Topical FAQs

We know that you're busy people and that sometimes you won't manage to catch our All staff hui sessions live. 

We'll add a recording with the date of each hui below so you can watch them at a time that suits you. 

15 July - All staff hui 

This session covered our initial reaction after Otago Polytechnic discovered it had been made both standalone from 1 January 2026 and part of a federated model. 

Access recording here >

7 Aug - All staff hui 

This session covered an update on our campaign to stand alone (rather than be part of the Federation). It also covered our financials, how we're tracking with domestic and international applications and enrolments, and our focus for the rest of the year. We also acknowledged Brayden Murray's resignation. 

Access recording here > 

21 July - All staff hui 

This session covered an update on the Federation / standalone situation, what our External Advisory Group will be responsible for and the fact that we're expecting our Regional ITP Viability (RIV) to be released by Te Pūkenga soon. We also gave an overview of what our Application Journey Project is focusing on, and acknowledged those staff working on calling our applicants. 

Access recording here >

4 Sept - All staff hui 

This session covered an update on our meeting with the Minister during which she gave us more clarity around the federated model. We also discussed the recently released RIV report, our new TKM structure, our change of waiata for Graduation, and the work that will be needed around our transition to being a stand alone organisation.  

Access recording here >

We’ve started a body of work to reset Capable NZ.

Q: Why did the review happen? 

Our Capable NZ enrolments have been declining with a 51.6% decrease over the last four years. So, it’s time for us to find a more sustainable way for Capable NZ to operate.

Currently, our Capable NZ team don’t sit within a structure consistent with that of other OP colleges/schools. This has led to a lack of consistency around strategy, operations, processes and support functions.

Q: What will happen to the structure? 

• We will move the Capable NZ department and all Capable NZ programmes under Te Maru Pumanawa (TMP) I College of Creative Practice and Enterprise.
• TMP is led by Emma Hogg and Capable NZ will come under her portfolio. 

Q: What will happen to the operations? 

• We will continue to offer all Capable NZ programmes.
• We will retain, strengthen and grow the Capable NZ brand.
• Administrative support for all Capable NZ programmes will come from within TMP.

Q: What will happen to Capable NZ kaimahi?

• Unfortunately, our current enrolments don’t support the FTE we have in the Capable NZ team.
• To ensure we are operating sustainably, we need to downsize by 19.73 FTE (this includes a currently vacant Head of College position, a vacant College Operations Lead position, vacant Co-Head of Programme positions and a vacant Facilitator position).
• An Expression of Interest process has opened for any Capable NZ staff interested in voluntary redundancy.
• We will then move to a selection process, if necessary, once the voluntary redundancy process is complete.
• A process has also commenced to recruit to the newly established Head of Programme position.

Q: How are the Capable team being supported? 

Senior leadership met with the Capable NZ team in-person to explain the changes and the implementation process. We will ensure that kaimahi are offered continual support during this process. 

Q: Is there not another way of making this work? 

We would not be pursuing this course of action unless it was absolutely necessary. We’re in a situation where we need to ensure the financial sustainability of our organisation to be able to stand alone and that means we have to right-size FTE against EFTs.  

Q: I'm finding this change quite difficult, where can I get support?

We know this action impacts a lot of people and that change is not easy.

If you need support, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your Formal Leader, your People and Culture Business Partner, our Health and Wellbeing partner, Hayley Laughton, or tap into the Telus Health Employer Assistance programme. 

Q: Who else has been told about this? 

• We sent an email to each currently enrolled Capable NZ learner to reassure them that they will be able to continue and complete their programme. We also let them know that the Capable NZ brand will be retained and that all Capable NZ programmes will continue to be delivered. We let them know that if they wanted to talk to someone about the change, our Student Success team were there to support them.
• We advised relevant external partners and stakeholders of the change so they didn't read about it in the media. 
• And we advised local media of the change so that they got the facts directly from us and didn't misinterpret the outcome or purpose of the review.

As we focus on achieving Government-mandated savings, we have had to make the difficult decision to stop the Charity House initiative.

The Charity House auction on 15 November 2025 will mark the end of this chapter.  

What does this mean?  

