The first meeting of the restructured Otago Polytechnic council yesterday was "a significant occasion", chairwoman Kathy Grant said.
Earlier this year, the Government amended legislation to downsize polytechnic councils to eight members, four of them ministerial appointments.
Ms Grant, a Dunedin lawyer, was one of three new appointments, along with Presbyterian Support Otago chief executive Gillian Bremner and Otago Chamber of Commerce chief executive John Christie.
The other ministerial appointee, businesswoman Susie Johnstone, was appointed for another term.
Two members of the previous council, Dunedin city councillor Chris Staynes and Central Otago Mayor Dr Malcolm Macpherson, have been re-elected for one year, while another past council member, Rebecca Parata, has been endorsed by the four local Maori runanga as their representative for a four-year term.
The new council will fill the final vacancy, which has been kept for a person with a particular knowledge and experience of tertiary academic issues.
