3 JUNE 2010

NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE, No. 61

7. Content and criteria for a Plan

The proposed Plan will present a summary of the organisation’s planning context, and set out activities (including its mix of provision) and performance commitments. The proposed Plan will need to give effect to the Government’s priorities as set out in the Tertiary Education Strategy 2010–15 (TES).

8. Public administration requirements for tertiary education institutions

Plans of tertiary education institutions must include a forecast Statement of Service Performance, to enable institutions, in each Annual Report, to report on their performance against proposed outcomes described in the Plan.² Those parts of an institution’s Plan that make up the forecast Statement of Service Performance will be expected to reflect the outcome framework agreed with TEC and be prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.

9. Plan content

The proposed Plan must include the following parts:

(i) Plan Context
This part establishes the framework for the proposed Plan. The Plan Context should outline the particular factors that the organisation has considered and intends to respond to, including:

• Government priorities in the TES;
• its mission, role and functions, and how these relate to the outcomes the organisation intends to achieve;
• how it will improve its educational performance;
• the needs of learners, particularly Māori, Pacific peoples and young people under 25 years, and the needs of industry and employers; and
• any key initiatives and/or changes planned in its core activities related to the outcomes the organisation is seeking to achieve through its proposed Plan.

Key background information about the organisation and its operating environment, including a summary of the nature and scope of the organisation’s functions and intended operations, should also be included in the Plan Context.

Tertiary education institutions need to include additional information to ensure that the proposed Plan contains a forecast Statement of Service Performance that reflects the full scope of its activities. This fulfils legislative requirements and generally accepted accounting principles.

(ii) Summary of Activity
This part sets out information on planned delivery over the period of the proposed Plan. The Summary of Activity should include information about:

• SAC or Industry Training Fund learner numbers by National Qualification Framework (Level 1–10);
• other planned programmes and activities, including learner numbers, funded by the TEC;
• total TEC funding sought;
• planned learner numbers in more detail (if requested by the TEC for non-SAC related programmes and activities); and
• a brief description of other outcomes, programmes and activities not funded by the TEC.

The Summary of Activity should align with the direction signalled in the organisation’s Plan Context.

(iii) Performance Commitments
This part should set out proposed performance commitments and the associated indicators used in evaluating performance, including:

• achievement against the Government priorities in the TES;
• meeting the needs of learners, particularly Māori, Pacific peoples and young people under 25 years, and the needs of industry and employers;
• improving educational performance for SAC or industry training funded provision;
• other TEC-funded programmes and activities; and
• any key initiatives and/or changes related to the outcomes the organisation is seeking to achieve through its proposed Plan, as outlined in the Plan Context.

Organisations will be expected to use common educational performance indicators. The commitments in proposed Plans must have a clear connection to the Plan Context and the mix of provision and other activities proposed in the Summary of Activity.

10. Other supplementary information for tertiary education institutions

Information relating to tertiary education institutions’ financial outlook will be required³ during 2010 to support the delivery of the Plan. This financial information will be used when assessing the potential of an organisation to meet its proposed performance commitments. This information will include:

• forecast financial statements for the period of the proposed Plan that have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting practice;
• a statement of all significant assumptions underlying the forecast financial statements;
• capital asset management reporting; and
• any additional information and explanations needed to fairly reflect the forecast financial operations and financial position of the organisation.

11. Decision-making criteria

In reaching a decision about the proposed Plan, including what to fund and the period of funding, the TEC will consider the following in relation to each organisation:

• Its proposed response to the TES, including the Government’s priorities and expectations of organisations;
• its proposed response to the needs of learners, particularly Māori, Pacific peoples and young people under 25 years, and to the needs of industry and employers;
• its performance against the input, output and outcome indicators as defined by the TEC;
• its governance and financial performance, with a focus on sustainability and viability;
• evidence of its management capability in forecasting, planning and implementation (including providing supplementary information as required of tertiary education institutions such as capital asset management reporting);
• whether the activities, including volume of delivery of programmes, outlined in the Summary of Activity section of the proposed Plan are appropriate and achievable; and
• whether any conditions or limits on funding are required, having regard to appropriations, and any relevant and applicable funding determinations issued by the Minister for Tertiary Education under the Education Act 1989.

12. Exemptions

The following organisations are exempted from the requirement to prepare and submit a proposed Plan in 2010 for funding in 2011:

• Organisations with which the TEC is contracting only pilot initiatives and who receive no other funding from the TEC;
• employers receiving only Workplace Literacy funding from the TEC;