• The Charity House is an initiative that was set up by Otago Polytechnic nearly two decades ago.  
• Every year, our trades ākonga build three houses and one of these is sold at an auction in November to the general public (after being “dressed” with interior materials by local companies).  
• Any profit that is made on this house is then gifted to the Catalytic Foundation who distribute the money to local charities throughout Otago.  
• The other two houses are sold “at cost” to community organisations (for example, the Moeraki marae).  
• The opportunity for our trades ākonga to gain hands-on experience building these houses will not stop.  
• They will still build three houses every year onsite at the Dunedin Campus.  
• These houses will be sold at cost to the community, and we will continue to actively reach out to community organisations that we can support through this mahi.  
• We will still be able to work alongside most of the suppliers we worked with on the Charity House - they will continue to supply materials for our three onsite houses.  

Why is this initiative ending?  

• The rising costs of materials are making this initiative financially unsustainable – any other ITP offering similar initiatives stopped doing this a while ago.  
• Post Covid-19, suppliers have been unable to offer the same level of discounts on building materials.  
  Houses are also harder to sell due to the instability of the economy and the housing market.  
• More compliance is needed which is inserting further cost. 
• Unfortunately, this all adds up to mean we are no longer making any surplus profit to donate.  

We will continue to review this situation and may be able to restart this initiative down the track given the right economic conditions.  

We’re sending communications to our stakeholders and ākonga to ensure they understand that the hands-on, collaborative, experiential learning element of our trades programmes will still continue. 

I also just want to take a moment to acknowledge and celebrate the last 18 years of mahi in this space and the $1.7 million we have raised for local Otago charities.  

That’s a huge contribution and something we should all feel immensely proud of.  

Particular thanks to the Carpentry team who have led this project with passion for our ākonga and community.  

As part of our mahi towards ensuring a financially viable future for the Polytechnic, we are going to stop programme delivery at Mosgiel Community Learning Centre.

Q: Why?

We have been offering the Introduction to Computing programme and various computing short courses to the community for many years but have seen a downward trend in ākonga numbers since 2021. This initiative has fallen below an acceptable level of contributing margin due to the lack of uptake.

Unfortunately, due to a staff absence following an injury, we also haven’t been running this programme or the short courses since 2024.

Q: What has happened? 

We have stopped delivery of the Introduction to Computing programme and short courses, effective immediately.

We have exited the Memorandum of Understanding and have removed all OP equipment and branding.

The library is now using the space for other community activities.

We have decided to move the Kōwhai Centre and English Language Centre out of their current locations on St David Street and Forth Street. 

Q: Why is this happening?

There are a few primary reasons for this:  

1. The current Kōwhai Centre site only has four available spaces which will not enable this programme to grow. Increasing the number of rooms will allow us to increase the cohort size for the Bachelor of Social Services.  
2. As part of our drive for good business practice and continual reflection on how we’re operating, we have been reviewing our space utilisation. Due to this, we’ve found that there is plenty of available space around the campus.  
3. The English Language property on Forth Street is an ageing asset that would require more capital to keep up to an acceptable standard and we are able to fit kaimahi on our main campus.  

We will therefore be moving the Kōwhai Centre into H Block, and we are working to finalise the location for English Language. This will enable us to lower our current operating costs and to sell the St David Street and Forth Street properties.  

Q: What are the details?  

The Kōwhai Centre will be moving to the sixth floor of H Block. This is a natural fit given that Social Services staff already work in this block and the existing rooms will require minimal change to convert them into counselling rooms.  

When the counselling rooms are not in use, they will be able to be used as breakout spaces for H Block staff. We’ll also be converting H612 into a new Adobe suite and developing a new counter space.

English Language are moving to G Block.  

Q: When will this happen?

We will be working with staff to confirm these desk moves during April. The desk moves will then take place during July, and the H Block rooms will be prepared as counselling rooms during August – October.  

In November, we will exit the Kōwhai Centre, and the new Kōwhai Centre will be operational from January 2026.  

We will sell the two properties in late 2025 – 2026. 

What is the outcome of this consultation?

We will be discontinuing our OSTC Certificate in Cookery (Level 3), based in Cromwell. This is effective from the end of teaching in October 2025. 

Two positions will be disestablished as part of this (up to 0.61FTE). 

Why is this happening?  

We expect to sell the Cromwell town campus in the near future, and will be unable to use the Cookery teaching facilities after 2025. We are considering leasing out the commercial kitchen while a sale is finalised, and we’ve been unable to identify suitable alternative premises for delivering this programme in the future.

