Tertiary education institute Ucol disestablishes 43 roles as standalone future confirmed

Ucol has finalised its restructure plan after being confirmed as a standalone institution post-Te Pukenga. Photo / NZME

One role at the Universal College of Learning’s Whanganui campus will be disestablished as part of a restructure that the organisation describes as getting “future-ready”.

In April, the Universal College of Learning (Ucol) proposed to cut 34.59 full-time equivalent roles to prove itself financially viable.

On Wednesday, it announced its final decision for “getting Ucol future-ready”.

Ucol said 43 roles (26 academic and 17 general) would “potentially be made redundant”, depending on the outcomes of selection and recruitment processes.

Of the 43 disestablished roles, there is one in Whanganui, 29 in Manawatū, one in Horowhenua, one in Wairarapa and 11 non-campus aligned.

Some affected staff could be employed in alternative roles or one of 18 new roles.

“Our kaimahi were highly engaged in getting Ucol future-ready, with over 250 pieces of thoughtful, considered feedback received during the consultation,” operations lead Jasmine Groves said.

“The thought and care put into those submissions also meant there were many changes between the proposals and the decisions.

“Moving forward, kaimahi can now be assured that Ucol has no further structural changes required and, collectively, we can start working on a future Ucol that is able to reinvest in itself and its people.”

Groves said the numbers could change through the selection and recruitment process. The specific roles being disestablished would not be announced until that process had finished.

Ucol said the cuts were a result of the need to prove financial viability as a standalone institution after the dismantling of Te Pūkenga.

“Ucol had a deficit of $7.2m that needed addressing, and this difficult piece of mahi was critical in positioning Ucol to be able to stand alone post-Te Pūkenga,” Groves said.

“We have now seen the successful outcome of that in [Vocational Education Minister Penny Simmonds’] announcement this week, in that Ucol will be able to stand alone with its own board and CE from January 1, 2026, allowing us to return to being a community polytechnic, responding to our learners’ and industry needs through local decision-making, for our communities.”

Groves said restructuring would probably have been necessary even if Te Pūkenga had remained, to get the network “under one unified structure”.

The announcement comes as Whanganui Mayor Andrew Tripe pushes for Whanganui to have its own tertiary institution, saying Ucol is “too Palmerston North-centric”.

However, Groves said Ucol intended to continue improving and investing in its Whanganui campus.

“Ucol is looking forward to being able to reinvest in our people, programmes and property.

“Once we have finished our transition period, we look forward to building upon our existing community and industry relationships to ensure we continue to deliver the programmes that are needed by our communities.”

Olivia Reid is a multimedia journalist based in Whanganui.