Larger SIT campus possible

Up to 60 students will be catered for at the Southern Institute of Technology's new Queenstown campus, opening next year, but SIT chief executive Penny Simmonds has not ruled out another larger campus - similar to its home in Invercargill - in years to come.

Last week SIT announced its Queenstown base at the Remarkables Town Centre would be operational in February.

While its beginnings may have been small, the potential was huge, Ms Simmonds said.

"The Lakes District is the fastest-growing area [in Australia and New Zealand], so it doesn't take much imagination to realise that in a decade or so, Queenstown is going to need greater educational servicing than what it has now.

"How Queenstown develops is going to determine that servicing - at the moment there are a lot of transient workers and people working [unusual] hours, so part-time, flexible learning seems to be the most appropriate form.

"That's going to have to continue in Queenstown unless we see a marked change in lifestyle - Queenstown people are working different hours and in different situations," she said.

When the campus opens at Dart House on February 16, three suites on the first floor will be dedicated to SIT, catering for part-time students in hospitality and computing with one teaching classroom.

Each class will have a capacity of 20 students.

SIT project and discretionary funding manager Pam Hulls said the courses on offer at SIT's Queenstown campus would include those being "rolled over" like liquor controls, food safety and barista.

"We'll also be running English language, computing, business and hospitality and tourism.

"Mostly, we'll be running short-course form, but they can be built into a certificate or diploma - we've looked at it and think Queenstown is a short-course market, but we will have it structured so the students can build it into certificate or diploma.

"We'll also have support for SIT 2 Learn courses, for example Te Reo Maori. With the new campus, we're able to offer more courses in a more structured way, in our own premises.

"I wouldn't say it's a better environment, because we've been at Wakatipu High and that's been brilliant, but when you have your own rooms it does make it more cohesive," Mrs Hulls said.

Ms Simmonds said while it would be "several years" before the SIT Queenstown campus saw its first full-time student, the short courses enabled students to put credits towards certificates or diplomas, as happened at its Gore campus.

"Queenstown is growing and our long-term aim is to be able to get more courses up there and long courses. We've surveyed pupils at Wakatipu High and asked them what they wanted to see [education-wise] and we'll continue to do that."

Ms Simmonds said SIT would not be operating in competition with the Queenstown Resort College (QRC), instead aiming to complement the services it offered.

"We are working with them and we are very supportive of them, we want to be complementary to what they do and we have been colleagues and supporters of QRC."

While the StudyLink student allowance scheme would not be available to initial students at SIT's Queenstown campus, because the student allowance was only available to full-time students, its students would be part of the Zero Fees scheme.

Ms Simmonds said the scheme, which has been guaranteed to the end of 2011, meant all students would only pay the material fees for their course.