Achieving more by spending less:

Changing practice in a tertiary institution

What we do makes a difference

Graeme McClennan

Julie Wood

Dilbert

The Setting

• Manukau Institute of Technology is an ITP situated in Manukau City, in the southern suburbs of Auckland and serves a very diverse population

Our Mission Statement commits us to being “a leading tertiary provider of high quality, relevant and accessible vocational education and training on a strong base of applied research”.

2005 – EFTS: 7848

• 1569 were for Community Education

• 32,000 actual students

Ethnic background of students

• New Zealand Maori 11.1%• Pasifika 20.6%• European 57.2%• Other 11.1%

2005 Annual Report: Realising the Vision

Range of Qualifications offered:

• Certificate 91• Graduate Certificate 6• Diploma 46• Advanced / Graduate Diploma 7• Degree 7• Post graduate 2

2005 Annual Report: Realising the Vision

The External Environment

Statement of Tertiary Education Priorities• Strength system capability and quality• Contribute to the achievement of Maori

development aspirations• Raise foundation skills so that all people can

participate in our knowledge society• Develop the skills New Zealanders need for our

knowledge society• Educate for Pacific Peoples’ inclusion and

development• Strengthen research, knowledge creation and

uptake in our knowledge society

Cuts in Community Education Funding (#5.1)

Regional Focus

The Institute’s response was to strengthen the Institute’s capability

• Expenditure control and budget management

• Changes in academic programmes

• Increasing our sources of revenue

• Redefining and reorganising ways of doing things

New CEO appointed in May 2004

• Key message – one MIT

Executive reorganised

Strategic Plan: realising the vision• Grow to meet regional needs• Continue to enhance successful

participation• Strengthen institute viability through

improved internal business performance and practice

• Continue to strengthen effective links to industry and the professions

• Build the professional reputation of the institute

The Reviews

“We trained hard. But it seems that every time we were beginning to form up into

teams we would be reorganised. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any

new situation by reorganising; and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing

confusion, inefficiency and demoralisation.”

Petronius Arbiter, died 66AD

1) 2003 Schools Relationship Review

• Even before current TEC directives MIT had already begun to rethink its relationship with its local community of schools

• Main Recommendations– Counties Manukau focus for recruitment and

Pathways activity– Differentiated liaison plan for each school– Scholarship programme– Senior Schools Fellowship– Curriculum Alignment process to be applied to all

programmes/courses involving school students and school leavers

– Structural changes to support schools relationship and creation of a new position –– mine!

Results

• Continued rise in school leaver enrolments2002 7572003 8172004 8772005 936

• % of Counties Manukau students continues to rise. Over 90% come from our local and targeted areas.

• Reduction in numbers of schools we sell programmes to with a small rise in $ value

2004 98 schools $ 293,0002005 66 $ 308,9202006 56 $ 311,010 *

*estimated

• Scholarship programmes for Counties Manukau Schools implemented

• Senior Schools Fellow appointed from 2004

2) 2005 Business Relationship Review

Recommendations:

• A central Business Relations Unit be responsible for the co ordination of business relations and co ordination throughout the institute.

• Establishment of a centralised database of all contacts with business throughout the institute developed and maintained by the CBD

• A generic position description for Business Relationship Managers in teaching departments be developed

Results

• All of the above

and

• A new manager (replacement) appointed

and

• A strategic plan for CBD underway

3) 2005 Marketing and Communications

• In June 2005 Institute undertook MaXimisE* review

• Review suggested that Marketing introduce:– an alumni programme– a designated PR team

• Marketing strategy began to be refined at same time as cuts in funding

• Centralisation of all marketing budgets

• Reallocation of a proportion of the marketing resource to establish a PR and Events unit

• Communication strategy refined to meet budget constraints based on Press supported by a small amount of outdoor billboards

• Pro-active PR strategy• Alumni programme developed• Strong emphasis on quality and content of

website• Move to more e-marketing• Enquiry management capacity continues

to be developed

Results• 40% reduction in marketing spend• Web enquiries increased by:

100% in last year500% in last two years

• 150% increase in media coverage• Non Community Education EFTS tracking

slightly ahead• April 2006 ‘brand health survey’

– Brand awareness 100%– Increased preference for MIT as a tertiary

provider

The cuts in Marketing spend have been filled by increased staff productivity

As Stephen Holmes from the Knowledge, Partnership points out, the three ‘R’s are crucial to any ITP– Recruitment– Retention– Referral

… and that the third R - referral - is potentially our most effective marketing tool (and the most cost effective).

4) 2005 Academic Development and Quality Assurance

The purpose was to build alignment and integration within the institute and affected the following sections…

• Academic Quality Services

• Centre for Educational Development

• Academic Registry

Results13 recommendations:

• A more integrated and strategically focussed service

• Clear priorities and accountabilities

• Creation of stronger inter-sectional relationship

Because…our underpinning principle is

Student Success

5) 2005 Student Support

• Purpose

– To produce a concise summary of student support services

– To identify duplication of services and lack of consistency

– To identify synergies

• Areas included:– Health and Counselling– Library– Learning Centre– Language Support– Disabilities– Maori / Pasifika Support– Peer Mentoring– International Student Advisors

• The Review identified considerable overlap and fragmentation of reporting lines and challenged the prevalent academic versus non-academic view.

Results

• All central support services became part of the student affairs portfolio… with the intent that once implemented the recommendations would enable:– A clarification of the purpose and philosophy

of support– Clearer reporting lines– Opportunity for better evaluation of services– Increased co-operation between services and

teaching departments

• The clear expectation of a more effective service provision is that it will produce an increased student retention rate.

and

• Generate an increase in income to the institute. It is estimated that at MIT a 1% increase in retention equates to an additional $1 million in income.

Conclusions

• The Reviews undertaken enabled us to face the challenges posed by government.

• The Reviews emphasised the close links that have to be evident between teaching and non-teaching departments.

• There was a consistency of approach across all of the reviews in looking for an integrated model.

• Strong focus on the evaluation of operations and services.

• Additional staffing was only recommended where the review showed it was necessary in order to get the structure right.

• The focus was on getting it right for the student.

• If we can increase both recruitment and retention, referral will take care of itself, as will the bottom line.

“There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to

conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of the new order

of things.”

Machiavelli, 1513