Time out in Tairāwhiti

Chris Collins. Pictures supplied

Eastern Institute of Technology's (EIT's) long-serving chief executive Chris Collins leaves the institute today, after 18 years at the helm.

Before taking on any new challenges he will take a break from work, and spend more time in Gisborne.

Mr Collins started at EIT Hawke's Bay in 2004. At that time there was a separate Tairāwhiti Polytechnic — the merger of the two organisations happened after Tairāwhiti Polytechnic approached the Hawke's Bay institution in 2011, and EIT put a business case proposal in to the Minister of Education.

“Tairāwhiti Polytechnic had got into a situation where it was unable to resource itself in a sustainable way. So, education in Tairāwhiti was going to be severely compromised and the Crown was expressing concerns. There's no question that the merger was regarded as one of the few examples of successful mergers in the education sector.

“We certainly invested quite a bit into the campus in upgrades in the first three or four years, including an upgraded trades training facility.

“We redid the clinic space for the nursing facility and did some work in Ruatoria around the regional learning centre there. Then we brought in a number of degree programmes from Hawke's Bay, which were then taught in Tairāwhiti.”

That resulted in increased higher learning programmes in the region.

“One area that has been a huge success is the trades academy, which is partnered with local secondary schools — where they send students in one or two days a week to do programmes that they couldn't do at their own schools. In fact, in the first or second year of operation that was nominated as a finalist in the Prime Minister's Education excellence awards. It's a great story. We have students getting on a bus from as far as Ruatoria and even Hicks Bay. There's quite a bit of commitment from the students because it gives them an opportunity to engage in practical applied learning that they aren't able to do in school.

“One of the aims of that was to allow students to stay engaged in their school. Most of the evidence suggests that the longer we keep students engaged, the better they will do in the long term. “That had the benefits of making sure schools retained students and students got practical learning.”

The merger ensured both institutions became much stronger. “One of the things I think Tairāwhiti was better at than Hawke's Bay was the remote rural distance distribution delivery, because of the geography up through the East Coast. So one of the things I did was make the Tairāwhiti campus director responsible for all the regional learning centres and outreach activities across both Tairāwhiti and Hawke's Bay.

“One of the things I feel very proud of is the way EIT has developed quite a significant network of distributed delivery right across the region, from Hicks Bay right down to Pōrangahau and up into places like Tuai. “I think it's fair to say that's pretty much unmatched in the rest of the country.”

The number of Māori learners being engaged in both regions was also significant, he said.

About 72 percent of learners in Tairāwhiti identified as Māori, among the highest proportion in New Zealand.

“The rate of success for Māori learners has also been quite successful.

“We still need to keep doing better, there is no question about that, but at most qualification levels there is little difference between Māori and non-Māori achievement. There are still some areas of challenge, such as around Level 3 qualifications. There is a gap there.”

Mr Collins said he had also enjoyed his engagement with the Tairāwhiti regional leaders groups here.

“I liked it so much here I ended up buying a small cottage, so now I'm a ratepayer here too.”

He spends a lot of time at Wainui with his wife Naomi and four grown-up children.

“My sense of Gisborne was there was good work going on among the regional leadership. By that I mean leadership from iwi, council, the economic development plan action group, which I was involved in. So, I thought there was quite cohesive discussion and common vision coming across those groups.

“I thought it was less fragmented than in other places and I think Tairāwhiti has led the way in achieving that.

“The experiences I have had in Tairāwhiti and the way Tairāwhiti has become a part of my journey has been really rich. I'm deeply appreciative of that and I'll be trying to find ways to be more engaged with the Tairāwhiti region, and spending more time up there as well.”

Before coming into the technological institute sector, Mr Collins spent nearly 20 years in the university sector.

“My background started in sport management — I developed programmes at Massey University, where I was head of sport for some 17 years.”

He will be enjoying a pause before taking on his next challenge.

“And no doubt I'll certainly look for opportunities to put back into education.”

As the son of a solder, Mr Collins describes himself as being “from all over”.

“Army camps were often where I lived, moving around the country. So, this is the longest I have ever stayed in one place in my life.”

With his upbringing and experience at EIT, he said there were educational benefits from what the media described as “boot camps” but there was no silver bullet when it came to youth crime solutions for people with complex issues going on in their lives.

“We do run the services pathways course here, which has been hugely successful for people who might be interested in the services, from the police through to the military. On those courses we have certainly seen students get a goal or something they want to aim at and push themselves hard to get it, but they are all choosing to do it — that's one of the differences.

“As a toolbox of options, there is no question that giving people a challenge and helping them achieve those challenges, and helping to build their self-confidence and self-worth, certainly has some merit — but it is not going to work for everyone.”

Mr Collins retains a love of sport and physical activity. He is a keen skier in winter but also enjoys free diving, cycling, yachting and surfing. “I'll have a lot more time to do those things now.”