Southern Institute of Technology battle, why Southlanders should care

Friday, 15 February 2019

Southern Institute of Technology chief executive Penny Simmonds is worried what impact a proposed polytechnic and institute merger will have on SIT. (Video first published in February 2019)

It was a community triumph.

In 2000 the Southern Institute of Technology student numbers were 1100 and declining. Chief executive Penny Simmonds said the situation was dire.

SIT needed a point of difference and they found it through a united Southland front and the zero fees scheme.

Southern Institute of Technology chief executive Penny Simmonds.

The Invercargill Licensing Trust, Community Trust South, Southland District Council, Invercargill City Council and a group of Southland businesses teamed up to put together a $7.25m fund for SIT.

* Southern Institute of Technology should not be 'punished or disadvantaged'

* SIT to push accommodation subsidies to match free education from government**

The fund helped launch the free fees scheme and within three years it had become self sustainable.

Nineteen years on and SIT has boosted its numbers from 1100 to a target of 5000 students this year. A target Simmonds was confident it would hit.

SIT was now a major player in terms of Southland's economy with the latest economic impact report estimating it added $43m a year into Invercargill's economy alone.

It has never made a deficit and has built up $36m in reserves. It also owns accommodation in Invercargill and last year purchased the St John's Anglican Church on Tay St with a plan to turn it into a 'creative centre'.

SIT also contributes close to $300,000 annually in sponsorship to sports and cultural activities, which has included linking with the Southland Stags, Southland Sharks, and Southern Steel as major sponsors.

Simmonds was proud of SIT's financial contribution to Southland, but she believed the positive impact stretched beyond just dollars and cents.

It was the diversity that the 1000 international students and their families add to Southland which Simmonds has been thrilled to watch unfold.

'They contribute in the community, whether it be with schools or in sport. The different ethnic restaurants we have now in Invercargill, a lot of them were our graduates.

'It's contributed I think to the richness of our community in terms of the cultural richness of our community.'

Southlanders have every right to now be nervous around the fact that the SIT success story now had a cloud hanging over it, Simmonds said.

The Government plans to merge 16 polytechnics and institutes and run them as part of one centralised organisation.

The merger came on the back of a host of polytechnics financial struggles. Many of them were losing large amounts of money.

SIT has bucked that trend but has still been lumped in as part of the merger talk.

At this stage Simmonds did not want to pick a fight with minister Chris Hipkins on the proposal.

Instead she wants to use a six week consultation process to explain to him, why the SIT is so important to Southland under its current model.

She feared under a centralised model SIT would lose power in terms of decision-making with the SIT.

Simmonds believed the SIT's strength was with its international students.

It invested a lot of time and money into attracting overseas people to Invercargill.

'We are out there selling Southland and I think that is where the risk is. How would that work if it was run out of Wellington?'

She expected they could also lose the power to back organisations like the Stags, Sharks, and Steel if the books were controlled by those at the national centre.

'Maybe someone in Wellington would want to put money into the Stags, but I wouldn't want to bet too much on it.'

She was also worried that $36m they had worked so hard to build up, as well as the various assets SIT own, would be lumped into a central fund to help other organisations.

'When the zero fees scheme was started the community put in $7.25m. They have a right to think that is our assets.'

A spokesperson for Hipkins said at this stage it would be inappropriate to give specific details on exactly how it would affect SIT, while they worked through the consultation process before making firmer decisions.

Hipkins was aware SIT was wondering what the change meant for them.

However, he confirmed SIT's zero fees and accommodation funding schemes could remain, Hipkins said.

'We want to retain great local initiatives such as SIT's offer to learners of zero fees or accommodation funding support. Contracts, agreements, and understandings with communities and stakeholders would need to be honoured throughout any change. An example is SIT's sponsorship arrangements.'