Tertiary Education Commission

Education Act 1989

Education (Proposed Investment Plans: Requirements, Content, Submission and Assessment) Notice 2012

Pursuant to sections 159P, 159R, 159U and 159Y of the Education Act 1989, the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) gives the following notice.

Notice

1. Title—This notice may be cited as the Education (Proposed Investment Plans: Requirements, Content, Submission and Assessment) Notice 2012.

2. Commencement—This notice applies from the date of its publication.

3. Application—This notice revokes and replaces the Requirements and Exemptions for Investment Plans From 2011 Onwards for Tertiary Education Organisations Notice 2010*.

4. Who must submit a proposed Plan—To be eligible to access funding from the TEC for 2012 and onwards, all organisations, other than those exempted by paragraph 17 of this notice and organisations that have funding approval for their current Investment Plan (Plan) beyond 31 December 2011, are required to submit a proposed Plan.

5. Previous allocation of Student Achievement Component (SAC), Tertiary Education Organisation (TEO) Component or other TEC or government funding does not create an entitlement of future funding at any level from the TEC.

6. Decision-making criteria—The TEC will use the criteria listed below to assess a proposed Plan to determine if it will receive funding approval, and to decide which tertiary education programmes and activities in the proposed Plan to fund, and the amount and the period of funding.

7. These criteria allow the TEC to assess the alignment of what an organisation is proposing in relation to Government priorities and stakeholder needs, its capability to deliver on its Plan, and its eligibility for funding.

8. The TEC will use the following criteria to assess a proposed Plan:

   • The organisation’s proposed response to the Tertiary Education Strategy 2010–15 (TES), including how the organisation contributes to and meets the Government’s priorities and expectations;
   • the organisation’s proposed response to the needs and priorities of its learners and other stakeholders, and the consultation undertaken to inform that response;
   • whether the organisation’s activities, including volume of delivery of programmes, outlined in the proposed Plan are appropriate and achievable;
   • the organisation’s past performance against Plan commitments, including any performance indicators or other measures of performance required by the TEC;
   • the appropriateness of the organisation’s proposed performance commitments for the Plan period, including any performance indicators required by the TEC;
   • the organisation’s contribution to tertiary provision regionally and nationally;
   • the organisation’s governance and financial performance, with a focus on quality, sustainability and viability;
   • evidence of the organisation’s management capability in forecasting, planning and implementation (including providing supplementary information as required of tertiary education institutions such as capital asset management reporting); and
   • whether any conditions or limits on funding are required, having regard to available appropriations, and any relevant and applicable funding determinations issued by the Minister for Tertiary Education under the Education Act 1989.

9. When making decisions, the TEC will use a range of evidence, including the information contained in a proposed Plan, monitoring and financial information, Quality Assurance Bodies’ reports, Plan engagement (where applicable), and both national and regional demographic and economic data.

10. Content for proposed Plans—The proposed Plan must be a summary-level document. The scale of the proposed Plan will depend on the size and complexity of the submitting organisation.

11. The proposed Plan will present a summary of the organisation’s planning context, and set out its proposed 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 TES.

12. The proposed Plan should demonstrate how the organisation will achieve the outcomes for learners and other stakeholders.

13. 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.

14. 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 responded to, including:

    • the organisation’s mission, role and functions, and how these relate to the outcomes the organisation intends to achieve;
    • the organisation’s proposed response to the TES, including how the organisation contributes to the Government’s priorities and expectations;
    • the organisation’s proposed response to the needs and priorities of its learners and other stakeholders;
    • how the organisation will improve its educational performance; 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 proposed Plan Context.

    (ii) Summary of Activity

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

    • planned programmes and activities for SAC or the Industry Training Fund (ITF), including learner numbers by New Zealand Qualification Framework (Level 1–10);