How are the OSTC team being supported? 

We have met with affected kaimahi to explain the changes and next steps. We will ensure that kaimahi are offered continual support during this process. 

The TEC have posted information on their website about our new External Advisory Group (EAG) members.

Our members are:

• John Gallaher (Chair)
• Rowena Davenport 
• Scott Mason.

The EAG are a temporary group, employed by TEC, to make establishment decisions to enable us to be stood up successfully from 1 January 2026. 

They will be responsible for things like determining the size of our future Council, selecting a Chief Executive, and ensuring all practical requirements for Day One are in place (for example, opening an Otago Polytechnic bank account).   

Mike Collins, CEO of Business South, is our Community Advisor. He will play a liaison role between the Otago community and Otago Polytechnic and is contracted by Te Pūkenga. He will work alongside us and the EAG as they progress their work programme.    

You can find out more about the intended role of EAGs here. 

There’s been a huge amount of mahi done so far this year as we drive towards financial viability and being stand alone. We’ve created a Roadmap to Viability document which shows our key workstreams and activities and what you can expect for the rest of the year.

This hopefully also shows how interconnected our mahi is as we all drive towards building applications and enrolments and providing the best possible student experience we can.  

See Roadmap to Viability >

We know there’s a lot of information to keep on top of with constant changes happening.  

Just a reminder of the places you can go to find information:  

• Tūhono (the centralised staff intranet)  

TIP: You can sign up for weekly Tūhono headlines to be delivered directly to your inbox (head to your profile in Tūhono and update your settings) 

• Haumi ē (the regular newsletter for staff)  
• TKM emails (sent from specific members of TKM about particular topics)  
• All staff hui (online at regular intervals)  
• Topical FAQs page (A-Z topics with the most up to date info)   
• Kōrero with TKM (an online space to ask questions) 
• Invite TKM to my meeting (a quick and easy way to invite a member of TKM to your meeting) 

Remember, you can also reach out to your Formal Leader at any time to ask questions or touch base with a member of our Leadership Council, Kaunihera Whakahaere.  

Our consultation for the Outdoor Adventure programme has now closed. 

Thank you to all staff who fed back as part of this review. We really appreciated your thoughts and professionalism throughout the process. 

We can confirm that this programme will be discontinued, effective from the end of teaching in December 2025. 

We have met with affected staff and will continue to offer support throughout this process. We also want to acknowledge these staff and thank them for their dedication to our students. 

The consultation for these programmes has now closed. 

Thank you to all staff who fed back as part of this review. We really appreciated your thoughts and professionalism throughout the process. 

We can confirm that: 

• Plumbing will be discontinued, effective immediately. 
• Painting and Decorating will be discontinued, effective immediately. 

We have met with affected staff and will continue to offer support throughout this process. We also want to acknowledge these staff and thank them for their dedication to our students. 

Q: Why did you do a review?

The Professorial Appointments policy was introduced in July 2005 to recognise and appoint senior academic staff.  

The first full professor was appointed in late 2005.

The Professoriate has expanded significantly since then, peaking at 28 members in 2023. 

Te Kahui Manukura (TKM) decided to carry out an external and independent review to gain some actionable insights into how we can further strengthen research outputs and reputation.

We now have a real opportunity to more strongly utilise the skills and knowledge of the Professoriate across the organisation in a structured way that contributes to our financial viability and reputation for academic excellence.

TKM will be working closely with the Professoriate on this mahi.

Q: Who was on the panel?  

To ensure an independent review, the panel consists of three external experts:  

• Emeritus Professor Lachy Paterson (University of Otago) (Chair)    
• Jamie Smiler (Head of Research, Te Pūkenga)  
• Dr Kate Timms-Dean (General Manager, Aukaha)  

Q: What was the process?

An external, independent panel was appointed to conduct this review.  

The Professoriate met with members from TKM and were invited to make written and/or verbal submissions. 

Key stakeholders were also asked to supply information to the panel.  

The panel then created a final report for TKM which have given a series of recommendations about the future focus for the Professoriate. As well as an analysis of the current outputs of the Professoriate, the report also identified opportunities for development and growth.  

Q: What were the outcomes of the report?

