Thursday 1 December 2022

Tēnā tātou e te whānau 

Ahead of an announcement to the wider network by Peter Winder later today, I want to share with whānau at Unitec and MIT the news of my appointment to the role of Te Pūkenga Deputy Chief Executive Ako Delivery.

It’s an honour to be given the responsibility to lead our core teaching and learning delivery across the motu. 

I particularly want to acknowledge what the Unitec and MIT whānau - past and present - have meant to me over the last six years. 

Dedicated kaimahi across both our institutes have maintained a passionate commitment to carrying our communities forward, often in challenging circumstances, to ensure that the ākonga, communities, Iwi, industry and service sectors who depend on us have the skills they need to make the most of the future. 

On September 29, the Rangitāmiro ceremony held at Te Noho Kotahitanga Marae unified Te Whare Wānanga o Wairaka and Te Pūkenga through weaving the mauri of both entities together. Tears and laughter were shared at the gathering which was led by Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei. This kaupapa provided a valuable opportunity for us all to honour our past and look forward to the future together. 

For me, this has meant gaining a true understanding of the powerful way vocational education transforms lives intergenerationally, a greater appreciation of how leadership is actually about listening with an open heart as much as it is about decision making and most important of all, the need to be big enough to take ownership of opportunities to do things better.  

I hope these experiences have made me a better leader. They’re certainly the ones I’ll be drawing from heavily in my new role. 

E rere ana ngā mihi maioha ki a koutou katoa – I want to thank all those who have led and worked for Unitec during my time here. It has been often quite a turbulent period of great change, one that despite its difficulties, has prepared this institute well to embrace the benefits presented by reform. 

Understandably, my new appointment will raise questions on what this means for the leadership of Unitec as a division of Te Pūkenga. We are all moving through a transition period towards the new Te Pūkenga structure. Over time, this means changing from our local organisation towards a regional and national structure. 

While we work through this change, Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga will be appointed as Acting Executive Director of Unitec and MIT, effective from 5 December. Peseta is already known to you through his current role as DCE Pasifika, Partnerships and Support and I’m confident he will continue to support the mahi underway here at Unitec. 

Ngā mihi

Gus