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Strengthen system capability and quality

Refer to Interim Statement of Tertiary Education Priorities for Strategy 1

“The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong-but that’s the way to bet”
Damon Runyon

Where do we want to be by 2007?

By 2007, the quality of learning and research outcomes from our tertiary education system will have significantly improved. The financial viability, strategic capacity, leadership and international orientation of our tertiary education system will be stronger. The system is presently too fragile in many respects to support strategic changes of the extent necessary to give effect to our national vision as a knowledge society. By working together to develop a more robust and capable system, we will be better positioned to respond to the key changes outlined above and to implement the other strategies outlined in subsequent sections.

The adult and community education (ACE) sector will have become more cohesive and will be better connected to the rest of the tertiary education system. Local and national ACE collaborative networks will have developed, will be effecting a more strategic approach to provision. All providers will better address the professional development requirements of ACE workers.

Career Services will have continued to build its capability to provide improved information and guidance to learners, to parents and to other professional ‘influencers’ such as teachers or caseworkers. Better information about skill requirements, skills matching, personal returns to tertiary study and the relative performance of providers against system indicators will be disseminated.

Industry Training Organisations (ITOs) will play a key role in brokering connections amongst providers and industry stakeholders. They will play a leadership role in identifying and meeting future skill needs in their industries, and in promoting training to employers and employees in order to meet these needs. They will arrange training for a significant portion of the New Zealand workforce. There will be fewer ITOs, a significant increase in collaborative partnerships between ITOs and improved integration between ITOs and the rest of the tertiary education system.

Private provision of tertiary education will continue to be a part of the system, and, as is the case today, not all of these providers will access public funds. Many PTEs will have addressed the capability issues arising from small size and duplication of provision by forming regional and national collaborative ventures, both amongst themselves and with TEIs, ITOs and iwi.

By 2007 this process of change within the system will be underpinned by a genuine partnership between the Crown and Maori, based on Treaty of Waitangi principles. Kaupapa Maori provision will be a vibrant and essential dimension of our tertiary education system. All Maori will have a choice of quality learning pathways, including kaupapa Maori learning environments.

While academic freedom and the role of providers as semi-autonomous entities will be respected, all tertiary organisations will be encouraged to operate as contributors to the national effort to improve New Zealand’s prosperity and confidence as a nation. Although the values of the traditional university will continue to be relevant, all providers that seek public funds, and particularly those that manage and govern significant infrastructural investment by the Crown, will be required to demonstrate both strategic capacity and alignment with national goals if their activities are to continue to be supported by the public purse.

While the successful (public or private) tertiary system provider, agency or ITO of the future will take many different forms, a number of critical success factors will be common. Successful providers in the New Zealand knowledge society of tomorrow will, amongst other things:

have clearly-articulated and focused individual missions and strategic visions;
be financially and academically viable, including the generation of financial ‘buffers’ for strategic reinvestment;
understand their niche strengths, and focus on areas of distinctive advantage to their region and for New Zealand;
be aligned to business, unions, industry, science sectors, communities and regions in terms of curricula, research, innovation and careers;
be a vital part of economic, social and environmental development regionally, nationally and internationally;
continually maintain international standards of excellence in teaching and research;
not rely on Government alone to make the difference;
take responsibility for improved outcomes for Maori communities;
take responsibility for improved outcomes for Pacific learners;
be involved in numerous strategic alliances, partnerships and networks of all kinds;
diversify revenue streams;
prioritise continued investment in technology and teaching/research capability;
demonstrate and embrace new teaching modes that recognise different styles of learning;
have staff who are experimenting with discovery-based and inquiry-based approaches, in institutional and in workplace or community settings;
have students and staff who are making innovative use of new learning technologies;
view technology as a way to achieve strategic goals rather than as a general resource;
have high standards for delivering on their missions;
be actively involved in research where they are providing degree-level education;
serve as the R&D arms of economic clusters where they have a research focus; and
be continually reconfiguring to meet the challenges of a global educational community transformed by technology in a new global economy.

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