Pursuant to sections 159P, 159R, 159U and 159Y of the Education Act 1989, the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) gives the following notice.
N o t i c e
1. Title-This notice may be cited as the Education (Proposed Investment Plans: Requirements, Content, Submission and Assessment) Notice 2012 No. 2.
2. Commencement-This notice applies from the date of its publication.
3. Application-This notice revokes and replaces the Education (Proposed Investment Plans: Requirements, Content, Submission and Assessment) Notice1.
4. Introduction-The TEC may decide to fund the tertiary education programmes and activities described in a proposed Investment Plan ("Plan") submitted by a tertiary education organisation (TEO) for a period of up to three years.
To be eligible to access TEC funding from 2013 onwards, all TEOs other than those exempted by this notice are required to submit a proposed Plan. Previous allocation of TEC or Government funding does not create an entitlement to future funding at any level from the TEC.
The length of the proposed Plan will depend on the size and complexity of the submitting TEO.
5. Plan content-The proposed Plan must concisely describe:
- the TEO’s planning context, including its mission and role and the outcomes to which the TEO intends to contribute;
- the activities and services (including mix of provision) that the TEO will undertake to contribute to these outcomes; and
- how the TEO will measure its contribution to outcomes.
The proposed Plan must therefore include the following parts, each of which must clearly connect and align with the others:
(i) Plan Context
The Plan Context must establish the framework for the proposed Plan by presenting the TEO’s strategic direction: that is, its particular mission, role and functions, reflecting any changes in response to the Tertiary Education Strategy (TES) priorities and how it intends to give effect to those priorities in the short and medium term.
The Plan Context must give key information about the TEO and its operating environment, including a summary of the nature and scope of the TEO’s functions and intended operations over the next three years. It must explain:
- how the TEO intends to respond to Government priorities in the Tertiary Education Strategy 2010-15;
- how the TEO intends to identify and respond to the needs of its community of learners and potential learners, industry and employers, and in particular:
- how it will accelerate improvement of participation and achievement for Maori learners;
- how it will accelerate improvement of participation and achievement for Pacific learners;
- how it will accelerate improvement of participation, engagement and achievement
of young learners aged under 25; and
- how it will adapt its provision to support the needs of industry and employers;
- how the TEO has performed against the commitments it made in its last Plan (for TEOs that have previously received Plan funding);
- the findings of any quality assurance reviews;
- any key changes the TEO is making that are likely to have a significant impact on its educational performance or other outcomes; and
- for tertiary education institutions (universities, institutes of technology and polytechnics, and wananga) only, the Plan Context section should also briefly explain how the institution will manage its capital assets to support its mission and role over the period of the proposed Plan (including any new significant capital initiatives).
(ii) Summary of Activity
The Plan must include a Summary of Activity that sets out information on planned delivery over the period of the proposed Plan. The proposed activity must align with and support the achievement of the strategic direction presented in the Plan Context.
The Summary of Activity must include information about:
- planned programmes and activities for which the TEO is seeking Student Achievement Component (SAC) or Industry Training Fund funding, including learner numbers by New Zealand Qualification Framework Level;
- other planned programmes and activities for which funding is sought from the TEC, including learner numbers;
- total TEC funding;
- planned learner numbers in more detail, if requested by the TEC, for non-SAC-funded programmes and activities; and
- a brief description of other programmes
and activities not funded by the TEC, including significant activities undertaken through subsidiary bodies.
The TEC will provide guidance to TEOs about the format in which they must submit this information.
(iii) Performance Commitments
This section sets out proposed performance commitments that the TEC will use to evaluate
the TEO’s performance. The TEC will provide
all TEOs with information about specific metrics they must use when making certain performance commitments, and in some cases will specify minimum commitments for TEOs.
In addition to the mandatory commitments set by the TEC, TEOs may propose additional commitments as they see fit in the following areas, aligned to their Plan Context and Summary of Activity:
- Achievement against the Government priorities in the Tertiary Education Strategy 2010-2015;
- meeting the needs of learners, particularly:
- Maori learners;
- Pacific learners;
- young people under 25 years; and
- learners needing improved literacy, language and numeracy skills;
- meeting the needs of employers, businesses and industry;
- improving performance (including but not limited to educational performance) across TEC-funded programmes and activities; and
- any key initiatives and/or changes related to the outcomes the TEO is seeking to contribute to through its proposed Plan, as outlined in the Plan Context.
