It comes after Vocational Education Minister Penny Simmonds, who is leading the break-up of mega polytechnic Te Pūkenga - New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology, confirmed it would be at least six months until individual polytechnics discovered whether they would stand alone or come under the Open Polytechnic banner.
Ms Simmonds met Otago Polytechnic executive director Megan Pōtiki at the Dunedin campus last week.
"This meeting was one of a series of quick catchups the minister is having with leaders across the Te Pūkenga network," an Otago Polytechnic spokesman said.
"Dr Pōtiki took the minister through our roadmap to viability, covering the key initiatives we will be undertaking during 2025 to improve our future sustainability.
"The minister indicated she was pleased with the work Otago Polytechnic has been undertaking, and encouraged us to continue with our programme of initiatives to review and reset our operations."
But staff who spoke on the grounds of anonymity have told the Otago Daily Times they were disappointed about what seemed to be a focus on "finances, rather than the social good".
"We’ve been uncertain and anxious for the past couple of years with the merger into Te Pukenga and then now the sort of unmerging of it.
"So that uncertainty and anxiety is kind of coming to a real peak at the moment, because it’s just been going on for years and still no real sign of any kind of certainty," a staffer said.
There had been a lack of "top-down guidance and leadership", another staffer alleged.
"We don’t really know what is the end goal besides breaking apart Te Pukenga, so it’s hard to sort of envision where we sit generally, let alone in the whole structure, and that sort of trickles down to individual positions as well."
Despite this "record-level" anxiety and stress, staff said they were still committed to teaching.
"I think, for better or worse, we put the students first and that has continued despite everything."
The latest signed-off data for the Otago Polytechnic region showed it had 3575 students, nearly identical to the same period last year.
An Otago Polytechnic spokesman said there was strong demand for some of the flagship programmes, including health (nursing, occupational therapy and midwifery), veterinary nursing, art, design, architecture and foundation learning.
It had received more than double the number of applicants for the 145 places for 2025 in its highly regarded nursing programme, he said.
"Meanwhile, our occupational therapy programme has welcomed its largest-ever intake for 2025, and is also at capacity.
However, last year, Otago Polytechnic confirmed it was cutting up to a dozen courses.
Ms Simmonds said the changes to the vocational education and training system were intended to come into effect from January 2026.
"Implementation activity will be continued on throughout 2025 to prepare for the new system.
"This includes supporting the key decisions that will be made by Cabinet in the first half of 2025 on the number and location of stand-alone [institutes of technology and polytechnics], the provision of work-based learning and changes to the funding system to support the redesigned system.
"As the minister, I am not privy to information regarding the operational decisions that polytechnics might contemplate.
"However, I would suggest that it is important for Otago Polytechnic, as it is for all polytechnics, to be taking appropriate actions to ensure their overall viability and maintain their relationships."
She recognised the months ahead would be challenging, Ms Simmonds said.
"I want to acknowledge the many staff in both industry training organisations and polytechnics who have endured uncertainty for many years and thank them for their ongoing commitment to our vocational education and training sector."
