Having had a long association with the Otago Physical Education school over many years - including through friends (graduates) and staff - I was dismayed to read the Otago Daily Times article about possible job cuts and the next day one celebrating the school's global rating.
The Otago PE school has so many things in its favour that SHOULD make it a jewel in the crown as a ''Centre of Excellence'' not just for the University of Otago but also for Dunedin:
- The departmental staff are undoubtedly some of the best researchers in the world, as shown by the recently publicised accolades.
- The school is at the heart of arguably New Zealand's (perhaps Australasia's?) 'best' (I use that word loosely) potential sporting ''hubs''. This includes Forsyth Barr Stadium, Logan Park, the McMillan Hockey Centre, the Sports Institute, Health Sciences/Physiotherapy/Medical School, Caledonian Ground, Signal Hill MTB complex. These are local amenities that surpass most other cities'.
- The Dunedin City Council is supposedly supportive of economic development?
- All evidence suggests employers are increasingly wanting graduates with ''soft skills'' (for example communication, teamwork, getting on with people, confidence, leadership and so on). PE studies provide this in spades.
- There is an increasing push for people to be more physically active.
- A big part of New Zealand's national identity revolves around our sporting successes and ability to consistently ''punch above our weight''.
And Otago as a region has a strong sporting history and culture.
Indeed, in announcing the University sponsorship of the Highlanders in 2015, vice-chancellor Harlene Hayne said ''When you look at the high-level skills that have been used to develop professional rugby success - the expertise in medical, physiotherapy, marketing and business areas, the science in clothing and nutrition - a lot of this has come from students, graduates, researchers and teachers from the University of Otago ... Moreover, some of the most prestigious universities in the world have strong sports programmes, and it was hoped the support of the Highlanders franchise, and associated benefits, would draw more of the ''best and brightest'' to study at Otago ... It is important for our university to lead from the front and let it be known that this is a community of endless opportunity.''
These sentiments from Prof Hayne now seem inconsistent with the current issues.
It appears the PE School has failed to evolve in order to meet the needs and opportunities of the changing ''market'' and that it desperately needs to be ''re-positioned'' accordingly.
So what is going on? It should not take too much of a rocket scientist to recognise the massive strategic opportunity that exists. Having said this, someone suitably skilled needs to drive this opportunity.
And it is not fair or realistic to expect the PE School head to do this. The head clearly excels in generating great research from his/her team and that will be his/her primary key performance indicator. However great academics don't necessarily make great managers/visionaries/strategists (like a great rugby player doesn't necessarily make a great coach).
So who should be expected to drive this? Should it be the vice-chancellor or perhaps the DCC Economic Development team? Or maybe a collaboration of these and others?
I don't know, but the question needs to be asked. It must be taken seriously and treated with urgency.
There should be concern if this opportunity is not seized while there is still a genuine window of opportunity. We should all be proud of the PE school and instead of speculating about where/if it is going to get its next funding, we should be celebrating the critical role it plays in what could be one of the city's future growth opportunities. Or am I missing something?
-Peter Gale, of Dunedin, has been a marketing manager and now has several property-related businesses.
