which nation is most to blame for the drug-related violence, many say both Mexico and the United States are to blame.
The Mexican government has responded to the increase in violence with a stepped up law enforcement and military presence in many parts of Mexico. Overwhelmingly, Mexicans support deploying the army in the campaign against drug traffickers, and most think the army is making progress in this campaign. There is also strong support for using U.S. resources to assist the Mexican army and law enforcement personnel. However, the Mexican public strongly opposes the use of U.S. troops in Mexico in the campaign against drug traffickers.
Virtually all Mexicans say illegal drugs are a big problem in their country and even more see illegal drugs as a very big problem than did so in 2007. Currently, 73% say illegal drugs are a very big problem, compared with 65% two years ago.
Opinions about which nation is mostly responsible for the drug-related violence in Mexico are more mixed. About half (51%) say both the U.S. and Mexico are to blame. However, one-quarter identify the U.S. as mostly to blame for the drug violence, while 15% say Mexico is mostly to blame.
Overall, 83% of Mexicans say they support the use of the nation's army to fight drug traffickers, while only 12% oppose the use of the army. Moreover, about two-thirds (66%) say the army is making progress in the drug war, while 15% say it is losing ground and 14% say things are the same as they have been in the past.
When asked about the possibility of the U.S. helping Mexico in its campaign against drug traffickers, Mexicans support U.S. help in the form of training, money or weapons. Nearly eight-in-ten (78%) Mexicans say they support the use of U.S. resources to train Mexican police and military personnel, while 17% oppose this approach. Similarly, 63% support the U.S providing money and weapons to help in Mexico's campaign against drug traffickers, while 28% oppose such a move.
While there is strong support among the Mexican public for U.S. assistance in the form of training or the provision of weapons and money to the Mexican military, most do not want to see U.S. troops deployed to their country. Nearly six-in-ten (59%) oppose the use of the U.S. military in Mexico to fight drug traffickers, although a sizeable minority (30%) supports the use of U.S. troops in Mexico.


text:
class AddNewFieldsToProjects < ActiveRecord::Migration
  def change
    add_column :projects, :level, :string, index: true
    add_column :projects, :skills_description, :text
    add_column :projects, :books_media, :text
  end
end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Tech Learning Trends: Microlearning, DevOps, and Agile
A Skillsoft Signals Research report analyzed over 1 million data records, representing more than 25 million hours of learning interactions across a user base of nearly 12 million technology professionals to provide insight for leaders on what is happening in the technology market and how tech professionals are using continuous learning to cope with today's fast-changing environment.
"Today, nearly 60% of employers have job openings that stay vacant for three months or more. At the same time, the half-life of skills is quickly diminishing. To keep ahead of the rapid pace of technology, organizations must invest in upskilling, reskilling, and preskilling."
Three critical takeaways from the report:
Microlearning efficiently facilitates continual learning.
An employee's priority is always going to be on the task, function, or challenge that they have in front of them. Skillsoft data shows that microlearning helps, with users consuming more content in less time, allowing for a more efficient method to learn. Microlearning contributes to learners completing content at a higher rate but with fewer hours invested.
DevOps is at the heart of most organizations.
Most organizations are thinking about technology adaptation for current tech stacks, future tech infrastructure, and business models. The data makes this evident in the strong showing of CI/CD, DevOps, data, cloud, and security topics. DevOps topics represent 9% of Skillsoft's total number of hours served out and 13% of their total assets. The DevOps area also had the highest percentage of completions while representing the fifth largest area of content consumption. Security is also vital for most enterprises. Skillsoft delivered nearly 5 million hours of training to security pros around the world. Security is the second largest area after networking & operating systems at 6.3 million hours.
Agile organizations require diverse skill sets.
Usage patterns reveal users are educating themselves in topics that fit the modern-day narrative of transforming an organization from a classic, command-and-control structure – with quarterly product/services releases – to a lean/agile organization.
Source: Skillsoft


text:
St Mary's Church is an  Anglican church located in Cardigan, Ceredigion, Wales. In 1428, with the disappearance of Holy Trinity Church, St Mary's formally became the parish church of Cardigan, but it continued to serve as a priory church until the Reformation, being located close to Cardigan Priory. It is a Grade II* listed building.

History
St. Mary's was both the priory church of the medieval Benedictine Cardigan Priory and a parish church. It continues as a parish church, part of the united benefice of Bro Teifi.

While the church was a 12th-century foundation, the present building dates from the fourteenth century, although substantially rebuilt. Its blocked south door "is thought to have been associated with the former priory buildings." In the thirteenth century St Mary's Priory church was the site of the shrine of Our Lady of the Taper, which was demolished at the Dissolution of the Monasteries.

The porch was rebuilt in 1639. In 1705, the tower collapsed; it was rebuilt over the next 40 years and was finally completed in 1748.

The stained glass window in the east wall of the chancel was installed in 1924, and depicts the Crucifixion with the Virgin Mary and St John. Surviving fragments of fifteenth century glass are set in the upper tracery lights.

Notable burials

Dr David Rowlands, Inspector of H.M. Hospitals and Fleets, Royal Navy, died in 1846. He is commemorated by a memorial tablet inside the church.

