These pages contain the original text of the Tertiary Education Strategy documents. Only edit content if you notice the text is inconsistent with the final published document. Feel free to develop your own cross references and index structure.

The New Tertiary Education System

The New Way of Thinking about the Tertiary Education System

Over the period 2002–3, Government expects that all stakeholders will be engaged in developing the new tertiary education system outlined in the TES, which will be enabled by the amendment to the Education Act 1989 in the Tertiary Education Reform Bill 2002. This will entail developing new types of strategic dialogue and relationship-building to give effect to the new ways of thinking and working outlined in the TES. The system will become, over this period, more strongly driven by quality and performance, and any additional public investment will begin to be linked more closely to performance.

The key priority for the period of this STEP therefore, is developing the infrastructure and processes that will support the new tertiary education system. While beginning to implement the six specific strategies outlined in the TES will be important, establishing the system and changing behaviours and attitudes to reflect the new ways of thinking and working will be the primary concern of all stakeholders over the next few years. In this regard, the key change messages outlined on pages 18–20 of the TES are a useful guide to the types of behaviours government expects to see as the new system is established.

Establishing the new system will require a co-ordinated approach by all participants, whether they are agencies, tertiary education organisations or other stakeholders. For the reformed system to operate effectively and in accordance with the key change messages outlined in the TES, the evolution to the new system should not be wholly government driven. All participants will need to work closely together to make these reforms a success.

Key Change Messages from the Tertiary Education Strategy 2002–7

1. Greater alignment with national goals

2. Stronger linkages with business and other external stakeholders

3. Effective partnership arrangements with Māori communities

4. Increased responsiveness to the needs of, and wider access for, learners

5. More future-focussed strategies

6. Improved global linkages

7. Greater collaboration and rationalisation within the system

8. Increased quality, performance, effectiveness, efficiency and transparency

9. A culture of optimism and creativity

System Reform: Priorities for Agencies

Agencies will need to align their work programmes with the directions outlined in the TES to take a broad perspective on the tertiary education system and its contribution to New Zealand’s transformation into a knowledge economy and society. Agencies, and particularly the TEC, will be interested in the overall portfolio of tertiary education provision and the contribution it makes to the national goals outlined in the TES.

The TEC has a key role in shaping this future. During this period the TEC will need to develop a strong and credible organisation, to trial and put in place new policy instruments and to build strong relationships across the system.

The TEC will undertake further work, in conjunction with other agencies, to implement new policy instruments such as the assessments of strategic relevance and the integrated funding framework. In this respect, quality information will also be vital to the TEC. Government will look to TEOs to provide quality disclosure to the TEC, which will validate, aggregate and analyse the information received. This baseline information will inform ongoing analysis of system capability and the priorities for and design of future policy.

Another critical priority for Government agencies will be the development of system-wide data integration and performance measures for inclusion in a monitoring and evaluation framework or `scorecard’. This data will be collected in a number of forms, such as the Single Data Return, the National Student Index and the Tertiary Data Warehouse. It will be used to build a much more comprehensive picture of our entire tertiary system so that the TEC and the Ministry of Education can monitor and evaluate its performance. The ability of organisations within the tertiary system to attract and retain public money will increasingly depend on their performance.

Other education agencies, such as NZQA and Career Services, will need to work within the context provided by the TES and in close relationship to the TEC. During the establishment period, the TEC and the Ministry of Education will work closely to develop and embed new polices and instruments across the system.

Education agencies will also need to co-ordinate these activities with the work of the many other central and local government agencies that have a stake in the new tertiary education system, including the social and economic development agencies. The TEC in particular will need to develop the capability to co-ordinate with other transformational agencies such as the Foundation for Research Science and Technology, Industry New Zealand, and local and regional economic development agencies.

System Reform Priorities for Tertiary Education Organisations

For TEOs of all kinds, the most important establishment priority will be working with their learners and other stakeholders (businesses, other employers, Iwi, communities, etc.) to integrate and reflect the change messages and strategies outlined in the TES in their own strategic and business planning. This strategic management and planning will then be a guide for TEOs’ ongoing dialogue with the TEC on key strategic issues, and the development of their charters and profiles.

Improved strategic management and governance across the system is critical to the establishment of the new system and to the effective implementation of the TES. Strategic and business planning must be grounded in effective relationships between TEOs and their communities of interest, and must permeate activities at all levels of the organisation. Plans must illustrate the distinctive contribution made by an individual TEO to the overall portfolio of provision across the system.

Summary of New System Priorities

In summary, priorities for establishing the new system over the period covered by this STEP are:

understanding the key changes and strategies articulated in the TES and incorporating them into the internal planning strategic and business processes of all tertiary education organisations;
the establishment of the TEC;
the development of a system-wide monitoring and evaluation framework or `system scorecard’;
the establishment of and trialing of new funding and steering instruments, such as Charters and Profiles, the Strategic Development Fund, and the Performance-based Research Fund;
the development and refinement of the assessment of strategic relevance;
the enhancement of quality information about the tertiary education system portfolio and current levels of performance;
the maintenance of capability supporting tertiary information systems such as the Single Data Return, the Tertiary Data Warehouse and the National Student Index; and
the continuation of the dialogue amongst stakeholders established during the public consultation on the TES and the exploration of collaborative relationships across the system.