Unitec CEO to retire

16 April 2007

Unitec CEO to retire

Unitec New Zealand’s CEO and President Dr John Webster announced today that he will retire at the end of 2007.

“My enthusiasm for and commitment to Unitec and our mission is as strong as ever”, he said, “but I will turn 65 in February 2008, and believe that the end of 2007 would be as good a time as any for me to stand aside in order to pursue a range of other interests.”

Dr Webster has led the institution through a period of growth and change, during which Unitec has become a world-class university of technology in all but name. He said that he was proud of what Unitec had achieved during that time.

“We have demonstrated very clearly that a dedicated dual-sector institution, a university of technology in all but name, can make a unique and valuable contribution to professional and vocational education in New Zealand. We are almost ten times as effective as separate universities and technical institutes in enabling people to move progressively to higher educational levels as their career needs develop.”

A new academic structure, based on Divisions of Vocational Education and Training, Undergraduate Studies and Postgraduate Studies, was introduced in 2004 to ensure that this educational profile, unique in New Zealand, is celebrated and protected.

Born in Aberdeen, Scotland, Dr Webster has a PhD in Civil Engineering. Before taking up the Unitec role he was Pro-Vice-Chancellor of La Trobe University College of Northern Victoria, and then CEO of the 80,000-strong Institution of Engineers in Australia.

When he was appointed as CEO and President in 1999, Unitec celebrated the achievements of 433 graduates with undergraduate degrees and postgraduate diplomas. All of them had completed their programmes on campus in Mt Albert, Auckland.

The number of people leaving Unitec with undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications has tripled since then – over 1000 graduated at the three ceremonies last month, and an additional ceremony is scheduled in September – a second campus in Waitakere City is flourishing, and playing a key role in the social and economic development of the City, and discussions are under way on the possible establishment of a third campus to serve the North and West of the Auckland region. Unitec established the campus in the centre of Henderson in 2001 and it now includes new state-of-the-art teaching and research facilities and the Waitakere Central Library, built in a joint venture with the Waitakere City Council.

Also in 2001 Unitec became the first tertiary institution to recognise a direct commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, with Dr Webster, the then Council Chairman, John Robb, and Unitec’s late kaumatua, Sir John Turei signing a partnership agreement, Te Noho Kotahitanga. The late Sir Hugh Kawharu witnessed the signing on behalf of Ngati Whatua. Maori students at Unitec now achieve higher levels of success in their courses at Unitec than the average of all students, and work on the Unitec marae, an outcome and symbol of Te Noho Kotahitanga, is well underway.

ENDS

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