References

External links
 Parish website

Grade II* listed churches in Ceredigion
19th-century Church in Wales church buildings

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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text:
Timetables are Hard to Find
Just today I vcame across an old story from the Department for Transport from 2014, when the Government announced – Plans for £38 billion investment in railways unveiled. This was 5 years ago, and clearly much has changed since, but just picking up on the heavy investment in rail infrastructure in, around, through and under London, I wondered how much of what was planned has been achieved.
These are just a few of the points made in that announcement:
the Northern Hub: transforming rail across the north of England with capacity for hundreds more trains and 44 million more passengers, with the potential to boosting the regional economy with thousands more jobs
the Thameslink programme: increasing to 24 trains per hour at peak times each way through the centre of London, freeing up capacity on the capital's transport network
Over 850 miles of railway electrification: including the Great Western Main Line, Midland Main Line and across the north and north west of England, bringing greener, more frequent and more reliable journeys for millions of passengers
A new, electrified railway linking the Great Western, West Coast and Midland main lines, connecting Oxford with Bedford and Milton Keynes as part of the East-West Rail project
Transformed stations at Birmingham New Street, Manchester Victoria, Bristol Temple Meads and London Bridge
The second point seemed to be the easiest to prove had taken place – so off I went, looking for the Thameslink timetables for 2018 (not even this year's), to see if progress had been made. It is suprisingly difficult to finmd details of the times of day that are a) defined as 'peak', and b) whether a journey from say Bedfor to St Pancras counts as one of those 24 per hour. That statement would suggest that there would be 24 trains arriving at St Pancras betwween 09:00 and 10:00, and another 24 leaving to head for Bedford.
To me, that sounds odd. However …
Looking at a PDF copy of the GTR timetable 9 December 2018 to 18 May 2019, here's what I found: just 11 trains arrived at London St Pancras International – and that seems to be 13 short of what was planned. In the opposite direction, between 09:00 and 10:00 only 10 departed from St Pancras heading for Luton and Bedford.
Now, I appreciate that this is only one route – so I assume that the missing 13 or 14 services per hour will be found on other Thameslink routes. From the Thameslink Programme site, they provide some interesting information about what is going to happen, and how progress is being made. The same is true of Network Rail and their Thameslink Programme web page – although it does state that this is a 10-year programme, and will cost £7 billion. Clearly some costs from the £38 billion mentioned by the Government in 2014 will come from Network Rail in CP5, and other costs from CP6 allocations. The National Audit Office (NAO) have been keeping us all updated on this programme, from a review (Progress in delivering the Thameslink programme) before the £38 billion announcement to an update (Update on the Thameslink Programme) back at the end of 2017.
So maybe if we look at the route from Bedford through London to Brighton we would find additional trains? Well, yes, we now have 14 services going through St Pancras – the extra 3 coming from where – well it appears they originate at St Albans.
Still a few short of the Department's statement of 24 trains in each direction.
Well, that went well.
Before anyone comments – yes I am being selective in my choice of data, but if someone tells me there will be 24 trains per hour in each direction at peak times, then I will look at the timetable peak times, and count trains. I did pick a major London station, at the heart of the Thameslink Programme too.
Thameslink can be considered a success, but the descriptions used by its proponents ought perhaps to be reconsidered. One classic statement made by Danny Alexander, at te time Chief Secretary to the Treasury is fascinating:
"This £38 billion programme starting this week will involve the largest modernisation of the railways since Victorian times, funding projects across the whole of the UK and building on the work that is already underway to give us the modern efficient transport infrastructure that we need to compete."
Yet another one of those "largest investments since Victorian times" – which patently is absurd.
However, unless you choose to use one of those online ticketing apps/services, or the "National Rail Enquiries" website, and do a lot of digging, finding a timetable can be difficult. On top of which GTR/Thameslink has produced timetables in a route by route format, so you will need to download, or move to a cloud platform that PDF copy for reference. I don't advocate printing a copy off, but maybe the train operating companies could come up with a version of their timetables for all of the routes they operate in one document.
Next stop – trying to find out where the £38 billion has been spent over the past 5 years – Network Rail's elements seem fairly easy to uncover, but how do we apportion the TOC's and ROSCO's spends.
PS: I've not added up the mileage of electrification yet – 850 seems a lot – I'm speculating that that was track miles and not route miles!
From Preston to Montreal
Ocean Mails at 100 mph


