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Academic Governance Committees

Background

The Treaty

“The Treaty of Waitangi is the founding document of New Zealand.  Unitec acknowledges the great importance of this living, dynamic document, and will continue to respect and promote the equal standing which it confers on Māori and Pākehā.” (Source:  Te Noho Kotahitanga – Our partnership, 2020-12-10)

The Legislation

With effect from 1 April 2020, Te Whare Wānanga o Wairaka | Unitec Institute of Technology (Unitec) is a subsidiary company of Te Pūkenga – New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology (Te Pūkenga).  Under the governing legislation (Education and Training Act 2020 (Act)), Unitec will continue to exist as a company until 31 December 2022, or such later date as directed by Order in Council (Transition Phase).  During the Transition Phase, certain references to a Council in the Act must be read as references to the Board of the relevant Te Pūkenga subsidiary.  Accordingly, for the Transition Period, the Board of Unitec is entitled to appoint a Chief Executive and an Academic Board and delegate a range of authorities and functions to them.

The Accountability

As of 2020-04-01, the (former) Academic Board of Unitec was replaced by Te Komiti Mātauranga | Academic Committee.  Instead of reporting to the (former) Council / Commissioner, Te Komiti Mātauranga now reports up to the joint Board of Directors that oversees the Unitec and MIT subsidiaries of Te Pūkenga.

The System

Te Komiti Mātauranga has established a system of Academic Governance Committees (AGCs) which oversee all its programmes, effectively fulfilling the functions of the former Academic Board of Unitec, and refers to the Tertiary Education Commission Good Governance Guide (2019).  The AGCs compose a structured system of rangatiratanga and kaitiakitanga which ensures good governance and oversight of matters related to academic quality and research at Unitec, especially in terms of overseeing the Quality Management System (QMS).  The way they work together is shown in the Organisational Chart of Unitec Academic Governance Committees (Updated: 2020-12-08).  All policies, strategies and major decisions related to academic matters are approved by the AGCs described on this page.  That makes this system a very important part of decision-making at Unitec.

The Handbook (Draft)

An AGC Handbook is being developed specific to the Unitec context.  Note that it is not authoritative and only in draft form.

Committee List

Top-Level Committees

Subcommittees of Te Komiti Mātauranga

Te Komiti Mātauranga has established a number of subcommittees with delegated authority to make decisions on various aspects of Unitec’s work.  Each of those subcommittees is able to further delegate its work if required, generally for purposes of efficient operation.  Most subcommittees meet for 2 hours each month (except January and December).

Other Committees

Meetings, Submissions & Templates

Meetings – In general, each AGC meets monthly, but different committees and situations have varying requirements.  For more information, the contact details for Committee Support are listed on each individual AGC page (links above).

Submissions – In general, Submissions to an AGC are due two weeks before the date of the meeting.  For more information, the contact details for Committee Support are listed on each individual AGC page (links above).

Templates – Any Submission to an AGC should utilise one of the following memo templates as the covering page/s.  Clear, active, purposeful Recommendations hold special importance inside the memo.

  1. Template – Memo for Approval
  2. Template – Memo for Information / Discussion

 

Last updates:
2021-12-06  //  Handbook (draft)  //  dweinholz
2021-03-23  //  Memo templates  //  dweinholz
2020-12-14  //  Background  //  dweinholz
2020-10-14  //  Memo templates  //  dweinholz
2020-09-16  //  Academic Approvals Committee Standing Committee  //  hhodge
2020-09-04  //  Appeal Resolution Committee  //  dweinholz
2020-08-28  //  Background – Organisational Chart; Other Committees – IACs  // dweinholz
2020-03-06  //  Background – Organisational Chart  //  dweinholz
2019-11-27  //  Committee descriptions distributed out to individual webpages  //  dweinholz