Partner-hunting TAFEs consider the 'who' before the 'what' AS many as four Victorian TAFEs could come together following negotiations underway in the state's east. Advance TAFE and GippsTAFE, both centred in Gippsland, yesterday revealed talks with eastern Melbourne's Chisholm Institute and the dual-sector University of Ballarat "to explore the best fit in terms of organisational objectives and stakeholder needs." Advance CEO Shaun McDonagh said the agencies wanted to choose their partners before considering what the partnerships might look like. Mergers remained a possibility, he said. I don't think any entity or nature of relationship can or should be ruled out at this time. Ultimately it's a process of arriving at the best fit between organisations. Mr McDonagh said he expected the agencies" respective boards to identify the "preferred partner or partners" by early next year. The nature of the discussions would then hone in on what those partners focus on doing together, and the vehicle for it - a partnership or some other structural arrangement. He said the arrangements would largely hinge on the success of applications to the $200 million TAFE Structural Reform Fund. Announcements are expected around March. Mr McDonagh said the collaborations were being driven by the Gippsland Tertiary Education Plan and "the ebbs and flows of industries and sectors," as well as financial sustainability and the state government's reform agenda. We're looking for the best partner or partners that can provide better training options into the future, and that's consistent with the state government's reform agenda. So far, most negotiations have taken place between Advance and GippsTAFE, with "a number of points of agreement" reached in areas such as curriculum-based collaboration and "back office sharing." But big Chisholm is also a natural potential partner for both, while Ballarat - soon to be renamed Federation University - came into the frame with its takeover of Monash University's Gippsland campus at Churchill. GippsTAFE signed an MOU concerning the Churchill campus in 2010. Victorian TAFE mergers have been widely mooted as an inevitable consequence of Victoria's market-based skills reforms. The state government says it's up to institutes to decide such matters, but critics say harsh and ad-hoc funding cuts and rampant private sector competition have made small regional institutes unviable. But some commentators say Victoria has too many TAFEs. The state, smaller than the catchment area of some individual institutes in states like Western Australia and NSW, has 14 standalone institutes and four dual-sector institutions.