ITP Councils: Built for comfort or speed?

ITP Councils: Built for comfort or speed?

How will the new Governing Councils of Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics (ITPs) measure performance?

Government has spelt out their requirements and expectations in the Tertiary Education Strategy 2010 – 2015.

While that gives direction at the highest level, councils will have to do more. It is essential that the new councils develop clear guidance on what the dashboard of performance looks like.

Kaplan & Norton’s “The Balanced Scorecard” (1989) provides a solid starting point with its four major perspectives : financial, customer, internal business processes and learning and growth perspectives all linked together around the core vision and strategy of the institution.

Financial responsibility is a given.

Customer satisfaction of students and organisations that purchase services from the institution must also be measured. This does not necessitate student membership of Council.

Internal Business Processes involve staff as core to the operation of the institution. The Council’s dashboard must monitor the health of the institution through such measures as staff turnover and results of exit interviews. The councils will be holding the Principal/CEO to account that these measures show healthy performance and continuous improvement. Monitoring of these measures does not necessitate staff membership of Council.

Learning and Growth should be an education institution’s core competency. Many internal and external influences impact on an organisation’s ability to change and improve, but then that’s why it’s called the Balanced Scorecard, and that’s why we need the best people to govern our $3 billion annual investment in tertiary education.

ENDS

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