Commendations  

The Review Panel passed along a series of commendations for the Professoriate. They wanted to celebrate:

• their resilience during a long period of ongoing structural change 
• their continued support of Otago Polytechnic through their participation in academic committees, and  
• their willingness to support Otago Polytechnic to develop its Te Tiriti practice and its Māori Strategic Framework.  

Recommendations  

The Professoriate has now become a Community of Practice.  

A Community of Practice (CoP) is a group of individuals who share a common interest or passion and come together to learn, collaborate, and improve their skills in a particular domain to fulfil both individual and group goals.   

The Professoriate will be working closely with TKM and the Heads of College to create their Terms of Reference and to implement initiatives. 

The other recommendations will be implemented using a phased approach. Thinking around this approach is outlined below.  

Phase 1 – Plan  

• Share the report  
• Propose the Community of Practice  
• Clarify roles and responsibilities 

Phase 2 – Build  

• Stand up the Community of Practice (dependent on consultation outcome) 
• Research budgeting and planning processes  

Phase 3 – Optimise 

• Investigate expectations around research outputs  
• Funding model optimisation  
• Refine promotion process and career pathways  

Phase 4 – Grow 

• Promote capability and expertise  
• Enact our commitments as a Te Tiriti Partner  
• Increase external funding  
• Expand cross-institutional collaboration  

Q: Any questions?

If you have any questions, please reach out to shaun.tahau@op.ac.nz 

Our Regional ITP Viability Report has now been released by Te Pūkenga.

This report was required by the Government in 2024 as they wanted to see a detailed overview of how each ITP could improve its financial viability. Our report was prepared by Deloitte.  

In line with legislation, some information in our report has been redacted for sensitivity and commercial reasons.

If you are reading the report, please pay attention to the cover sheet. This will provide some highly useful context around the creation of the report and the data/assumptions used to draft it. 

It’s important to remember that this report was developed at a point in time. For that reason, adjustments may have been made along the way as our situation has shifted. Our broad financials may also have shifted.  

As these reports are being released by Te Pūkenga, they are handling any media attention these reports may receive and we do expect that we will receive some media coverage.  

Read report here > 

Many of our right sizing consultations have now closed. Thank you to all staff who fed back as part of these reviews. We really appreciated your professionalism and suggestions throughout the process.

We can confirm the following FTE reductions:  

• 0.4FTE from Research and Postgraduate  
• 2.3FTE from administration across OSTC, CDP, ECL, DSA and Culinary Arts  
• 8.1FTE from Art and Design  
• 6.3FTE from Carpentry, Engineering Technology and ICTA  
• 0.4FTE from Massage Therapy  
• 1FTE from the Service Desk.   

We have met with affected staff and will continue to offer support as we move through this process. This is a very challenging time so please reach out if you need support or tap into our Employee Assistance programme. 

Please note that outcomes for the Open Education Resource Centre and Sport Administration/Placement Coordination are still pending the consultation process. 

Q: What did the Government say will happen to Otago Polytechnic?

In July, the Government announced that Otago Polytechnic will be standalone again from 1 January 2026.

At the same time, Otago Polytechnic has been placed in a federation model with UCOL and Open Polytechnic (as the federation anchor).

We have been trying to gain clarity around what the federated model would mean for us. 

Q: What’s the latest with the federation model situation? 

On Tuesday 2 September, we released a joint media statement with the Hon Penny Simmonds, Minister of Vocational Education. 

This media statement: 

• clarifies that the role of the federation is to provide support to those polytechnics who need it 
• confirms that, whilst Otago Polytechnic will still be in the federated model initially, the use of shared services is at our discretion and we will have the ability to move out of the federation, if we achieve our financial recovery, which we are on track to do 
• showcases the Minister's support for Otago Polytechnic to succeed 
• reinforces that it is essential that we focus on financial viability and achieving our budget targets. 

You can read the joint media statement here >

Q: There’s so much change happening, why do we have to do all this now? Couldn’t we delay it?

The Government has mandated that we have to make $10M in annual savings. We must achieve this in 2025, or we won’t be financially viable in 2026. If we’re not financially viable, it’s highly likely we’ll be in the Federation.  
 
We do not want to be in the Federation as we risk losing the autonomy of decision-making and the independence of our academic board/programme development. We strongly believe this will undermine our learner success rates, the quality of our teaching and our opportunity to innovate. We also feel it will dilute the “Otago Polytechnic experience”.   
 
