There is a growing sense of anxiety and deflation among many staff at Eastern Institute of Technology as no assurance has been given about jobs and courses for next year, a union representative and lecturer
'It is messy': Lecturer says anxiety growing among EIT staff over merger plans
He also says about 70 per cent of qualifications "will continue in their current form".
He will be visiting the EIT Hawke's Bay campus on August 31 to answer questions from staff including how EIT will function next year.
Tertiary Education Union national women's vice-president Jael Reiri, who is also a lecturer and Kaitiaki Māori in EIT's nursing school, said there was a lot of uncertainty around what will happen next year.
She said staff across the country, including at EIT, were yet to be given assurance around which jobs and courses would be retained in 2023.
She said that should have been confirmed by now.
"There has been a lot of talk during the past three or four years, but that is all there has been - talk, talk, talk.
"Now it is messy. No one knows what is going to happen," she said.
"People are anxious about this merger because they are worried about what will happen to their courses."
She said that was impacting staff across the board, not just lecturers.
"For example, let's look at people in payroll.
"There is a payroll in each [tertiary provider] - what is happening with their jobs?
"They really need to know."
Reiri said it was taking a toll on her colleagues and other union members, and many questions had gone unanswered during a nationwide meeting of staff held online this month.
"I don't know how they expect us to carry on and be the great educators we need to be for our students.
"It is deflating. It is not mana-enhancing at all."
She said she was initially excited about the merger when it was announced back in 2019.
"During the initial stages of the merger we were all quite optimistic.
"I know I was because I enjoyed looking at it and seeing that Te Tiriti o Waitangi was going to play an important role in the designing of policies."
She said that optimism had now faded.
Reiri said EIT had done a lot of good work to build a good reputation across Hawke's Bay and Gisborne, and the impact of the merger on its reputation was concerning.
EIT chief executive Chris Collins said "we are certainly conscious that this is a time of uncertainty for many staff".
"Te Pūkenga will be engaging here with staff at EIT on its new operating model from Monday August 15 to Friday September 2," he said.
"This engagement will provide staff with an important opportunity to gain a better understanding about the future, which involves EIT dissolving as a separate legal entity and becoming fully part of the national entity Te Pūkenga."
Winder said an announcement around "leadership structure" and "business groups" would be made on Monday.
He said Te Pūkenga was working through a process to unify the 1357 separate qualifications delivered across its network.
"Over 300 programmes are expected to be replaced with 47 new unified programmes which will be delivered for the first time in 2023," he said.
"Around 70 per cent of qualifications will continue in their current form for 2023 while the unification process continues."
He said he did "acknowledge the impact this uncertainty is having on our people across the network".
"I know that staff have questions, and am hoping to address many of them when I visit all major delivery sites ... and meet with staff."