Pierre Jean Turpin ranked among the greatest floral illustrators of the Napoleonic Era. Yet he was relatively unknown and failed to achieve the celebrity of his equal Pierre Redouté. Not only was Turpin an outstanding illustrator, he was also a competent botanist with many significant scientific achievements to his credit.
The son of an impoverished artisan, young Pierre studied drawing and the 'Ecole de Beaux Arts in Vireo, France, but his artistic skills were largely self-taught. (2) In 1789 he left his native locale to join the army. His first duty station was in Haiti in 1794. There he met Alexandere Poiteau, from whom Pierre learned botany, and formed an important career connection.
Turpin and Poiteau collaborated on a study of Haitian flora, during which they collected a herbarium of well over one thousand plants. Turpin made field drawings of many of these to serve as the basis for describing around 800 species for further study in France. Upon return to their homeland, the two worked together refining the collection and preparing material for publication.
Turpin's research interests were varied, but they centered on the theory that there exists a "...great chain of being and in a continuity of forms and organs."(3:506). He sought a model to explain the constitution of plants, and was especially impressed by Goethe's work in this regard. Goethe held that in the leaf of a plant, we have the archetypal organ of the plant. Goethe turned to Pierre -- a kindred spirit -- to illustrate this theory in his Versuch die pjflantzen sur erklaeren, published in 1790.
In 1837 Turpin presented to the Académie des Sciences an illustration he made during one of his visits to Haiti. This depicted a plant type he thought revealed the "...unity of organic composition and the original identity of all the foliaceous and lateral appendicular organs of the plant." (3:506) The illustration appeared in C.F. Martin's edition of Oeuvres d'historie naturelle de Geothe, 1837.
Here was a man of gifted talents and achievements. Paradoxically he garnered relatively little notoriety or recognition for them.
Australian National Botanic Gardens - Biography, http.www.anb.gov.au/biography/turpin-fils.html, 2002.
Gillespie, Charles Coulston, Ed. Dictionary of Scientific Biography, Volume XIII. New York. Charles Scribner's Sons.
Sitwell, Sacheverell and Wilfrid Blunt. Great flower books 1700-1900: a biographical record of two centuries of finely lustrated books. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1990.
Stafleu and Richard S. Cowan. Taxonomic literature: a selective guide to botanical taxonomic literatature...2nd Edition. Utrecht: Bohn Schectema & Holkema, 1986.


text:
Q: adding ripple effect along with a line divider I have a recycler view, each item in it is represented as a linear layout. I am trying to add ripple effect to each item.
Linear Layout looks something like
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:id="@+id/list_item"
style="@style/ItemStyle"
android:paddingLeft="6dp"
android:descendantFocusability="blocksDescendants">

ItemStyle in the above layout is given as
<style name="ItemStyle">
    <item name="android:layout_width">match_parent</item>
    <item name="android:layout_height">wrap_content</item>
    <item name="android:background">@drawable/item_background</item>
    <item name="android:minHeight">@dimen/item_height</item>
    <item name="android:orientation">horizontal</item>
    <item name="android:paddingBottom">1dp</item>
    <item name="android:paddingRight">1dp</item>
</style>

@drawable/item_background is given as
<selector xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
    <item android:state_pressed="true" android:drawable="@color/primary" />
    <item android:state_activated="true" android:drawable="@color/blue" />
    <item android:drawable="@drawable/item_divider_background" />
</selector>

The problem is that if i change android:background from @drawable/item_background to ?attr/selectableItemBackground, i am able to get the ripple effect but the line divider, @drawable/item_divider_background mentioned inside the @drawable/item_background is not appearing. Can someone tell what is the workaround to add both the divider and the ripple effect.

A: One workaround can be to add the divider programmatically using item decorator-
public class MyDecorator extends RecyclerView.ItemDecoration  {
private Drawable mDivider;

public MyDecorator(Context context) {
    mDivider = ContextCompat.getDrawable(context, org.itm.xoinfo.R.drawable.simpleline);
}

@Override
public void onDrawOver(Canvas c, RecyclerView parent, RecyclerView.State state) {
    int left = parent.getPaddingLeft();
    int right = parent.getWidth() - parent.getPaddingRight();

    int childCount = parent.getChildCount();
    for (int i = 0; i < childCount; i++) {
        View child = parent.getChildAt(i);

        RecyclerView.LayoutParams params = (RecyclerView.LayoutParams) child.getLayoutParams();

        int top = child.getBottom() + params.bottomMargin;
        int bottom = top + mDivider.getIntrinsicHeight();

        mDivider.setBounds(left, top, right, bottom);
        mDivider.draw(c);
    }
}

}
and adding it  like this recyclerView.addItemDecoration(new MyDecorator(this));
and for ripple effect simply add  ?attr/selectableItemBackground to the recycler view's layout.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Canadian actress Brooke Nevin played in many TV shows and in 2017 should appear for example in the movie Christmas Cure. This beautiful blonde possess hourglass shaped figure with hot measurements. Nevin wears 34C and weighs 114 pounds. In the movie The Comebacks revealed her gorgeous bikini figure when she wore only two piece swimwear. Check out also measurements of Serinda Swan, Jessica Biel, and Jennifer Lawrence.
Brooke was born December 22, 1982 in Toronto, Canada. Her acting career started in the mid nineties and Nevin slowly rose to the top. Her filmography includes titles like Infestation, Stolen from Suburbia, and Snapdragons. But probably most famous was her role of Rachel Berenson in Animorphs, sci-fi series from late nineties. Nevin allegedly dated Michael Traynor in the past but her current relationship status is unknown.
This entry was posted in Actresses on September 12, 2017 by admin.


Over 100 years ago, my great-grandfather, Charles W. Shiffler, began what has become a four generation, family tradition of quality building and remodeling in the Naperville area.
From our beginnings building barns and repairing homes for our neighbors, in what was then a farm town, to constructing houses and developing subdivisions through the 70's, we have always maintained the highest level of craftsmanship and integrity in all we do.
Shiffler Builders proudly continues this fine tradition today as a home-town, full-service remodeling and renovation firm.
We are grateful for having had the opportunity to provide our services to the families and businesses of Naperville over the past century.
We look forward to meeting the remodeling and renovation needs of our clients, now and into the future.


