Consultation on a new business model for Ako Aotearoa
The Minister for Tertiary Education has asked Ako Aotearoa to consult with the tertiary education sector as a whole on the development of a new business model for the organisation. This request forms part of the renegotiation of Ako Aotearoa’s funding agreement with the Tertiary Education Commission. As New Zealand’s National Centre for Tertiary Teaching Excellence, we are recognised as doing good work, but the minister is asking us to be more ambitious about how we might best support the sector in the future and, in return, gain more support from the sector.
By Tom Prebble, interim director, strategy, Ako Aotearoa
We are looking for a model that will challenge us to demonstrate the value of what we provide to the sector. We are also looking for a model that is increasingly sustainable, one that allows us to increase our activities and contribution to the sector in a way that is not entirely dependent on additional government funding.
The Board of Ako Aotearoa has contracted TNS to undertake this consultation process on its behalf. The consultation process will have three phases.
- Phase 1 began in late August, and TNS has been canvassing a small group of leading stakeholders about the opportunities and options open to Ako Aotearoa. This will allow the consultants to confirm the proposals and questions to put to a wider sample of stakeholders and clients of the organisation. As part of this first phase, the Board, staff and Māori and Pacific peoples’ caucuses of Ako Aotearoa are also being consulted.
- Phase 2 will involve in-depth interviews with a larger sample of stakeholders and clients. These interviews will take place during late September and early October.
- Phase 3 will provide an opportunity for clients at large to contribute to the consultation process either by responding to a short online survey or participating in an online discussion forum. This phase of the consultation will take place at the same time as Phase 2.
The precise nature of the proposals and questions that will go out for consultation has yet to be confirmed, but a few things are clear. The consultants will be focusing on identifying the services that Ako Aotearoa currently provides, or could provide, that various parts of the sector place greatest value on. The consultants are also likely to explore options for Ako Aotearoa to share the costs for some of these activities with the beneficiaries of those services. This sharing might take the form of direct financial investment by the institution or individual concerned or, just as likely, by acknowledging the “in kind” investments that institutions currently make to many of the projects that attract funding from Ako Aotearoa.
This is a timely opportunity for Ako Aotearoa to reassess the way it does its work and the value that the sector places in that work. Our hope is that this consultation process will help lay the foundation for a business plan and work programme that will take Ako Aotearoa forward to a new level of activity. We encourage you to view this consultation process as a chance to be part of shaping the future of teaching and learning in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Your input is important to us, and we ask that you please take the time to provide your feedback through phases 2 and 3 – via the online survey and/or online discussion forum, and the in-depth interviews.
If you have any questions before phases 2 and 3 commence, you are welcome to contact me at: T.K.Prebble@massey.ac.nz
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