6. Particular requirements for Plans of tertiary education institutions-To enable tertiary education institutions to report on performance compared with proposed outcomes in their Statement of Service Performance (SSP), plans of TEIs should include a forecast SSP2.
The forecast SSP should be prepared in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (GAAP).
The forecast SSP should reflect the full scope of the institution’s activities, which will include but not be covered completely by the performance commitments.
The forecast SSP should focus on the outputs/services
of the institution, and must include measures and visible information about the quality of these services.
The broader Plan should present a clear and structured narrative that describes how the outputs in the SSP contribute to the TEI’s proposed outcomes.
The outcomes framework agreed with the TEC, or an institution’s own outcomes framework, should facilitate this narrative. The TEC expects the narrative to rely on research, such as in the General Social Survey and the Employment Outcomes of Tertiary Education report, showing how outputs aggregated by subsector or qualification levels and areas contribute to high-level outcomes.
7. Other supplementary information for tertiary education institutions-The TEC may ask tertiary education institutions to provide additional information about their financial outlook to accompany their proposed Plans.
This might include forecast financial statements, capital asset management information, and any other information and explanations needed to fairly reflect the forecast financial operations and financial position of the institution (eg information about subsidiaries for which the
institution has residual liability).
The TEC may use this additional information when assessing the potential of the institution to meet its proposed performance commitments.
8. Decision making criteria-These criteria allow the TEC to assess the alignment of an eligible TEO’s proposed direction and activities to Government priorities and regional and national need, as well as its capability to deliver on its Plan. The purpose of this assessment is for
the TEC to determine which (if any) of the tertiary education programmes and activities in the proposed Plan
to fund, and the amount and the period of funding.
TEC will make a holistic judgement on these matters.
(i) For tertiary education institutions only, the TEC will use the following criteria to assess proposed Plans:
- Whether the institution’s proposed mission and role, and the outcomes the institution intends to contribute to, show an awareness of the institution’s place in the regional and national tertiary system;
- whether the institution has clearly and accurately identified its key stakeholders, which must include:
- employers, businesses or industries relevant to the institution’s areas of delivery; and
- learners or prospective learners, in particular those who are Maori, or Pacific, or under the age of 25, or who have low levels of literacy, language, and numeracy;
- how the institution has ascertained the needs of its key stakeholders, including through consultation and the use of statistical information about regional or national demographics and labour market demand;
- how the institution has planned its proposed programmes and activities to respond to the needs of its stakeholders and the priorities of the Tertiary Education Strategy 2010-2015;
- whether the TEC considers that the institution is likely to be able to carry out the programmes and activities (including capital asset management), and contribute to the outcomes, outlined in the proposed Plan;
- whether the TEC considers that the institution’s proposed programmes and activities (including capital asset plans) are desirable and appropriate in the context of regional and national need and the proposed programmes and activities of other TEOs;
- whether the institution’s proposed performance measures are:
- relevant, so that they give meaningful information about the institution’s performance against its objectives;
- complete, so that they cover all significant programmes and activities the institution intends to undertake, and all important dimensions of those activities;
- clearly presented, so that their content and relevance is clear;
- whether the institution’s proposed performance commitments are appropriate and achievable, and whether they represent a meaningful improvement on past performance against the objectives of
the Tertiary Education Strategy 2010-2015, especially with respect to outcomes for priority learner groups;
- whether the institution has performed adequately against current or past Plans, including:
- whether the institution’s educational performance is satisfactory, and whether it meets the upper thresholds of the TEC’s Performance Linked Funding framework;
- whether the institution’s financial performance is satisfactory, as determined by the TEC’s Financial Monitoring Framework assessment;
- whether the institution has good management capability in forecasting, planning and implementation, and can provide supplementary information such as capital asset management reporting;
- whether the institution meets the expectations expressed in this notice regarding the inclusion of a forecast SSP in its Plan; and
- when assessing programmes and activities through the competitive process for Student Achievement Component funding at level 1 and 2:
- whether the amount of funding sought for providing level 1 and 2 programmes and activities is the best value for money, having regard to the Government’s stated objectives for foundation education, price proposed by other TEOs, the nature of the proposed programmes and activities, and regional and national need.
