Job losses not ruled out of merger

Bay of Plenty Polytechnic and Waiariki Institute of Technology (pictured) are set to merge.

Redundancies have not been ruled out of a proposed merger between the Bay of Plenty's largest tertiary education providers.

Public consultation on the planned merger between Bay of Plenty Polytechnic and Waiariki Institute of Technology was formally opened yesterday by Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce.

Steven Joyce

The plan is to disestablish the existing organisations and form an entirely new institution serving the wider Bay of Plenty region.

The new facility would have a new name, identity and organisational culture, Mr Joyce said.

However, Bay of Plenty Polytechnic council chairman Ian Turner said it was still too early to determine where a head office, if there was one, would likely be based.

Mr Turner was also unable to rule out job losses.

Ian Turner

"The information is well noted that there will possibly be some reductions of the senior level but we've got consultation ... we can't just say we are going to make you redundant," Mr Turner said.

"They've got jobs to do. There's still delivery of programmes to 10,000 or so students. I can't guarantee that there won't be redundancies but that is not the intention," Mr Turner said. "Making redundancies is not a reason for this proposal.

"It's that we retain those two strong, successful and vibrant institutions. We use the combined resources of them to expand the delivery of education across the region.

"It's a positive thing, not a defensive thing."

Mr Turner said there were plans to establish "centres of excellence" as part of the merger.

These centres would reflect the core strengths already established at each facility, such as marine studies at the polytechnic or forestry at Waiariki.

Waiariki Council acting chairman Dr Neil Barns said many of the issues raised during consultation to date need to be addressed during the implementation of the proposed merger, should it be approved.

"To serve the community's needs, we welcome input and involvement of iwi, community, industry and local government representatives. We will be talking with a number of community leaders over the next few weeks," Dr Barns said.

- additional reporting Matthew Martin, Rotorua Daily Post