Dozen Witt staff face the axe

Up to 12 full-time staff will be axed as Witt tries to make up for a $2.25 million funding cut expected next year.

Consultation has already been completed with the affected employees, who work across a number of areas and it could be finalised this week.

The staff cuts are one result of the Government's decision to cancel its Base Investment Grant scheme, which saw extra cash given to smaller polytechs to help them out.

There will also be some fee increases and a rise in student numbers.

Witt chief executive Richard Handley said the institution was trying to convince the Tertiary Education Commission to consider either re-instating the grants or to phase them out slowly.

"We believe they were based on sound financial and economic logic," Mr Handley said.

He said, in a report to the polytech's council, that without the grants the current policy meant students in small polytechs were seriously disadvantaged. The total cost of all the small polytech grants was between $10 million and $15 million. The sector had a $600 million funding pool.

Witt's grant totalled $1.3 million – the rest of the funding it would not receive next year came from cuts to the Adult Community Education budget and other minor changes in the sector.

Mr Handley said the funding cuts were a major challenge for the institution, but it wanted to ensure there was minimum impact on teaching.

"There's a combination of strategies in place here, but we won't be able to manage a change as big as this without a reduction of some staffing and some services."

Next year's reductions are part of sector-wide changes, with the new Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce announcing last week that future funding could be at risk if pass-rate targets were not met.

"There's an expectation that more students pass their qualifications," Mr Handley said.

"We accept that challenge because, of course, we want our students to succeed and we will gradually need to build strategies that strengthen our completion rate."About 75 per cent of students currently completed their qualifications, which was slightly above the national average.

In good news for the polytech, Witt has its highest number of enrolments in four years.

Witt's cap has been increased by 200, and there are now 2050 fulltime equivalent students, which adds up to about 7000 actual students enrolled in fulltime and part-time courses.

Most of the courses were not struggling for student numbers, Mr Handley said. "It's too early to call but very encouraging for this year."

The polytech's finances are also in good shape, with Witt posting a $1.2 million surplus last year and a $950,000 surplus expected this year. This positive forecast is expected to continue into 2011 and 2012.

"It's really important for us because it gives us some cash to spend on our campus and our staff," Mr Handley said. "It also gives us some independence from those who monitored us so heavily over the period when it was having financial difficulties."

One of Witt's top priorities was to bring the Certificate in Automotive Trades back to its Bell St campus. It is currently based on Saltash St.

"They're in a good place. They're in a good building. It's good accommodation and they are well treated from an accommodation perspective, but they're not participating in campus life.We want them back here so that they can contribute and participate."

There are about 50 students on the course and the moveshould take place by the end of the year.

The rest of the upgrades will be spread across the campus.

- © Fairfax NZ News