Staff at the polytechnic, which was merged into mega-entity Te Pūkenga under the previous government, will soon find out its new proposed structure after months of waiting.
It has also emerged that Te Pūkenga, which is facing a deficit of $118 million, has been forced to bring in a group of high-powered consultants in an effort to cut costs.
An Otago Polytechnic Te Pūkenga senior staffer said the situation had been total "chaos" for staff, who had been trying their best to teach "as if none of this had been going on".
"It’s been hell on wheels.
"The staff are great, but it’s not the happy place it used to be.
"There’s been a real lack of direction; nobody from the top down seems to appear to know the slightest thing."
Tertiary Education Minister Penny Simmonds said yesterday a consultation document would be released "outlining change proposals in the coming weeks".
Parts of the Institutes of Technology and Polytechnic (ITP) sector had been in financial distress for close to a decade, she said.
"Te Pūkenga has failed to address this and failed to establish a pathway to financial sustainability. It has also led to a further blowout in costs."
Her comments follow Tertiary Education Commission chief executive Tim Fowler sending a letter to Te Pūkenga’s leadership team last month ordering it to find across-the-board savings.
"Te Pūkenga is forecasting an $85m deficit for 2024, including a cumulative deficit of $118m for the former (ITP) business divisions," the letter said.
All regions were forecasting a deficit.
"I do not believe that Te Pūkenga has sufficient management capability and capacity to maintain its day-to-day operations while supporting and undertaking the extensive operational changes that are likely required and to do so in a timely manner.
"I am therefore requiring Te Pūkenga to obtain specialist independent help."
The specialist help would be needed to address financial performance, learner demand and help Te Pūkenga identify what impacts any proposed changes would have for learners and regions.
Te Pūkenga chief executive Gus Gilmore has since sent a communication to staff, confirming specialists from consultancy firms PWC, Volte, Calibre Partners and Deloitte would work with the executive directors and regional senior leadership to deliver TEC’s requests.
The TEC specifically requested these firms in their correspondence.
Another Otago staff member said all of the "forward momentum" usually associated with teaching felt like it had been "put on hold" as a result.
Tertiary Education Union national secretary Daniel Benson-Guiu said the situation was "highly irregular".
"Consultants are being brought in to look at what areas can be saved and sold, while at the same time staff will be consulted on a new structure.
"Both of these processes will cause further confusion and distress for staff and surely it would be better if one began after the other."
Staff had been waiting for a review of Te Pūkenga’s structure for several months, Mr Benson-Guiu said.
"That wouldn’t have been the case if the minister understood the needs of the sector.
"It’s been dangerously under-funded for years."
Mr Benson-Guiu said it had been "extraordinary" that Te Pūkenga was forced to take on the consultants within its budget.
"Anything that is in the purview [of the consultants]— including the rug underneath the staff members — could be sold, and that concerns us."
Mr Benson-Guiu said the union had sent numerous requests to meet Ms Simmonds about Te Pūkenga.
Ms Simmonds told the Otago Daily Times she would meet the union as a stakeholder in due course.