Featuring Alice Cooper, Steve Vai, Paul Stanley and a slew of other guest musicians, The World As We Love It gives you variety at its finest. While listening to the latest release from Russian classic rock legends Pushking, you will hear a well-refined sound that will leave you wanting more. Led by singer/guitarist Konstantin "Koha" Shustarev and main songwriter Oleg Savilov, Pushking released the disc on Feb. 1. The album truly takes you on a global rock and roll journey through each of the 19 songs.
"Troubled Love," a track featuring Alice Cooper and Keri Kelli, guitarist in Cooper's band, explains a crazy relationship between a man and his psychotic wife, and contains great vocals, along with excellent guitars and a very catchy chorus. The guest singer/guitarist in "Nightrider" is none other than ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons, who also appears in a simply fantastic song "It'll Be OK." "Cut The Wire" is an interesting tune to say the least. The melody is fine, as Stevie Salas does an extraordinary job on guitars, but the vocals of former KISS singer Paul Stanley seem to be a bit off, with his high pitched voice in the otherwise low key song. Some other musicians featured throughout this album are former Deep Purple singer Glenn Hughes, former Rainbow singer Graham Bonnet, Nazareth singer Dan McCafferty and many others.
As the main purpose of The World As We Love It was to reach out to many different fanbases and deliver some solid classic rock and roll, it is safe to say that the goal has been achieved. Great guitars essentially make the album and the vocals are usually pretty good, even though some of the lyrics can get repetitive.


text:
Q: mule unit tests using maven surefire when i run the unit tests from eclipse as junit tests its passing, but when tried to run using surefire plugin it is failing
INFO  2016-06-14 20:56:57,781 [main] org.mule.lifecycle.AbstractLifecycleManager: Initialising RegistryBroker
INFO  2016-06-14 20:56:57,973 [main] org.mule.lifecycle.AbstractLifecycleManager: Disposing RegistryBroker
INFO  2016-06-14 20:56:58,225 [main] org.mule.lifecycle.AbstractLifecycleManager: Initialising RegistryBroker
INFO  2016-06-14 20:56:58,230 [main] org.mule.lifecycle.AbstractLifecycleManager: Disposing RegistryBroker
Tests run: 2, Failures: 0, Errors: 2, Skipped: 0, Time elapsed: 1.704 sec <<< FAILURE! - in com.company.munit.flows.devices.RetrieveDevicesMUnitTest
testGetDevicesWithOutQueryParamters(com.company.munit.flows.devices.RetrieveDevicesMUnitTest)  Time elapsed: 0.013 sec  <<< ERROR!
java.lang.RuntimeException: org.mule.api.config.ConfigurationException: null (java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException)
    at java.net.URLClassLoader.findClass(URLClassLoader.java:381)
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:424)
    at sun.misc.Launcher$AppClassLoader.loadClass(Launcher.java:331)
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:357)
    at org.mule.module.extension.internal.manager.DefaultExtensionManager.<init>(DefaultExtensionManager.java:53)
    at sun.reflect.NativeConstructorAccessorImpl.newInstance0(Native Method)
    at sun.reflect.NativeConstructorAccessorImpl.newInstance(NativeConstructorAccessorImpl.java:62)
    at sun.reflect.DelegatingConstructorAccessorImpl.newInstance(DelegatingConstructorAccessorImpl.java:45)
    at java.lang.reflect.Constructor.newInstance(Constructor.java:422)
    at org.mule.util.ClassUtils.instanciateClass(ClassUtils.java:473)
    at org.mule.util.ClassUtils.instanciateClass(ClassUtils.java:508)
    at org.mule.util.ClassUtils.instanciateClass(ClassUtils.java:480)
    at org.mule.config.builders.ExtensionsManagerConfigurationBuilder.doConfigure(ExtensionsManagerConfigurationBuilder.java:33)
    at org.mule.config.builders.AbstractConfigurationBuilder.configure(AbstractConfigurationBuilder.java:43)
    at org.mule.context.DefaultMuleContextFactory$1.configure(DefaultMuleContextFactory.java:89)
    at org.mule.context.DefaultMuleContextFactory.doCreateMuleContext(DefaultMuleContextFactory.java:222)
    at org.mule.context.DefaultMuleContextFactory.createMuleContext(DefaultMuleContextFactory.java:81)
    at org.mule.munit.runner.MuleContextManager.createMule(MuleContextManager.java:106)
    at org.mule.munit.runner.functional.FunctionalMunitSuite.<init>(FunctionalMunitSuite.java:50)
    at com.company.munit.DefaultMUnit.<init>(DefaultMUnit.java:12)
    at com.company.munit.flows.devices.RetrieveDevicesMUnitTest.<init>(RetrieveDevicesMUnitTest.java:20)

A: (this should probably just be a comment but I am 4 rep short from being allowed to comment)
When you run unit tests directly from Anypoint Studio (or any Eclipse based IDE) its builds the class path differently than when running those tests from Maven. Often Anypoint Studio will provide to the classpath things that you need even though your POM is not quite set up right. This is true more so recently with the release of APIKit which is not typically "provided" by the run time but often is provided by Anypoint Studio. This is exacerbated by the fact that some of the Mule dependencies erroneously depend on older versions of mule-core. Most notably APIKit and mule-munit-support. The problem is FURTHER enhanced by the recent EE only release of 3.7.4 in which we see that not ALL of the necessary components have gotten a 3.7.4 release even though many other components are depending on them.
If we could see more of your POM it would help us determine which dependency is the problem.