The large-scale right sizing we are having to complete is a result of a lack of consistent reviews or corrective action for the past few years. Moving forwards, we will ensure we embed good business practice so such sweeping change will be much less likely. 

Megan Pōtiki
Executive Director 

Portfolio 

• Overall leadership 
• Finance 

Executive Assistant 

• Lee-Ann Dahl

Chris Williamson 
Deputy Executive Director, Academic Delivery 

Portfolio 

• Academic Excellence 
• Central Otago Campus 
• College of Community Development and Personal Wellbeing 
• College of Health 
• Open Education Resource Centre 
• Te Ama Ako I Learning and Teaching 
• Te Kaihapai (student complaints)

Executive Assistant 

• Lee-Ann Dahl 

Mark Cartwright 
Deputy Executive Director, Industry Training and Innovation 

• College of Engineering, Construction and Living Sciences 
• Industry Training 
• International relationships 
• Otago Polytechnic Auckland International Campus (OPAIC)
• Te Maru Pumanawa I College of Creative Practice and Enterprise 

Executive Assistant 

• Britney Wright  

Max Sims 
Deputy Executive Director, Operations 

Portfolio 

• Academic Registry 
• Campus Services 
• Contact Centre 
• Customer Services 
• Digital/ISS 
• Functions and Catering 
• International operations 
• Marketing, Communications and Engagement 
• Polykids

Executive Assistant 

• Britney Wright   

Shaun Tahau 
Deputy Executive Director, Learner Experience and Partnerships 

Portfolio 

• Bicultural Competency 
• He Toki 
• Matauranga Māori 
• Otago Polytechnic Students' Association (OPSA)
• Pasifika
• Research and Postgraduate Studies 
• Student Health 
• Student Success 
• Sustainability 
• Te Pā Tauira (student accommodation)
• Te Punaka Ōwheo I Māori Learner Success

Executive Assistant 

• Britney Wright  

Jo Mika-Thomas 
Deputy Executive Director, People and Safety 

Jo will be joining us from 2 October so we'll add more information closer to the time. 

TKM are proposing to change our existing on campus Student Health service to an online, telehealth model provided by Pocket Lab from 2026. 

A number of other tertiary institutions across New Zealand already use this provider and rate the service highly in terms of access and experience. 

Why the proposed change?

The telehealth model will:

• ensure that our distance learners have access to high quality healthcare services (note: a third of our learners are distance learners who cannot currently access our Student Health service)
• provide all learners with timely, equitable and accessible health support, including same-day appointments
• provide a broader range of services than we currently are able to offer
• offer appointments with clinicians from diverse specialties and backgrounds, ensuring the service meets the growing and varied needs of our diversity of learners
• be financially sustainable, allowing more learners to succeed
• strengthen our ability to uphold our obligations to the Education (Pastoral Care of Tertiary and International Learners) Code of Practice 2021
• meet a range of TEC Learner Success outcomes.

What about other health services?

The vast majority of Pocket Lab telehealth appointments are resolved fully online, with fewer than 2% of these appointments converting to a further in-person referral.

If a learner does need to be referred for a physical check-up after their telehealth consult, they will go to the Urgent Doctors. We currently refer learners to this service when Student Health appointments are not available and we’re liaising with them about our proposed switch to the telehealth model.

Our counselling, accessibility and wellbeing support services will remain as they are currently – available online, over the phone or in person.

Nursing services will be contracted in for key campaign drives e.g. immunisation, sexual health.

Will this impact FTE?

Unfortunately, our current model is not financially sustainable. To ensure we are operating sustainably and providing a timely and accessible health service for all our learners, we are proposing to downsize by 4.77FTE.

I met with the Student Health team yesterday to explain the proposed changes and the process we will follow to seek feedback. I also met with our Students’ Association to explain our proposal to them as representatives of our wider learner community.

We will ensure that kaimahi are offered continual support during this process and I know you will continue to be kind to each other and respect the privacy of kaimahi who are directly impacted by the proposed changes.

This proposal may come as a surprise to many of you as it’s quite a significant change to our current service which has been in place for many years.

With the growing diversity within our learner population and a large percentage of distance learners, TKM and I strongly believe we need to enhance the positioning of our healthcare service to better provide for our learners moving forwards.

Thanks for your continued mahi and understanding as we position ourselves for a successful future.