Rate My Professor Michelle Taiaroa-McDonald

Michelle Taiaroa-McDonald is the Tumuaki (Manager) of Te Huka Mātauraka, the Māori Centre at the University of Otago, having assumed the role in March 2021 following a formal pōwhiri welcome. Affiliated with Kāi Tahu iwi and of Kāti Mamoe and Waitaha descent, she is a descendant of the late Ngāi Tahu leader Kuao Langsbury, whose advocacy contributed to the Centre's establishment in 1989 to support Māori students. A product of the 1980s Māori Clerical Cadetship programme, Taiaroa-McDonald possesses 36 years of experience in the criminal justice sector. This includes 18 years at Dunedin Prison, 17 years as manager of A3Kaitiaki—a subsidiary of Te Rūnanga o Ōtākou specializing in support services for Māori within the criminal justice system—and four years as manager of Te Rūnanga o Ōtākou. She previously managed Ōtākou Marae, drawing on her lifelong connection to the marae as a born-and-bred resident of the Ōtākou kaika.

In her leadership position, Taiaroa-McDonald emphasizes manaakitanga, fostering a sense of whānau and home away from home for Māori tauira amid record enrolments exceeding 2,400 students. The Centre delivers comprehensive services such as academic coordination and tutoring, the Kā Rikarika o Tāne mentoring programme for male students, registered counselling, chaplaincy, pastoral care, and community liaison support through a dedicated team of kaitakawaenga, kaiwhakahaere tari, and other specialists. Her approach maintains the foundational kaupapa established by predecessors like Pearl Matahiki, who served for 18 years, while extending tautoko from a mana whenua perspective to ease the transition for students from distant regions. Additionally, Taiaroa-McDonald contributes to external committees, including the Māori Advisory Rōpū and Otago Local Advisory Committee for Fire and Emergency New Zealand, enhancing her impact on Māori community outcomes.