Liberation, league table leaps and local loyalty are among the highlights of 2011, says WITT chief executive Richard Handley.
“The Government has withdrawn after 11 years of Crown intervention,” he says. “That’s a real biggie for us.”
Richard says that by setting the institute free, the Government has signalled its belief in WITT’s ability to manage itself and cope with the challenges ahead.
“That’s a big vote of confidence in WITT and the very good staff we have on campus here.”
Another big boost this year has been the polytech’s improvement in the educational league tables.
Results show the polytech has improved in three out of four categories in the New Zealand educational performance indicator rankings.
It improved in the number of students retained in study, leaping up 10 spots to 5th out of 20 institutes of technology or polytechs (ITPs). It also improved in the number of students completing qualifications and went up in the “completion of courses” category. It only fell in the number of students progressing to higher level study.
“We were challenged to demonstrate our capability as teachers and trainers and we showed our community that indeed we offer very good training at WITT,” Richard says.
In line with this, the student graduation in May was the institute’s biggest for many years. “We celebrated some outstanding successes by our students. We were particularly pleased with the students in the oil and gas processing course, who were all in employment within months of graduating.”
Richard was also proud to announce that WITT’s nursing students again achieved 100 per cent in their state finals.
On site, the campus redevelopment plan has led to vast improvements in the outdoor settings and teaching spaces at WITT. “This is adding to the student experience on campus,” he says.
“The core of the campus is just about to be transformed into an environment that’s been designed and shaped with help from students and staff through the campus design competition.”
Professional development of staff was another big emphasis this year and four compulsory training days were held at the polytech.
These focused on building contemporary teaching skills and improving educational performances. Visiting experts assisted with these sessions.
Richard is also delighted about the establishment of the Taranaki Trades Academy at WITT.
This is an integral part of the institute’s overall youth strategy designed to encourage young people to take part in vocational training at their local polytech. “Our strategy also encompasses other programmes such as youth guarantee, with students undertaking certain courses have their fees fully paid.”
Finishing on finances, the institute has had another great year.
“Again WITT has achieved a financial result ahead of budget and better than target, with a surplus of about $1.2 million,” Richard says.
“This is the third consecutive year of surplus, which has placed the institute in a strong financial position.”
Still on the money front, WITT has gone local.
“We were pleased to move all of our banking business to the TSB Bank and celebrate that we are also committed to the region,” he says.
“We are in Taranaki, so why wouldn’t we support a Taranaki bank?”