An information and communications technology graduate school campus planned for Dunedin remains unopened as the five tertiary institutions behind it work to iron out the details.
The Government announced plans for South Island ICT Graduate School last year in the hope of having students at a Christchurch campus and Dunedin satellite campus this year.
However, both campuses have been delayed.
The University of Otago has indicated it hoped the school would open later this year.
The concept is being led by the University of Canterbury with support from Otago University, Lincoln University, the Ara Institute of Canterbury and Otago Polytechnic.
University of Otago director of planning and funding David Thomson said the opening of the campuses had been delayed as the organisations ``worked through some of the technical issues'' of the school partnership.
"This delay reflects that this is quite a complex and unique partnership, involving multiple universities and polytechnics, delivering qualifications under a single umbrella, off two different sites,'' he said.
"The project is still going ahead, but we have had to push the timeline out until we have ironed out the complexities.
"We now envisage the Dunedin campus opening in the latter part of the year, and programme delivery to commence following that.''
The initiative was driven by Enterprise Dunedin and the Canterbury Development Corporation after the Government announced in 2014 it would invest $28.6million in graduate schools in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.
Enterprise Dunedin business development adviser Chanel O'Brien last year heralded the project and rubbished any suggestion Dunedin's campus would be a lesser partner in the project.
It was expected 46 students would enrol across both campuses this year, excluding international students, although the split between campuses was not decided.
That figure was expected to rise to 81 across both campuses in 2017, Ms O'Brien said at the time.
However, attempts to discuss the project with Ms O'Brien last week were unsuccessful and she referred all comment to the university.
Mr Thomson said the details of the campus were yet to be finalised.
"We are not in a position to confirm further details of the campus beyond saying that it will be in a location appropriate to the industry focus of the ICT Graduate School and will not involve the construction of a new building,'' he said.
"We have not received any government funding at this stage. We expect that funding will be triggered once we are a little closer to going `live' with what promises to be a very innovative development for tertiary education in Dunedin, and the South Island.''
The school is planned to cater for tertiary graduates without ICT qualifications, recent graduates who are working in the industry, established information technology professionals and school teachers, with extensive work placement offered at technology companies.
