FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NZIST Co-Design Working Groups Announced
1 October 2019
Seven working groups have been created to co-design elements of the New Zealand Institute of Skills & Technology (NZIST), says IST Establishment Unit Executive Director, Murray Strong.
The working groups form the Mobilising the New World workstream, one of ten workstreams tasked by Minister of Education,
Chris Hipkins to the IST Establishment Board in order to have the new NZIST operational by 1 April 2020.
“We received more than 500 nominations,” says Strong. “We narrowed that down to 76 individuals, spread across seven
working groups. So we have achieved very good skills, experience and diversity in the final list.
“Throughout the process the sector has been very keen to be at the forefront of leading, owning and supporting change as
part of the Minister’s Reform of Vocational Education programme and he has been very positive about their level of
involvement. The working groups will be led by the sector and external stakeholders.”
Chairs of the working groups are:
Student Journey Map – Debbie Preston, Wintec
Employer and Community Engagement – Linda Stewart, Central Economic Development Agency (CEDA)
Education Products and Services – Phil Ker, Otago Polytechnic
Work-based Learning Development – Fiona Kingsford, Competenz
New Academic Structure for the IST – Chris Collins, EIT
Online Arrangements – Phil Ker, Otago Polytechnic
International Education, Michelle Jordan, Venture Taranaki
Working group members (10 per working group) are in the process of being contacted to confirm their involvement.
Strong says the three Establishment Board members who will lead the Mobilising the New World workstream are Dr Sandra
Grey, Brett O’Riley and Dr Linda Sissons.
“They will be taking a guiding, oversight and ‘critical-friend’ role to the working groups. Establishment Board members
will help ensure alignment and integration across the workstreams.”
“The prime role of these working groups is to provide advice to the incoming permanent NZIST Council in April 2020. The
new Council will consider the suggestions and recommendations of the working groups as it makes future decisions,” says
Barry Jordan, Chair of the IST Establishment Board. “Co-designing the work programme outputs with wide ranging
stakeholders and educators is an important foundation for the long-term sustainability of NZIST.”
Strong says the Establishment Unit will look to create more opportunities for input. “Given the enormous interest, we
will look to develop additional opportunities for feeding into IST Establishment working groups and I encourage
individual institutions to run their own workshops to harness the enthusiasm and talent across the sector to ensure we
have as many people as possible contributing to the Minister’s co-design approach.”
The NZIST is part of the changes to Reform of Vocational Education, announced by Minister of Education, Chris Hipkins on
1 August.
Notes for editors
There are ten workstreams, which together which together form the Day One Deliverables tasked by the Minister of
Education to the Establishment Board. They are:
• Establishment implementation plan
• Chief executive selection
• Transitioning ITPs to subsidiaries
• Day One operational requirements
• Mobilising the new world (with the seven working groups announced today)
• Name and brand
• Stakeholder engagement model
• Board and subsidiary governance model
• Capital asset strategy
• Implementation business case
Ongoing updates on the progress of these workstreams will be available here: https://www.istestablishment.ac.nz/our-progress/day-one-deliverables/
ENDS