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International School Planned for Wakatipu
Thursday, 4 December 2008
New Zealand United World College project director John Hillhorst says an undisclosed site in the Wakatipu basin (near the popular resort town of Queenstown) had been selected out of nearly 70 considered nationally for the school. The college would be one of 13 worldwide.
(via Otago Daily Times) The location will be announced once the negotiations are complete and the landowners' wishes met, Mr Hillhorst said.
The "beautiful, iconic" site had been selected because of its accessibility to areas for the school's outdoor recreation programme, its ability to be granted resource consent, its proximity to a supportive community and the "connectivity" to international speakers via the airport, he said.
The college would be part of a global network of 13 United World Colleges.
It would house and educate up to 250 scholarship students from around the world, employ 85 staff and have annual running costs of about $7 million, Mr Hillhorst said.
The colleges ran a demanding two-year academic programme where students were selected on personal merit.
The college would pitch itself as the Rhodes Scholarship college equivalent, Mr Hillhorst said.
The proposed college location was quite small, with access to the surrounding property, Mr Hillhorst said.
"We plan a programme that has a lot of interaction between the school and the local and regional community."
Funding would be sought from philanthropic sources, with an anticipated 20% from New Zealand, he said. "It's a major development and, we think, a major project for New Zealand."
Major sponsors backing the project included New Zealand Post, Contact Energy, Air New Zealand and ASB.
They regarded their contributions as an investment in developing future worldwide links with New Zealand, he said.
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