A: Make sure that your Maven POM declares this dependency:
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.mule.tests</groupId>
        <artifactId>mule-tests-functional</artifactId>
        <version>${mule.version}</version>
        <scope>test</scope>
    </dependency>

I'm using mule.version 3.7.0 and this dependency also brings in junit-4.11. My tests run fine in Anypoint Studio and using Maven via the IDE or terminal. Be sure that this dependency is in your POM. Please let us know.


Our final AUGSA meeting for the year will be an opportunity to get together and celebrate the year. We will also be showing one of the keynote sessions from the Adobe Max conference.
As this is the last meeting for the year we will also be drawing the Adobe Creative Cloud subscription.


It's been almost a month that we've had our new vehicle.. and I have yet to post some snapshots of it and its sweet features. So, while there are actually a ton of other interesting things going on with us, and StudioVB, right now - they are keeping us so busy that I haven't been able to sit down and blog about them. So, until then, I'll just finally introduce you to the new ride! Unfortunately we haven't settled on a name for her yet. I'm hoping a couple of hours into our next road trip, one of us will come up with the winning name and shout it aloud in an exciting 'by George, I've got it' kinda way! Anyway, here she is, in her new home.. parked on our block!
And, that's where she is most of the time. Both Logan and I are blessed to be able to work where we live, which among many other benefits, means we don't have to drive very much. And living in the city, we are able to walk to get lunch, go to the park, visit friends, etc., which we love! Oops, went on a tangent!
Anyway, this actually brings up an important issue that I want to chat about. So, Logan and I make many efforts in our daily lives to live pretty environmentally friendly, but you might be saying, why did you buy an SUV? I know, I know, it's like the anti-green thing to do. But, it's not as horrible as you might think, and after careful consideration, we felt it was the right thing for us.
We go several (sometimes more than several) weeks on one tank of gas - since we drive very little - so gas guzzling is not huge issue.
When we do drive, it's often to go on a trip or because we need to transport large items, so driving a vehicle with plenty of space is a must.
It is a small compact size with a small engine, especially compared to some of the huge SUVs.
It is pretty fuel-efficient at 21/28/24 mpg (city, highway, combined).
It has great storage features, both big and small!
And Honda has long been considered the 'greenest automaker'.
So, given all of this (and some other factors too), we decided to go for it! This baby will be in our family, well, hopefully long after we actually have babies, ha! And, I think it will serve us well.
Now, here are some more pics!
So, what do you think? Do you like?
Oh, and remember the 'more interesting stuff' I said we had going on - well, don't worry, I have lots of cool projects and "before and after" reveals headed your way. So check back soon!
Just a little note to say Happy St. Patrick's Day! You know, I never quite got into participating in the "wear a particular color on a particular holiday" idea. I just never seemed to be interested in matching everyone else on that one particular day. It's not that I don't have holiday spirit, 'cause I do! I mean, of course, I love to decorate for the holidays, but for me it doesn't translate into fashion. In fact, I would probably say I'd specifically rather not dress for the holiday. But, I guess that's just me – and don't get me wrong, I don't mind those of you who do. Clearly, it gives me something to talk about. : ) But nonetheless, perhaps St. Patrick's day is really not the best holiday to be discussing this topic.. I suppose Christmas or Halloween are better examples. However, as I was out and about today, I couldn't help but spot all of the people wearing bright green. I even saw a shamrock here or there! And to top it off, I even overheard someone say, "ohhh, I forgot to wear green today!" in a very distraught voice. I guess it's a big deal to some.
Well, anyway, my point in talking about this is that halfway through the day, after becoming so aware of the amount of people who dressed specifically for the holiday, I looked down only to realize that I too had worn some sort of green today – unintentionally! Now my green was a bit more of a blue-green and I had a grey sweater over top, but in that moment of realization that I had actually participated in this holiday tradition, I wondered how many people who saw me had assumed I dressed for the occasion. That's when I thought to myself, 'well, if for a moment when my eyes met someone else's who was also wearing green, we shared a sort of "hey, we're in the same happy holiday club" camaraderie, then I was okay with that!' And, I guess that's what it's about.
So, maybe I'll change my tune on this topic. Despite my original opposition to wearing a particular color on a particular holiday, while browsing esty.com this afternoon, I came across some lovely accessories that I'd be happy to sport as my little nod to the St. Patrick's Day holiday. Check 'em out!
And, I'll leave you with that!
Hope you all enjoy the beautiful weather (at least here in Midtown it is) on this St. Patty's holiday! Oh, and with the nice weather, I did get a chance to snap a few photos of our new ride - so, stay tuned, they'll be in the next post!
We took a little break from publishing blog posts while we were out of town visiting family in Boston for a few days. Anyway, now that we are back, we'd like to get back in the swing of keeping you up to date on the happenings around here with us, our home and our design studio. We have quite of bit of news to catch you up on, but we'll do so over the next few posts. Today, we wanted to share with you just one new thing (but it's a big thing) - our recent big purchase! While it isn't a new design find for our home, it was definitely a similar hunt and ultimately a design meets function decision.
It was actually very helpful for our recent trip to Boston. Can you guess what it is?
Well, after living in New York City without a vehicle, when we moved to our new little city, we needed wheels to get around and we needed them quick! So, as luck would have it, Logan's cousin was selling his car and, for a great price and instant mobility, we made a deal and bought a several year old 4-door Saturn.
Although this car may not have been our first choice, or even our style, it did the trick and served us well over the last year or so. But, it was definitely time to let that car go, and look into getting something newer and more 'us'.
So, car shopping we went. We had a checklist of what we were looking for which narrowed our search right off the bat. Here's a snippet of our wish list.
A compact SUV – to be able to haul our good finds home (or to clients homes), instead of always borrowing someone else's bigger vehicle or having things delivered.
With these standards – 4 door, automatic, 4WD, moon roof, etc.
With exceptional quality – drives well, holds value, great safety features, etc.
With these features – AUX input for rocking out to our iPod tunes, fold down seats to make plenty of room to haul stuff, a roof rack to haul even more stuff (for road trips, etc.), and lots of well-designed storage.
That is in some way environmentally friendly – low emissions, good gas mileage, etc.
