I started a series on ITP Councils in early February but have been distracted from it over the last couple of weeks. so I thought I’d better write something about Ministerial appointees. (This is the sixth post in a series on ITP Council changes – the seventh will be on Joyce’s decisions and the last one will be on the final shape of ITP Councils.)

The Minister has been able to appoint four people to tertiary education institution councils under the Education Act 1989, but changes to the Act last last year mean that those four reps will be half of the total Council in ITPs. The Minister is also able to appoint the Chairperson at ITPs. He will do so next week.

I am supportive of the Minister appointing people to the Councils of ITPs, as the Minister does represent the ultimate owner of the institution (putting aside university sector semantics). But there are problems. If the Minister is to name representatives, then you would expect a clear vision as to what the Council is supposed to do and what competencies are needed on the Councils – I’m not confident that the current process consistently delivers on those issues (under this Minister or his predecessors over 20 years). I expect a pretty clear message from the Minister next week though. Of course, whatever you do with process design, Ministers are still bound to appoint party flunkies from time to time.

Another issue is the protection of institutional autonomy, but that is becoming less important in ITPs. Institutional autonomy has never been a standalone item – a better shorthand would be the “institutional autonomy-regulation balance”, which more accurately reflects section 160 of the Education Act 1989. And over the last couple of years, government agencies and Ministers have clearly decided that institutional autonomy is less important than institutional regulation in ITPs. In that light, it seems quite sensible to have greater Ministerial input in Councils.

Finally, whatever you or I might think about whether or how the Minister should appoint people to Councils, the political reality is that not many people care about it and that it was as easy as pie for the government to change the legislation last year. It’s a useful lesson for how things that seem set in stone can change very quickly, and one that we might see more or this year.