Open Polytechnic gets top marks in audit

Thursday, 1 March 2007, 3:42 pm
Press Release: Open Polytechnic

Open Polytechnic gets top marks in audit

The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand has received top marks from the Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics Quality during its audit process, awarding the distance education specialist quality assured status for a further four years.

The audit report noted the forward thinking nature of the Polytechnic in tying digital communication technologies together with its course design capabilities, ensuring it remains an integral member of the network of tertiary provision in New Zealand.

The Polytechnic had previously received a four year quality assured status – the maximum allowed under the terms of the audit process – in its last full audit carried out by ITP Quality in 2002.

Dr Paul Grimwood, Chief Executive of The Open Polytechnic, says staff at the Lower Hutt based institution work extremely hard to ensure they deliver a high quality of service to their learners and stakeholders, and the outstanding audit result reflected that.

“We have a strong internal audit culture at The Open Polytechnic which ensures that we continually monitor and update our organisational processes to reflect the changing needs of our organisation. No corrective actions were signalled in the ITP Quality audit which shows the robustness of those internal measures,” says Dr Grimwood.

In particular the audit report commended The Open Polytechnic for the design and delivery of its learning materials, noting the significant investment the Polytechnic has put into its Design and Development Centre which ensured it was one of the strongest of its type in the country.

The report also acknowledged the Polytechnic’s elearning development. The Polytechnic currently leads three separate e-Learning projects for the wider tertiary sector with a total of just under $1 million in funding from the Tertiary Education Commission. These follow a $1.5 million funded project to support development of elearning infrastructure for the ITP sector and beyond.

Other commended activities mentioned in the audit report included the support offered to Open Polytechnic students via its Online Campus and freephone and email access to tutors and library service, as well as specialist support from the Polytechnic’s Learning Support Centre.

It also commended the Polytechnic’s Tertiary Study Skills programme which has helped provide a stepping stone for students into Level 5 courses and improved retention rates at the Polytechnic for those students who have undertaken the programme.

The Open Polytechnic’s foundation level LifeWorks programme was also singled out for commendation by the audit team, praising how the Polytechnic monitored the delivery of the programme. They called particular attention to the support and training provided to the LifeWorks coaches who assessed the completed work, and guided students in their studies, and how positive the coaches were on the impact the programme has on its students.

The Open Polytechnic enrolled over 30,000 students last year, and is New Zealand's specialist provider of open and distance learning, offering a wide range of courses and programmes on a national basis.

For further information call freephone 0508 650 200 or check out www.openpolytechnic.ac.nz

ENDS

© Scoop Media