In a neutral, yet stylish color – this is the vehicle we use for work, as well as personal, so it's got to be in keeping with StudioVB's brand.
So, after looking at several different makes and models, we ended up deciding on the Honda CR-V. It covered everything on our wish list, and we are big fans of Honda's (we had a sad goodbye to our stylish and trusty Honda Civic when we moved to NYC), so we are glad to have one back in the family!
Here's a pic of the new ride!
Yep, that's a pic from the manufacturer – I wanted to take snapshots of our actual car, but this weather put a damper on that idea. So, as soon as we get a sunny dry day, I'll take a few shots to show off our new beauty and the cool features she has! And yes, it's a she - but we're still deciding on her name. =) Any name ideas, feel free to shoot them our way. Then, we'll introduce you to her personally in an upcoming post!
So, I mentioned in a recent post that I had picked up a great fabric that I just happened to find (while not looking for it.. bonus!). But I hadn't told you much more than that. So, this post will fill you in! First, here are few pics of the lovely fabric!
While I would probably say my style is more modern than traditional, I would rather say I'm eclectic! To me, it doesn't necessarily matter the style of something, but more so if you like it and/or if it works within your space. And, that's where this fabric comes in. It's sort of a modern take on a traditional pattern – so it's very crisp and clean but has a bit of whimsy. Also, the color palette is quite current/modern and, while it has many colors, it reads very subtle, and that's just what I love about it.
Anyway, as soon as I saw the fabric hanging from the store rack, I envisioned it in our kitchen. Every color in this fabric feels like it belongs in our muted blue-green and light ivory kitchen. And although I wasn't sure how I was going to bring this fabric into the space at that moment, I knew I'd find a purpose. Fabrics can be used in endless ways to layer a room!
Here are a few pics of the fabric in the space. See how seamlessly it works with the kitchen color scheme and how it starts to pull the space together. Love it!
Anyway, after tossing around a few ideas for this fabric in this space (ie. upholstered cork board, upholstered window cornice, café-style window treatments, table runner, etc.), we decided that while we already have the white wooden blinds for privacy on the window above our kitchen sink, it definitely needed another layer!
Here's a few shots of the window with just the blinds!
Needs some interest right? So, we decided to go with the cornice idea! It's an easy DIY project, yet it will add a ton of sophistication and style!
Check back soon for our handy how-to and the final result!
You might recall seeing something similar from our previous post about our potluck just before the holidays. We used the same recipe (available at pillsbury.com) as our friends did, however, we just changed the shape of the rolls to look like a football. It was as delicious as I remember it and quite a crowd pleaser!
So, as you can see, this is an easy and fun way to mix things up, and can be created for any event by simply changing the shape. For example, with Valentine's Day coming up, you lovebirds who want to show your sweetie how you really feel, try making this in the shape of a heart!
Let's hear about some of the tasty foods you shared at your Super Bowl parties!
I may have mentioned this previously, but throughout the cold winter months, my creativity, productivity, etc. slows down considerably. The cold, wet, grey days, one after the other, just put a damper on my energy, motivation and (though, I hate to admit it) overall attitude. But, in a moment of positivity, I said to myself – that's no excuse! So, today, I decided to blog about one little thing in particular that sometimes brightens my mood, and often delights my eyes, during this otherwise seasonal downer. That thing is the soft fall of a light snow as it gently lay on, well, everything. It adds a certain beauty to things we see everyday, and turns things that are ordinarily 'nothing to write home about' into lovely vignettes.
So, I've included a few shots that I thought made the winter a bit more pleasant! Some of them are shots of the recent snow we've had around here, but I've also included some photos I've snapped over the last few years, as well as one I snagged browsing the web.
So, if you're like me, and feeling hum-drum with all this cold weather, take a break and enjoy the beauty found in it!
These next few pics are from our time in NYC - they are views from our 3rd floor terrace (a tiny luxury in our 400 sq. ft. home) during one of New York's big storms.
Well, hope you enjoyed them and hope you are staying warm.. hang in there 'til spring!
Hey! So, this is my first post. Valerie has been so diligent with posting (and having a great time doing it) that it has allowed for me to focus on a few other things while she types away. However, it's time I get involved! Right now, Valerie is knee deep in an new design project, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to get my feet wet in the world of blogging and say hello. We are really excited about this blog and sharing our thoughts, feelings, ideas, inspirations, projects, and so on.
However, through this mini-struggle, and more specifically, throughout our everyday lives, I've learned that it's not about the large seemingly profound things, but actually more about the little things.
So, something I'm going to be focusing on is remembering how important the little details are and how amazing it is to find beauty and inspiration in the smaller, or less world-changing and earth-shattering, things. Given this, I came across something small, (actually two small things) this week worthy of sharing in this blog post.
So, I'm curious. What inspires you? What tiny thing, object, etc. made you smile today?
Over the past month, we have decorated everything from the tree to table tops and even sugar cookies. Look below to see some of the creative and artful projects we've done here at our home.
But after all that fun and beautiful holiday décor, it's now the first week of January and the holiday season is pretty much over. Therefore, it's time to un-decorate. I thought I'd post a few tips for this often not-so-fun task that (for us) make the process simpler, practical and fun.
Break the un-decorating process into two stages – Instead of spending a whole day tearing down the entire house, after the holidays, first remove and put away only the holiday specific décor. Other winter related décor can remain up throughout the season and be enjoyed for another few weeks!
Donate old or unused décor items – Less is often more, and we are always up for cleaning out and simplifying. There is no need to store décor that you never use or don't intend to use next year. But, don't simply throw it away! Donate it or reinvent a new purpose for it – think art project!
Get organized – Perhaps when you unboxed all the decorations this year, you found that last year they had been tossed in boxes, tangled together and maybe even broken. Well, take the extra couple seconds this year to organize like items together, carefully wrap and box décor items and, of course, (if you know me at all) label, label, label. This will make both the decorating and un-decorating process a piece of cake for years to come.
