CHAIR & CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S REPORT $1.97 MILLION AS A RESULT OF IMPROVED ENROLMENTS AND OUR CONTINUING EFFORTS TO OPERATE MORE EFFICIENTLY, WE ENDED THE YEAR WITH A SURPLUS OF $1.97 MILLION (2.7% OF TOTAL REVENUE). SOUND FINANCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL PERFORMANCE Once again our domestic student numbers increased, with our provision in the region growing an impressive 12%. Much of this growth was in sectors of key importance to the Waikato, including engineering, midwifery, nursing and early childhood education. While the recession no doubt contributed to this rise in numbers, we did see similar increases in 2008 as a result of our improving reputation in the region. Importantly, this growth was managed without exceeding our funding cap. Our relationships with leading institutions in China, India, the Middle East and South East Asia continue to develop, resulting in a 12% increase in international student numbers this year. While the revenue these students generate is unquestionably important to us, the region and New Zealand as a whole, we have benefited equally from the exposure and opportunities afforded by having international partners and a globally diverse student body. As a result of improved enrolments and our continuing efforts to operate more efficiently, we ended the year with a surplus of $1.97 million (2.7% of total revenue). While a little below the expected 3% return, given that we received no QRP funding in <strong>2009</strong> and that we continued to invest heavily in our future through our modernisation and campus development programmes, we are pleased with this result. This sound financial result was coupled with some very positive academic performance. We were able to increase the proportion of our provision at level 4 and above, particularly at degree level. We also launched a number of new and redeveloped programmes in response to demand from industry, including those in such areas as business management and enterprise, mental health, extractive industries, early childhood education, trades, fitness, applied technology, and nursing and midwifery. Extremely positive feedback was received from ITP Quality panellists about these qualifications, particularly for the way in which we work with employers to ensure their relevancy and credibility. We continued with our ‘whole of organisation’ approach to quality in <strong>2009</strong>, with a particular focus on risk management and business excellence. Following our successful participation in the pilot of the new national quality assurance framework in 2008, we have now implemented the system organisation-wide. Staff have responded well to this self-assessment model as it is clear that it results in continuous improvement. We invested heavily in our staff this year with the launch of a comprehensive management development programme. This saw all of our senior and middle managers, as well as team leaders, complete specially-designed training to improve the overall capability of our management team. This will help ensure that the momentum of our ongoing organisational modernisation and change programme - Project Connect - continues, further enhancing our performance in coming years. We made good progress with some of the other major projects within this change programme in <strong>2009</strong>, including academic workload (increasing average teaching hours), timetabling (making better use of facilities by scheduling teaching more evenly across the week), student management processes (making enrolment faster and simpler for students), flexible delivery and IT improvements (to ensure we are using leading edge teaching and delivery technologies), and student outcomes (to enhance retention and completion rates). 8 _ <strong>Wintec</strong> <strong>Annual</strong> <strong>Report</strong> <strong>2009</strong>
OVERVIEW 9 _ <strong>Wintec</strong> <strong>Annual</strong> <strong>Report</strong> <strong>2009</strong>