Who got that job?

By LIANE VOISEY

Job title: Chief executive, Open Polytechnic of New Zealand.

Paul Grimwood had not run an educational institution before he came to the Open Polytechnic of New Zealand, but there's no doubting his credentials.

He has already held down several chief executive or general managerial roles in large organisations.

Sydney-born and raised, the former director-general of the New South Wales Department of Transport held a range of executive positions in Australia's rail industry, before joining the BNZ as senior chief manager, strategy and planning

Grimwood, 61, became a full-time-resident of New Zealand in 1986. Before joining the Open Polytechnic, he had been running his own Wellington and Sydney-based strategic management consultancy for 12 years, working with a wide range of organisations in Australia and New Zealand. One of those clients was the Open Polytechnic ...

"I'd had the opportunity to get some idea of what they were like, where they were going, and what their capabilities were," says Grimwood. Knowledge, he thinks, that can certainly be put to good use in the future.

Apart from having a "particular wish to do something in education", Grimwood's interest in the position was spurred by his own experiences implementing tertiary policy in academic institutions.

A former member of the Western Australian Post-Secondary Commission, Grimwood served on the council of Cornell University, New York, from 1984-95. He holds a PhD and masters degrees in engineering science and aerospace engineering from that university.

He says it's been exciting working with the Open Polytechnic so far, but admits he has some enormous challenges ahead.

As an open and distance learning institution that teaches 30,000 students each year, Grimwood says the Open Polytechnic is focusing on lifting its game while restraining costs.

"Learners are telling us that they want to interact with us, not just at distance but in other ways as well. We want to provide greater student support so there will be more contact with them."