Redesign your space – At Christmas, we often move aside furnishings and other décor to make room for the Christmas tree and all the other holiday décor! Well, when it's time to put it all back, don't just go back to the old layout, put your creativity hat on and change things up a bit. This will also give your home a fresh look for the New Year!
Bring in Spring – While the warmer weather is still many weeks away, get excited about the new season and lightening and brightening your space for spring! I don't know about you, but winter weather puts a damper on my productivity and creativity, among other things. So, here is my opportunity to fight back! Design shops everywhere are launching their spring goods – go out and get inspired… maybe even snag a great find!
Well, I promise I won't be posting anymore on the topic of Christmas, but we hope that our little look back over the holiday season, that we didn't get to share while we were busy finalizing the launch of this blog, has perhaps inspired some ideas and Christmas cheer for next year! Now it's back to work on a few client projects, and as always, more design and DIY fun here at our own home and studio!
Sending out Happy New Year wishes to all!
So, it's that time of year again, to reflect on the last year of your life, to look forward to the coming year and to make resolutions about how this year will be different – and better! Well, neither Logan or I have made specific New Year's resolutions. I think there is some part of me that knows if I claim a specific resolution, that will inevitably set me up for failure. Haha. But, that's the pessimist in me. So instead, we are simply aiming to take on this coming year with our always trusty motto in mind – be.love.create. We mentioned these three words in an earlier post, but today (New Year's Day) seemed like a great time to post more about it and hopefully inspire a more positive year for you too!
Each of these words provide (at least for us) inspiration, motivation and basically all the guidance needed to shape a happy healthy life. Each word is the start of an axiom that can end any way you choose; therefore, it can change with whatever is happening in your life at the time, yet always remain consistent. For example, the first word, be, might inspire you to "be yourself", "be happy", "be in the moment", "be confident", etc. Then, the second word, love, might direct you to "love one another", "love life", "love what you do", "love a challenge", etc. And finally, given our artsy crafty nature, we throw in the last word, create, which may not only inspire you to "create art" or "create beauty", but can always encourage you to "create goals", "create your dreams", "create relationships", "create memories", etc.
So, as you can see, these three words have a huge story to tell and as this year goes by, we'll be sure to post any be.love.create phrases that inspire us – both in our personal lives and, of course, with our design studio! Feel free to share any of your mottos with us as well – we'd love to hear 'em.
It's been several days since Christmas, but here on our blog, we're still catching you up on all the pre-holiday fun we had. Another staple of the holidays are the Christmas wishes sent to family and friends; whether it be an email, a mailed card, a family update letter, or what have you, many people dig out their address book (or iPhone in our case) and gather a list of all those they hope to wish season's greetings to. I must admit, I do love the idea of shooting someone a little note to say hello or simply that you're thinking of them, but sending Christmas cards can often be overwhelming, and for us, this year was no different! Logan and I were feeling crafty one night in December and he says to me, "Why don't we make our Christmas cards?" which, I should mention, is not unusual as we have done this several times before, and so, I happily agree. But, I'm not sure we knew what we were getting into this time.
As an artist, I had recently been interested in mosaics, having been inspired by my aunt who has been creating beautiful credit card mosaics for the past several years. Anyway, I had been saving all cardboard packaging from products we buy at the grocery store (cereal boxes, tissue boxes, etc.) in hopes of cutting them into tiny squares and reusing them as my medium to create recycled mosaic artwork. So, with the huge stack of these broken down boxes staring us in the face, Logan suggests this method for creating our Christmas cards. So, off we began and let the holiday spirit inspire us! Check out some of the results and our easy instructions below.
Gather supplies - card stock, scissors, craft glue and post-consumer cardboard packaging.
Cut and fold card stock to desired size and orientation to create the actual card.
Cut lots of small shapes (squares, triangles, etc.) from the cardboard packages - these are the mosaic pieces.
After you're happy with your design - glue the mosaic pieces down. We use scrapbooking tweezers, which help this go smoothly!
Write your message inside the card and sign, seal and send! That's it!
Now, as I write this, I must be clear – this DIY project is really super simple, inexpensive and a lot of fun, and for many great reasons (recycling materials, being crafty, and giving handmade gifts – just to name a few), I hugely encourage you to create your own greeting cards. But, on the other hand (the logical one), at the volume of nearly 50 cards, you can imagine the huge undertaking this became and the smidge of regret we had for taking on such a project. =) But on the bright side, Logan and I got to spend a good deal of quality "craft time" together and when all was said and done, they turned out very sweet and the best part is the lovely and very complimentary feedback we've received from our recipients; making it all well worth it! And before you say, "well, thanks for the idea, but Christmas is over." This handmade recycled mosaic card project works for any occasion… so get crafty!
Well, the day is finally here. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone! For most of us, there is always such a lead up to Christmas - with all the shopping, making travel plans, baking, and, of course, seasonal decorating of our homes, trees, etc. So, since our blog is less than a week old, and we didn't get the opportunity to post about our happenings in preparation for today, I thought (over the next few posts) we could give a snapshot of some of our fun seasonal décor, holiday inspired events and creative holiday projects we've done over the past month. To start the season off right, Logan and I hosted a holiday themed potluck for a few of our friends early in December. While we encouraged guests to adorn holiday wear and prepare holiday themed eats, the latter of the two was more successful. =) Below are a few snapshots of some of the great dishes we enjoyed that night.
Speaking of holiday meals, I'm always interested to know what other families enjoy around the holiday table. For many years, we have been spending Christmas dinner at Logan's mom's house; the meal is usually casual and traditional. Yet this year, we decided to mix things up and, while we'll share our meal around the same table, it will be slightly different than usual. Our family opted for a brunch style Christmas meal! Logan and I don't actually cook much of the meal (which is fine by me), but I hear the menu is going to include yummy goodies such as ham, eggs, breakfast potatoes, croissants, pumpkin bread, etc. Sounds pretty amazing to me! What meal do you and your family share at the holidays? Let us know.. comment below!


