ITI NEWSLETTER
Our Views - Degree ProvisionA number of ITI members offer degrees, with the Bible College of New Zealand being the first non-university institution to have a degree approved in New Zealand. Degree provision was limited to universities up until 1990, but any provider that has the required staff, library resources and academic rigour can now seek approval from the New Zealand Qualifications Authority for a degree. Degrees must be taught mainly by people engaged in research, under the Education Act 1989.
The government has traditionally funded degree students at a higher rate than other students because of the extra research that academic staff must do to support their teaching. The government recently shifted that funding into the Performance Based Research Fund and institutions now receive funding based on the research performance of their degree-teaching staff. ITI supported this approach and five of the seven private training establishments participating in the first round of the PBRF were ITI members. Three of our members scored higher than the Auckland University of Technology, the newest university, and Unitec New Zealand, the highest ranked polytechnic in the first round of the PBRF, announced in April 2004.
One of ITI’s founding organisations, the Association of Independent Degree-granting Institutes, had a strong focus on academic collaboration when its members were forging the way in independent degree provision. While members still do offer each other support on degree approval issues, the focus has now shifted to the PBRF, with members networking to improve their performance.
The following ITI members offer degrees.
- Anamata (in PBRF)
- Bible College of New Zealand (in PBRF)
- Bethlehem Tertiary Institute (in PBRF)
- Carey Baptist College (in PBRF)
- Pacific International Hotel Management School
- Whitecliffe College of Arts & Design (in PBRF)