Wintec’s Council Members Announced

Wintec’s Council Members Announced

As confirmed in a release from the Minister’s office today, the ministerial appointments for Waikato Institute of Technology’s (Wintec) council are: Gordon Chesterman (chair), Mary Cave-Palmer (deputy chair), Rahui Papa and Steve Tucker.

The remaining four appointees elected by the existing Wintec council are: Clint Baddeley, Bryce Cooper, Aaron Rink and Dianne Yates.

These four appointments are until 30 April 2011.

Gordon Chesterman is thrilled to have retained his position as Chair and says: “I am delighted that all eight members of the new Council are members of the existing council. It guarantees a very good level of continuity for Wintec. And when you are in the middle of a $55 million redevelopment of campus, that’s important. I can now see this major campus redevelopment programme through.

“It also ensures we have an excellent and experienced governance team in place. I think it is a reflection of the Minister’s confidence in Wintec’s performance that all four ministerial nominees were from the existing Council. Clearly he has taken the view that ‘if it isn’t broken, don’t try and fix it’ – and I think he’s right.

“We also take considerable pride in the fact that our acting Head of School for Health, Kaye Turner, has been appointed as Chair at Manukau Institute of Technology and Deputy Chair at Unitec. Kaye is currently acting chair on the Board of the Tertiary Education Commission for a considerable time and has a long background in tertiary education.

“We are sad though, to be losing some other very good Council members; Jim Bennett, a leading educationalist, two very good staff representatives in Deniss Yeung and Kristi Barnards, and Student Union President Sam Mackenzie.”

Wintec chief executive Mark Flowers said he was reassured by the Minister’s choices and says: “The council remains extremely focused on ensuring the ongoing good governance of Wintec, and has developed a very clear policy around future appointments processes. This will lead to a refreshing of Council membership in a controlled manner over time and ensure the governance team remains a leading one over the years to come.”

Wintec was at the forefront of Government policy regarding tertiary provider councils, reducing its council from 20 to 14 members in 2006.

Council member biographies

Gordon Chesterman is a life member and former national president of the Public Relations Institute of New Zealand and he is a councillor of Hamilton City Council and a member of Waikato District Health Board. He was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the community in 2006 and is a fellow for the Institute of Directors.

Mary Cave-Palmer is a chartered accountant and senior executive with the Department of Conservation, with an active involvement in the education sector. Ms Cave-Palmer has held a number of senior management positions. She is a former chair of the Waikato-Bay of Plenty branch of the Institute of Chartered Accountants New Zealand.

Rahui Papa has a background in education and is chair of both the Tainui Teachers Association and the National Secondary Schools Kapa Haka board. He is a project manager of the Kingitanga 150 year celebrations, and a member of the Iwi Leaders Forum and Whakatupuranga 2050. He co-chairs the Waikato River Statutory Board Establishment Committee and has been a representative of Poohara Marae on Te Kauhanganui since its inception.

Steve Tucker is the Deputy Chief Executive and an Executive Director at the Gallagher Group. He is a chartered accountant with a background in financial and management accounting, operations management and senior management within the manufacturing and service industry.

Clint Baddeley is the Deputy Mayor of the Waikato District Council and second term Councillor. He is also a Government appointee on the Waikato Community Trust and Guardians Establishment Committee to develop vision and strategy for the clean-up of the Waikato River with Tainui. Clint has also served on the Wintec council as deputy chair for the past 11 years.

Dr Bryce Cooper is the General Manager for Strategy at NIWA. A graduate of the Senior Executive Programme at London Business School, Bryce has been a member of various government and regional government committees and advisory groups established to address environmental policy and planning changes.

Aaron Rink is the Director of CF Reese Plumbing Group. He is an executive member of Waikato Master Plumbers Association, member of Wintec Student Residents Trust Board and member of the Institute of Directors.

Dianne Yates is a former Member of Parliament and tertiary lecturer. She is currently the director of Learning Media Ltd, trustee of Waikato Community Trust and board member of Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ).

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