► Monday: Fighting the Far-Right Surge – Women's Rights Now!
Although far-right politicians persistently violate and attack women's rights, a new wave of feminism that takes an intersectional approach is growing internationally. The fight has been undertaken against female rights violations and conflicts of all types – from autonomy to reproductive rights, the wage gap, freedom of movement, classism and racism. Join The Coalition's panel talk as feminist activists from Ireland, Poland, Hungary and Germany discuss the struggles currently ongoing in their countries as well as the experience of women of colour in Europe.
What's a better way to spend the night than reading, watching film screenings and listening to sound performances that create a sense of hybridity of our world and worlds beyond? The philosopher and writer Donna Harawy fuses theoretical frameworks and fiction to create a new narrative that challenges the masculine gaze that has long dominated the fields of nature, science and technology. Not only that, but her works offer alternative means by which humans can interact with the earth and the environment to prevent ecological ruin.
It is not a new phenomenon that young people run away from home to seek out their own lifestyles and freedom or to escape conflicts with their parents. With all its promised big city anonymity, alternative lifestyles and art scenes, Berlin has been a popular destination for those teenage runaways. Unfortunately, not many find it as expected and end up living on the street, getting hooked on drugs and falling into criminal circles. This all seems like the stereotypical narrative. But how do youngsters end up on the street? What are their stories and how do they survive? This photography exhibition documents the counter-narrative of the teenage runaway. The photographers behind the exhibition sought out the stories of the street children and youngsters of Berlin and Bucharest and asked them to tell us about themselves.
► Thursday: Now is the Time for Monsters – What Comes after Nations?
The much anticipated three-day discussion is finally here! This project tackles issues of political organization and challenges the concept of a nation-state. Highlighting its failures, exclusions, and structural discrimination, the talk calls for political reform. Gramsci's question will be approached with the lens of various disciplines such as art, literature, theory, and science, in an examination of the current geo-political structures and a creative imagining of alternative systems.
Celebrate the Iranian New Year, Norouz and welcome the spring by listening to poetry and admiring the art of Persian poetry. Anahita: The Arts of Asia offers an Asiatic Oriental ambiance and setting to accompany the citations of poetry legends like Rumi and Hafez.
"How will we live?" was one of the pressing question that had to be dealt with in post WWII Berlin in rubble. This exhibition traces the development of the concept of German post-war modernism in architecture and urban spaces to today's issues of the gentrification of various neighbourhoods and districts. Moreover, it explores the German idealized notions of home, life, modernism and practicality. The audience is invited to reflect on post-war social and aesthetic modernism in examining a collection of architectural models, furniture, posters, urban plans, films and historical photographs.
Curated by BCB's very own student and artist Lavia Lin (BA 3), this two-day jazz festival features plenty of concerts by Berlin's international young musicians from locations all over the globe including Scotland, Tel Aviv, Russia, Iran and Germany. The festival kicks off today with the pianist Declan Forde and double bassist James Banner whose melodies reflect the vibrancy of Berlin's music scene as well as their own personal backgrounds.