COVID-19 FAQ's

Yes. Please immediately notify SAE Auckland Campus Director Dr Suzette Major on s.major@sae.edu or (027)669-3119.

Yes. If a student, visitor or staff member with COVID-19 has been on campus whilst infectious, the SAE student and teaching community will be informed as a priority. This will typically be done through the Contract Tracing system with the Ministry of Health.

As per our SAE Auckland Vaccination Policy, our SAE studios remain open and students are able to book equipment to use on or off-site if they are fully vaccinated or exempt from vaccination. Non-vaccinated students or visitors are unable to visit campus unless by prior arrangement.

Yes. Online classes are a feature of SAE Auckland’s teaching and some online classes will exist across all Traffic Light settings.

All classes, whether online or on campus, will typically occur at exactly the same time as usual. If there are any changes to your timetable, you will be notified in advance. Check your timetable published in Axis, or chat with your Course Coordinator if you are unsure.

The IT survey we undertook last year has shown almost all students have a computer and/or internet access. However we appreciate that some students may need to borrow an SAE Auckland computer in order to access online classes, or need financial help to access their online classes. If this is required, please contact Student Support to discuss options.

Online classes will occur primarily over Zoom. The zoom link will be put on your course Slack page. You do not need to install the app on your computer or phone, however you are welcome to. If you are click on the link in the Slack page, you’ll be automatically directed to the online class where your teacher will be waiting.

Yes. Attendance is expected and recorded, just as we would in face to face classes.

If you are too unwell to attend your online class, please let us know by emailing the absence email. We appreciate that access to medical facilities is challenging right now, so obtaining a medical certificate may be difficult. If you have any concerns regarding your health and ability to attend, please contact us immediately.

Yes. Whether on campus or online, Student Support is always available during usual working hours. You can also reach them online via their zoom room. Information regarding their zoom room link is available in the Student Support Slack channel.

Yes. We are still operating a Student Assistance Programme, where you can meet with a counsellor. Those meetings can occur over zoom/skype, email, phone, text or face to face. This is a free and confidential service for SAE students. If this would be helpful, please reach out to Student Support who can line up a session for you with a professional counsellor.

Yes. You can reach out to Brad at any time during normal working hours for IT support relating to your SAE studies. Brad can be contacted on Slack or email b.thompson@sae.edu

The team has done a superb job of developing material for your online classes, however we recognise that the flow of information and activities is different in a flexible online delivery. Naturally, practical production work will be framed differently than usual, and particularly collaborative work. Your Course Coordinator will explain our online learning community approach and ways in which we will meet learning outcomes. Any production work that cannot be meaningfully delivered or assessed will be delayed until we return to the physical campus in due course.

We are still teaching to the same learning outcomes and in this way the content is not changing. We might just do things in a slightly different order within projects so that any hands-on production work is push out to occur once we are back on campus. Your assessment will largely look the same. You will still upload assignment material to Moodle.

Whenever extensive lockdowns occur, our global SAE community aims to negotiate access to software that might be helpful. You’ll be informed of any such deals through your Slack channels. If you do not have the software needed to undertake some work, chat with your Course Coordinator to talk through options.

These courses continue in exactly the same way that they did while on campus. As a reminder, the teaching hours associated with CC500, CC600 and CC700 are embedded into your other projects so that the professional skills are developed in situ rather than as purely theoretical constructs.

The Level 6 and Level 7 students who are undertaking work placements will still need to complete their required hours (40 hours per year, 80 hours in total) by the end of the year. However, we recognise that these hours can be difficult to undertake during lockdown, so if needed we may offer some of these hours on site, through an SAE organised event. If you have any particular concerns, please reach out to our Industry Advisor Dave Johnston on d.johnston@sae.edu

Collaborating is essential to the creative industries, so a key skill we teach at SAE. Collaborating with others can easily occur both on campus as well as within the online space – indeed developing online collaborative skills is particularly valuable in the current age. So wherever possible, we will still be engaging in cross-discipline collaboration. Your Course Coordinator will advise you about how this will work for particular courses.

Slack. If you haven’t already, please sign in and regularly check Slack. 

This situation is unprecedented and evolving. SAE will continue to follow the advice of health authorities and medical experts and share information as it is received. We are posting updates regularly via email, Slack, Facebook and this website. We recommend you check your SAE student email on a daily basis for relevant updates. Rest assured you will be notified via your student email or text should an urgent or important message need to be communicated to you.

SAE Auckland, as well as the government agencies including TEC, NZQA and Studylink, all advise that you should remain enrolled and engaged with your studies. If you are having any difficulties with your studies, you should chat with us first before even considering withdrawing or deferring your studies. Before making any decisions, it’s worth checking our Fee Refund policy and chatting with Studylink as there may be implications for Fees Free, Studylink support or accessing future courses. We are more than happy to talk to you about your individual circumstances and provide advice. 

If you are still meeting the requirements of the course, that is attending the classes and submitting your assignments, then yes. For more information about Studylink, click here.

We understand this is a particularly challenging time for international students. We are working with students individually to explore options to support your studies to ensure you can successfully complete your qualification Please don’t hesitate to reach out to our International Student Support person – Alex Harter on a.harter@sae.edu at any time. 

SAE Auckland recognises that students may face technology access issues and/or general hardship due to COVID-19. Wherever possible, we will assist students so they can keep studying at SAE. This includes providing funds for data in order to help students access online classes.

If you are facing financial difficulties as a result of COVID-19 and in particular require assistance to access online learning from home, please contact Student Support to discuss your circumstances.

Whether we are on campus, or working online, our staff are available and more than willing to help. You can reach out to any staff via Slack, email or phone during normal working hours. If you have any particularly concerns, please feel free to speak with our Campus Director, Dr Suzette Major on slack: @s.major or email: s.major@sae.edu.

From 24 January 2022, SAE Auckland is operating under the RED traffic light setting. 

SAE Auckland Safety Protocols Under RED Traffic Light

Yes. As per our SAE Auckland Vaccination Policy, ll staff, students and visitors to SAE will be required to be fully vaccinated to attend our campus unless otherwise exempted with an official Ministry of Health medical exemption. This applies to all 3 traffic light settings: RED, ORANGE and GREEN.

It is recognised however that exceptions may need to be granted for returning students given this policy is taking effect after they commenced their qualification. If a returning student is not fully vaccinated, they will meet with the Campus Director and Academic Manager to discuss options including learning from home or enforcing additional risk mitigation strategies where possible.

Yes. Please submit a copy of your My Vaccine Pass through our Student Vaccination Register