Polytech head fears reputation at risk
In an interview with the Otago Daily Times , the polytechnic's executive director, Megan Potiki, was withering in her criticism of the government.
Topics she covered included Vocational Education Minister Penny Simmonds' failure to respond requests for meetings and her belief Otago Polytechnic had been singled out for the worst treatment of any institution in the government's shake-up of the sector.
Her interview comes as the polytechnic undergoes two separate but simultaneous restructures — one affecting management; the other general staff — and grapples with the fact it has been placed into a federation with the Open Polytechnic and Universal College of Learning rather than being independent.
"It feels like we have had completely different treatment to everyone else, it's been utterly unfair.
"What was [Ms Simmonds'] understanding to get to this point where she decided that others were going to stand up that were clearly similar to us or worse, in some cases?
"We have had no conversation with her about us going into a federation, it was a complete surprise."
Dr Potiki likened the situation to "building a ship while we're actually sailing" because the minister had not met her to explain how the federation model would actually work.
Otago Polytechnic had one of the highest degree completion rates in the country, and placing it in a federation with Open Polytechnic could drag down its reputation, she said.
"Not to be disrespectful to the Open Polytech, but they've got very low completion of degrees.
"There's a risk of being dragged down to the lowest common denominator. If our stake in the ground is that we have exceptional learning and great learning outcomes for our akonga and our community, why would we want to put that at risk?"
Dr Potiki said Otago Polytechnic's management and staff "bled blue and gold" — and she had been impressed by the community response to its troubles.
"We've re-engaged stakeholders and we had a really successful stakeholder meeting the other night with about nearly 80 people and we've got community people who have reached out who care and we're wanting to engage them as well."
Dr Potiki said among the institutions to have received better treatment was Invercargill-based Southern Institute of Technology, which was allowed to stand alone.
"SIT leadership reached out because, actually, I have a really good relationship with them through Te Pūkenga ... so those are relationships I don't want to burn.
"We want to have continued strong relationships in the South Island with all polytechnics. But the minister has muddied the waters."
Dr Potiki acknowledged staff would be getting mixed messages in recent times about their future.
"We're receiving mixed messages from government.
"We just want more clarity and a path for us.
"What we're asking staff to consider now is, unfortunately, they've been through this before, and nothing happens quickly."
The nature of the funding model of polytechnics meant "reviews" of staff could happen annually.
"It's good practice. I think that's part of something that staff need to understand.
"But actually, we want to look at our vision, our values, our future and get to that point. We haven't had the chance to really do that. So there's a lot of good work to come."
Ms Simmonds said supporting Otago Polytechnic to achieve a surplus was critical.
"With the support of a soon to be appointed Establishment Advisory Group (EAG), I am sure Otago Polytechnic will continue to progress along their financial viability pathway. At that stage, they would not require the support of the Federation if they did not wish to use it."
She had met Dr Potiki on several occasions and "was committed to continuing open and constructive engagement".
"The federation approach avoids the drawbacks of the centralised, one-size-fits-all model of Te Pūkenga and instead supports regional polytechnics to thrive, while offering the option to access system-wide efficiencies through the Federation."
matthew.littlewood@odt.co.nz
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