(ii) For industry training organisations, private training establishments, community providers and schools only, the TEC will use the following criteria to assess proposed Plans:
- Whether the TEO’s proposed mission and role, and its proposed outcomes, show an awareness of the TEO’s place in the regional and national tertiary system;
- whether the TEO has clearly and accurately identified its key stakeholders, which must include:
- employers, businesses or industries relevant to the TEO’s areas of delivery; and
- learners or prospective learners, in particular those who are Maori, or Pacific, or under the age of 25, or who have low levels of literacy, language, and numeracy;
- how the TEO has ascertained the needs of its key stakeholders, including through consultation and the use of statistical information about regional or national demographics and labour market demand;
- how the TEO has planned its proposed programmes and activities to respond to the needs of its stakeholders and the priorities of the Tertiary Education Strategy 2010-2015;
- whether the TEC considers that the TEO is likely to be able to carry out the programmes and activities, and achieve the outcomes, outlined in the proposed Plan;
- whether the TEC considers that the TEO’s proposed programmes and activities are desirable and appropriate in the context of regional and national need and the proposed programmes and activities of other TEOs;
- whether the TEO’s proposed performance measures (ie the metrics used) are:
- relevant, so that they give meaningful information about the TEO’s performance against its objectives;
- complete, so that they cover all significant programmes and activities the TEO intends to undertake, and all important dimensions of those activities;
- clearly presented, so that their content and relevance is clear;
- whether the TEO’s proposed performance commitments (ie the targets set) are appropriate and achievable, and whether they represent a meaningful improvement on past performance against the objectives of the Tertiary Education Strategy 2010-2015, especially with respect to outcomes for priority learner groups;
- whether the TEO has performed adequately against current or past Plans, including:
- whether the TEO’s educational performance is satisfactory, and whether it meets the upper thresholds of the TEC’s Performance Linked Funding framework;
- whether the TEO is financially viable and sustainable; and
- whether the TEO has good management capability in forecasting, planning and implementation; and
- when assessing programmes and activities through the competitive process for Student Achievement Component funding at level 1 and 2:
- whether the amount of funding sought for providing level 1 and 2 programmes and activities is the best value for money,
having regard to the Government’s stated objectives for foundation education, the
price proposed by other TEOs, the nature of
the proposed programmes and activities, and regional and national need.
When assessing Plans against the criteria, the TEC may
use a range of evidence, including, without limitation,
the information contained in a proposed Plan, TEC monitoring information (including funding, organisational and financial data), Quality Assurance Bodies’ reports, Plan engagement (where applicable), and both national and regional demographic and economic data.
The TEC will also decide whether any conditions or limits on funding approval are required, having regard to appropriations and any relevant funding determinations issued by the Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment under the Education Act 1989.
9. Exemptions-The following TEOs are exempted from the requirement to prepare and submit a proposed Plan for funding for 2013 onward:
- Schools whose only funding from the TEC is for Gateway;
- TEOs with which the TEC is contracting only pilot initiatives and which receive no other funding from the TEC;
- employers receiving only Workplace Literacy funding from the TEC;
- government training establishments;
- TEOs that receive only the English for Migrants
pre-purchased English tuition fees from the TEC; and
- Worldskills New Zealand.
The TEOs that receive only Modern Apprenticeships Co-ordinator funding from the TEC are not required to submit a Plan, as this funding is not administered under a funding mechanism that provides for funding via Plans.
10. Timelines and processes-The TEC’s Plan Guidance and other information to assist TEOs in developing their proposed Plans, including information about timelines and submission processes, is published on the TEC’s website
www.tec.govt.nz
Dated at Wellington this 26th day of June 2012.
BELINDA CLARK, Chief Executive, Tertiary Education Commission.
1New Zealand Gazette, 29 March 2012, No. 37, page 1109
2Refer to sections 220(2A)(f) and 220(2B) of the Education Act 1989 and section 156 of the Crown Entities Act 2004.