16 | REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Otago Polytechnic 24 Mailer Street, Dunedin 9011 t: 03 453 0499 free phone 0800 453 049 e: design@activefurnishers.co.nz www.activefurnishers.co.nz • Interior Design • Blinds • Upholstery • Rods • Cushions • Motorisation • Drapes • Shutters • Bedware • Tracks • Awnings • Wallpaper Made in Dunedin PLACEMAKERS DUNEDIN & MOSGIEL PROUDLY SUPPORTING PLACEMAKERS DUNEDIN & MOSGIEL 50 Burns St & 34 Carncross St Phone: (03) 466 4617 Email: orders.dunedin@placemakers.co.nz TansleyElectrical “Trusted for over 65 years” www.tansleyelectrical.co.nz • Residential & Commercial Electrical • Fire Protection & IQP Compliance Proud to support Otago Polytechnic T T Kim Bowden Increasing its ties with wider region Otago Polytechnic teaches across a wide range of disciplines, from trades, engineering and construction to IT, business, health, beauty therapy and hairdressing, as well as schools of art, design (fashion, product, communication) and architecture. Otago Polytechnic is using its shift out of the national Te Pūkenga network as a chance to strengthen its relationship with the region. The Dunedin-based institution, which also has campuses in Wānaka and Cromwell, has a new chief executive, Andrew McSweeney. He takes up the role after a period of sector-wide change, as Otago Polytechnic is re‑established as an independent regional polytechnic. Andrew says the challenge is to strengthen relationships that link the polytechnic to regional employers across construction, engineering, health, food and hospitality, and more. “The message from me is we are reshaping, resetting and looking to grow,” he says. “To do that successfully, we need to connect with all of our region’s key industries, understand their needs and make sure we are helping deliver skilled, capable future employees for them.” He sees Otago Polytechnic as a “provider of talent” for local industry — supporting firms to lift productivity and helping local people build lasting careers in the region. For local employers, the struggle isn’t necessarily about creating jobs; it’s about finding skilled workers or upskilling the staff they already have. This is prompting the polytechnic to think differently about how, when and where it delivers learning. “For example, how do we deliver learning for people who are in work?” Andrew says. “In Central Otago, a 1.53 percent unemployment rate means nearly everyone is already working.” He talks about working more closely with industry and partnering with other training providers to offer flexible work integrated learning pathways, where people can study without leaving their workplace. Just a quarter of Otago Polytechnic’s enrolments come from new school leavers, with the balance including people looking to upskill or change careers, along with mature learners. Otago Polytechnic teaches across a wide range of disciplines, from trades, engineering and construction to IT, business, health, beauty therapy and hairdressing, as well as schools of art, design (fashion, product, communication) and architecture. What ties those areas together, Andrew says, is an emphasis on applied, vocational pathways that are closely linked to industry rather than purely academic ones. Otago Polytechnic backs its applied focus with a range of specialist facilities. Students can prototype ideas in the EPIC Centre, where students and staff can turn designs into reality using wood, metal or 3D printing. Mechanical workshops, simulated environments for nursing, occupational therapy, and animal health, along with art and design studios give learners regular access to the tools and settings they will encounter beyond the campus. Behind those facilities sits a workforce of approximately 600 staff, including roughly 400 academic staff. A majority come from industry first — architects teaching architecture, nurses teaching nursing, tradespeople teaching their trade — and are then trained and certified as educators. Andrew says that mix keeps programmes closely tied to current practice and well connected to employers. “Across all of our schools, you’ve got experienced industry practitioners who are now teaching both young and mature learners to be the practitioners of tomorrow,” he says. “They can bring in people from private sector or public sector…have them as guests, take the students out to sites and visit them.” With fewer students than its “big tertiary brother” next door, he believes the polytechnic can offer “more of a personal touch” to its learners. Andrew McSweeney.
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