AUT-Unitec merger 'a possibility'

By DITA DE BONI

Talks between the heads of Auckland University of Technology (AUT) and Unitec have prompted speculation that the two tertiary institutions may be laying the groundwork to merge.

Both institutions deny that a merger is imminent but admit they have been exploring ways to work more closely together to provide joint courses and "collaborate better", in line with what the Government now wants from higher education providers.

AUT has roughly 25,000 students and Unitec has 18,000 part- and full-time students.

Asked about a merger yesterday, Unitec vice-president Andrew Codling said: "Your guess would be as good as mine."

AUT vice-chancellor Dr John Hinchcliff said a merger was a "logical and empirical possibility" but it would be very hard work, requiring the consent of numerous factions.

"I do believe there are too many universities in New Zealand, though, and there perhaps should be more mergers and the like, and less duplication."

Mr Codling confirmed that the two institutions had previously discussed setting up shop together in West Auckland.

They had first fought over, and then planned together, a $25 million campus on the site of the old Corbans Winery Estate on Great North Rd - plans which came unglued when a new Waitakere City Council scuppered them.

Unitec went on to establish a satellite campus in Ratanui St, Henderson, offering courses in business management, computing, nursing, and English language.

But the fact that Unitec is about to reactivate its application to become a university may also be behind merger talk.

The institution has long complained of being denied university status because of "politics" - mostly the strenuous objections of the eight university vice-chancellors and other lobby groups.

The Labour Government is also concerned about proliferating universities and introduced the Education (Limiting Number Of Universities) Amendment Bill - sometimes referred to as the "Unitec Bill" - in 2000 to address concerns raised about allowing Unitec and other institutions into the existing group of universities.

Under the Tertiary Education Reform Bill, the ability of polytechnics to offer university courses will be severely limited and Unitec could lose some of its Government funding for courses which are deemed to be duplicating those offered by local universities.

Mr Codling said that if Unitec continued to be denied university status, "in theory" it could attain that by merging with a university. "It could be any one of them."

But, he said, Unitec had "good, open dialogue with AUT" and was "open to possibilities".

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