After 25 years teaching economics in Seoul and Singapore, Dr Jacob Wood is back in Invercargill — and running SIT's distance learning operation.
Wood left in 1998 for the University of Otago, then kept going. A PhD in International Trade at Sogang University in Seoul led to academic roles at the Korea University of Technology and Education and Chungnam National University. In 2018 he moved to Singapore, joining James Cook University Singapore and eventually becoming Associate Professor of Economics, Associate Dean of Research and Director of the Centre for International Trade and Business in Asia.
He returned to Southland in October 2025 with his wife Haejin and their two children, taking up roles as Head of Faculty for SIT Online and Director of Research and Development for SIT.
"I always wanted to live abroad, but you never know it's going to be 25 years before you come back," Wood said.
SIT Online currently serves about 6,500 students across more than 70 qualifications. Wood's priorities are sharply practical: keep programmes relevant to employers, improve completion rates, and make online study less like staring at a wall of text.
"We need to be offering qualifications that are relevant to what the needs are of industry, and we need to be offering qualifications that will leave our students job ready."
On the learning experience itself: "When you're studying online, you don't want to see screens of text. You don't want to just click on PDFs; you want to see visual cues and be engaged."
Completion rates are a particular concern for online providers, where isolation is a genuine barrier. "These learners are often at home. They don't have others around them, so we must do as much as we can to support them on their learning journey."
Wood credits his time in Asia with shaping how he thinks about education. "Working in Korea, you get exposed to very advanced levels of education. The South Korean and Singaporean education markets are incredibly developed."
The team he now leads is, by his own description, anything but parochial. "I have staff from Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia, Chile, Pakistan and the Philippines. Just such a diverse team."
One project already underway is a Doctor of Business Administration. Wood is also working to formalise an international partnership — a memorandum of understanding with a South Korean university where he previously worked — and believes Southland has genuine appeal for Korean students. "Korean students would love this part of the world."
He came back to an Invercargill he barely recognises. "I've come back 25 years later and it's different. It's nowhere near like it was back then." But he knows what SIT means to the city. "With Zero Fees, I know how SIT has helped to transform Invercargill."
"I'm really optimistic about the future and I can see as an organisation we are on the right track," he said. "It's massively important, as an employer, as an educator, it does so much good for the community."