Tertiary Education Commissioners appointed

Appointments to the Tertiary Education Commission were announced today.

The Commission, which was established on 1 January 2003, is responsible for implementing the Tertiary Education Strategy and invests $2.2 billion annually in tertiary education and research, industry training, training opportunities programmes and community education.

Appointments have been made to the Commission’s 8-member board to replace its chair, Dr Andrew West, who has recently taken up a new position as Chief Executive of AgResearch and Dr Ian Smith who is moving to Sydney to head up the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation.

Minister responsible for the Tertiary Education Commission Steve Maharey said Cabinet has confirmed deputy chairperson Kaye Turner as the Acting Chairperson and has appointed current board member Shona Butterfield as Acting Deputy Chairperson. Professor Graeme Fraser has been appointed as a new member of the board.

“The Tertiary Education Commission is charged with implementing the government’s tertiary education reform programme. Its priority task is to provide leadership to the post-school education sector so they can better meet the knowledge, skill and research needs of business and society.

“Commissioners are looking forward to a busy year on the back of the release of the peformance-based research fund assessment. Key pieces of work include the forthcoming release of a discussion document on ways to encourage greater differentiation amongst the different types of tertiary education organisations, and intiatives to promote quality tertiary teaching.

“Professor Graeme Fraser will bring his considerable governance and management expertise of the university sector to the Commission’s board. He recently retired as Massey University’s Assistant Vice-Chancellor (Academic) after a a long and distinguished academic career. He currently chairs the board of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority and the Health Research Council and has previously served on university and polytechnic sector quality assurance committees.

“A decision about a permanent chairperson for the Commission will be made later this year,” Steve Maharey said.