52 | Bringing campus back to life Some facilities have been modernised and state-of-the-art equipment used where possible. T T from page 50 Hawke’s Bay: EIT Campus - Gemco Group “We were fortunate to find some vacant private training establishment space in Napier city, and Onekawa. Community organisations and churches also opened their doors to us and both Hastings District Council and Napier City Council went well beyond expectations to help us look for space.” REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT “Our working relationship with Gemco goes back 18 years or more. They have been EIT’s contractor of choice for many years now and have completed multiple projects for us. Throughout this rebuild, Steven Price, Gemco’s foreman on site, has been great to deal with. He and his team have worked so hard to help us solve the problems and challenges we’ve got. I can’t speak highly enough of them and what they have done for EIT. They have got us back on our feet.” After Cyclone Gabrielle, EIT Hawke’s Bay had to rapidly pivot to delivering almost all their programmes online, but within six weeks had also set up an ‘extended campus’ operating across 45 temporary sites in Napier and Hastings. “We were fortunate to find some vacant private training establishment space in Napier city, and Onekawa. Community organisations and churches also opened their doors to us and both Hastings District Council and Napier City Council went well beyond expectations to help us look for space. We had students in all sorts of unlikely places, like Splash Planet in Hastings. The support of the Te Pūkenga network in the aftermath of the cyclone was really valuable, too.” In spite of all the disruptions, the Tertiary Education Commission’s recent annual educational performance indicators (EPI) found that EIT is the highest-performing polytechnic in New Zealand for retention of first-year students. In addition, EIT was above the national average in the three other indicators of learner achievement and success, namely course completion, progression, and qualification completion. “I think we did a really good job of providing support for learning in what was a challenging time for staff and students in Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti. Some staff lost their homes and we also had students struggling to get to class because so many roads were closed.” In tertiary education, EIT has long been considered an exemplar, offering a broad range of programmes from foundation courses to degree and postgraduate level training. It has also been successful in integrating itself into both the Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti communities. “Nursing at both degree and postgraduate level is a big focus for us as are the trades and allied trades. “The primary industries are a big part of the region’s economy so we’re also strong in that area. Some of our exemplar programmes, unique to EIT in Hawke’s Bay, are in that horticulture and winemaking space.” In planning the campus rebuild, Glen says specialist teaching facilities were prioritised. “The work Gemco did to convert an old art studio to a temporary location for nursing was impressive and they did that very quickly.” By the start of Semester 2 last July, about 500 equivalent full-time students (EFTS) were back on campus. Blocks G, M and A opened earlier this year, unlocking multiple floors for teaching as well as bringing back the Hawke’s Bay’s Secondary Schools Trades Academy, EIT’s School of Business and other programmes, along with administration offices. Today, the campus is buzzing again with around 3000 EFTS students based there. While the cyclone was devastating, it did allow the opportunity for the campus to be built back better. Some facilities have been modernised and state-of-the-art equipment used where possible. An example is the Twist Library, which is due to open in the New Year and has been redesigned to better support modern learning needs. Glen says that the cyclone recovery and rebuild has been a community effort. “So many people have put time and effort into getting our campus back on its feet, allowing us to do what we do best, providing quality education at certificate, diploma, degree and postgraduate level. “We want to thank all those staff, volunteers and contractors who contributed to the rebuild.”
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