Rate My Professor Sela Pole-Fehoko

Sela Pole-Fehoko serves as the Pacific Engagement Adviser at the University of Otago Library, a position she has held since April 2023. She is the first Pacific staff member to take on this role, which involves building bridges between the library, Pacific students, and academics to improve accessibility and engagement with library collections, services, and spaces across the Dunedin campus. Pole-Fehoko coordinates the Koloa mei Moana project, translating to 'Treasures from the Pacific,' which enables graduating Pacific PhD students to donate a selected book to the University Library, accompanied by a personalized plaque recognizing their achievement during graduation ceremonies. This initiative responds to feedback from the Library’s strategic framework, honors the often groundbreaking academic legacies of these students as firsts in their families, and contributes toward establishing a dedicated Pacific collection akin to the existing Māori collection, fostering cultural identity and belonging within the university community. Her work demonstrates the Library's commitment to tangible actions supporting Pacific excellence.

Pole-Fehoko's academic background includes a Bachelor of Social Sciences with Honours from the University of Waikato, a Postgraduate Diploma in Arts from Massey University, and a Master of Philosophy with Honours from Auckland University of Technology, completed between 2012 and 2014. Her MPhil thesis investigated the graduate experiences of Tongans and the quarter-life crisis, reflecting her longstanding interest in supporting young Pacific people navigating post-university transitions. Currently, she is pursuing a Doctor of Business Administration at the University of Otago, supervised by Ismail Shaheer, with a research focus on an exploratory study of Pacific university students' experiences and attitudes toward generative artificial intelligence programmes. Prior to her current role, Pole-Fehoko worked as a Future Student Adviser for Pacific students at the University of Waikato from June 2015 to May 2017 and as a Pacific Careers Development and Employability Consultant at the University of Auckland. Her diverse professional experience also encompasses roles in banking, lay advocacy in the youth court, social work, research projects, and recruitment within New Zealand universities. Based at the Information Services Building in Dunedin, she collaborates with colleagues such as Letava Thompson, the Library Engagement Assistant for Pacific matters, to enhance support for Māori and Pacific tauira.