‘Stay of execution’ for Polytech campus

In the space of a few years, the plan for Toi Ohomai’s Taupō Campus has gone from expansion to possible closure.

The Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology campus on Te Heu Heu Street has been given a stay of execution and will not be sold – in the meantime.

By Chris Marshall

In October last year Toi Ohomai transition director Bart Vosse indicated the restructure of Te Pukenga into 10 standalone polytechnics would likely see the Te Heuheu St campus sold to cut costs.

But newly appointed chief executive Dr Pim Borren said on Wednesday (January 21) that the new board had asked him to put all asset sales on hold.

“And for us to be having conversations with our local communities around what their needs might be and to try and facilitate a way in which we might be able to reopen those spaces that Te Pukenga had planned on closing.”

As a standalone entity, Toi Ohomai now got to make its own decisions, Borren said.

“And the board won't make those decisions until we're in the position where I can give them good advice.”

The current automotive, construction, joinery, Māori language and governance, courses that had been going for some years, would continue in the meantime, he said.

Borren, the former chief executive of Waiariki Institute of Technology from 2006 to 2011 who was appointed to his new role on January 1, said he was heartbroken that student numbers had fallen so much that the institute was considering closing buildings and reducing provision of courses in Taupō and Tokoroa.

But he was hopeful Toi Ohomai could be restructured to “be more supportive of the employers and communities that we used to serve.”

“Having full independence gives us that opportunity again to have those conversations with the local communities.”

Consultation would be with employers, business leaders, the district council, schools and students, he said, and was planned for the next few months.
Keeping the campus open was a two-way street however, he said, with locals needing to support their local education provider.
“I can't emphasise enough… this is a stay of execution, but I don't know how long that'll be for... We need to be integrated and an integral part of the community. Now, the relationship with the community is really key; if the community supports us, then we can offer more courses, but if we don't get the students coming to our classes, then obviously it becomes really challenging for us to keep the campus going.”

Borren said employer buy-in could involve offering employees some time off for study, or more commonly to pay course fees.
“It's like any other form of professional development… often if you want (employees) to stick around actually and progress on their job it's good to offer some opportunities for learning.”

For part time students fees might only be several hundred dollars.

“There are barriers to studying and we want to understand those. One of them is time commitment, but one often is financial as well, and so employers can come to the party and support their staff, by getting them to come and study at Toi Ohomai.”
Institutes were funded per domestic student with a subsidy from central government, he said.

“Normally two thirds of the cost that we pay for training that student. So, even though students think the fee is expensive, it's heavily subsidised... So, for every one third of the fee that maybe the employer is paying on behalf of their employee to study with us part time, the government's tipping in another two thirds.”
He felt training in key industries like forestry, farming, tourism were needed to support potential future employees with skills those sectors needed.
“All of those… are critical to not only the economy of Taupō, but the economy of the whole of the Bay of Plenty and South Waikato.

“And that means that we do need to be talking to your local employers and saying what are the courses you need? what are the vocational skills?

“Because right now we're in a recession, and I understand there's lots of unemployed people, but these economic cycles come and go, and it won't be very long from now and suddenly employers will be struggling to find qualified staff.

“Ultimately, there's nothing better than to have them trained locally because they're already in the region and it's easier for employers to get the skills they need for their workforce…
“We desperately need to make sure that we've got a really healthy, well-functioning and well-run polytechnic to support those skills that the local economy needs.”