Trans-Tasman policy borrowing: Building resilience in institutional policy systems and processes through local and international sharing, networking and collaboration

Abstract

New Zealand tertiary education organisations (TEOs) and Australian tertiary education providers both face regulation increasingly reliant on institutional policy to evidence compliance. Whereas the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) Tertiary Evaluation Indicators require evidence that institutional policies and practices are ‘legal and ethical’ and ‘minimise barriers to learning', Australian providers must comply with the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) Threshold Standards and evidence policy implementation, benchmarking and improvement over time. Policy and compliance practitioners on both sides of the Tasman are grappling with these issues and in some instances, duplicating effort to respond to requirements. This session will draw on a study involving document analysis of publicly available, internet-based institutional meta-policy (that is, policy on policy) and associated resources of some New Zealand and Australian tertiary education providers, and reflect on contemporary policy management themes emerging from Association for Tertiary Education Management (ATEM) Institutional Policy Network forums, ATEM teleconference policy group discussions, and discussions held (December 2012) with staff from select New Zealand universities and polytechnics. These reflections span institutional policy management systems and processes, and experiences regarding policy implementation compliance. While many institutions have established systems for developing institutional policy, few have publicly available information demonstrating how policy is ‘legal and ethical’, few appear well placed to evidence compliance, and there are limited resources available to support value-adding policy cycle stages required to comply with regulator requirements. This session explores avenues for trans-Tasman policy borrowing, networking, and information-exchange to collaboratively face these regulation-driven institutional policy challenges.