Source: Tertiary Education Commission
Last updated 28 August 2019
Last updated 28 August 2019
The Establishment Board of the New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology (the institute) named earlier this month, has been busy planning its work and establishing a base in Christchurch, and has also been out on the road meeting stakeholders.
The Establishment Board of the New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology (the institute) named earlier this month, has been busy planning its work and establishing a base in Christchurch, and has also been out on the road meeting stakeholders.
The chair of the Establishment Board, Barry Jordan, began meeting with the people and organisations that the reform would affect following Minister Hipkins’ announcement. To date, Barry has visited the country’s institutes of technology and polytechnics (ITPs) and will start meeting face-to-face with Industry Training Organisations (ITOs) as the new month commences.
An interim executive director of the institute has also been named. Murray Strong was confirmed in this position on 22 August and will stay in the role until 31 March 2020.
In the weeks following the confirmation of their roles, each of the institute’s Board members have been assigned and confirmed a workstream. Board members are considering a draft plan for these workstreams ahead of their first Board meeting, which will be held in Christchurch on 6 September. The plan will be confirmed at that time. The process and timing for the appointment of the permanent chief executive officer will also be decided at the meeting.
Additionally, an implementation plan will run from the first Board meeting until 1 April 2020, and will be published on the institute’s website. This implementation plan will be open to view, with regular updates provided, says Murray Strong. “It’s critical that our approach includes good communication and transparency.” To Murray, “Being transparent is the only way to make this work successful.”
The Board is currently drafting capability and skill requirements in order to recruit the right staff and people from the sector. Barry has commented that the work has so far been business as usual and will follow in this manner for some time.
There will be opportunities for regular feedback on the implementation plan once it is published.
