Strategic Management Team

The Strategic Management Team are (from left) Bali Haque, Kara Cribb (on secondment to the office of Associate Minister for Education),
Karen Poutasi, Mike Willing, Keith Marshall.

Three new senior managers have joined NZQA in the last few months, heading a new organisational structure.

Qualifications Authority Chief Executive Dr Karen Poutasi says the managers are of the highest calibre and bring extensive senior leadership and management skills to the organisation.

The Deputy Chief Executive positions have been created under a new organisational structure put in place in the wake of last year's external reviews of the Qualifications Authority.

The new structure creates three divisions: Qualifications, Quality Assurance, and Strategic and Corporate Services. The Qualifications Authority is managed by its Strategic Management Team, which comprises the Chief Executive, three Deputy Chief Executives (who manage the three divisions) and the Chief Advisor Māori.

"The changes will result in an improved fit between the organisation's structure and its key business functions," Dr Poutasi says.

Dr Karen Poutasi was appointed Chief Executive in May 2006. Previously Karen was Director General of Health, having worked for more than 25 years in senior roles in health services management. She has extensive experience in change management and organisational development. Karen is a medical graduate of Otago University and her area of specialisation is public health medicine. She has Otago and Harvard management qualifications and has held Harkness and King's Fund fellowships.

Arawhetu Peretini has been seconded into the position of Chief Advisor Māori from mid- October 2006 until mid-February 2007. The existing Chief Advisor Māori, Kara Cribb, has been seconded to the office of Associate Minister for Education, Minister Parekura Horomia.
Arawhetu is of Ngati Kahungunu, Rangitane and Ngai Tahu ki Wairarapa descent. Her experience within the public sector has mostly been in health, with periods in the Special Education Service, Department of Social Welfare and Ministry of Women's Affairs. Most recently she was the Manager, Māori Mental Health at the Ministry of Health.
She has a passion for advancing Māori development in whatever she is doing, be it her work in youth suicide prevention or service development. She is also a Director of Wairarapa Moana Incorporation.
The Chief Advisor Māori is responsible for:

• the Qualifications Authority's Māori Strategy
• strategy and planning
• support and advice
• relationship management.

Bali Haque joined the Qualifications Authority in September 2006. He has extensive experience in the secondary education sector, having led three schools through significant change over 14 years. Bali has also been actively involved in advising the Ministry of Education and the Qualifications Authority on a wide range of initiatives, ranging from strategic planning and reporting to curriculum development and the development of the NCEA. Bali was a member of the National Executive of the Secondary Principals' Association of New Zealand for eight years and was President for one year during 2003/04.
Qualifications Division

The Qualifications Division is responsible for:

• developing and monitoring unit standards and national qualifications on the National Qualifications Framework
• running national senior secondary school examinations and liaising with secondary schools on assessment matters
• maintaining the national Record of Learning (RoL)
• working with tertiary providers to ensure their internal assessment fits with the national standard
• providing a qualifications recognition service for people from overseas wishing to live, work or study in New Zealand
• supporting and encouraging the uptake by providers of qualifications from the Field Māori section of the National Qualifications Framework.

Keith Marshall joined the Qualifications Authority in July 2006. Previously, Keith worked in a number of contract and consulting positions on projects in both the public service and the commercial sector. His roles as general manager and chief executive have given him extensive experience in a broad range of corporate service areas, including information and financial management, audit, policy, organisational review and development, and governance and strategy.
Strategic and Corporate Services Division

The Strategic and Corporate Services Division is responsible for:

• strategic functions, including the development of policy and strategy, planning, reporting, ministerial liaison, international issues, research, monitoring and analysis
• corporate functions, including internal audit, communications, finance, information services, human resources, knowledge services, records, call centre, administration, reception, customer resource services and legal services.

Mike Willing joined the Qualifications Authority in July 2006. Mike has significant quality assurance experience as well as practical knowledge of industry training gained from key roles in the private sector. He had a long career with the New Zealand Dairy Board and, since 2001, with Fonterra, working on the design, development and delivery of quality assurance and Total Quality Management processes. A trained teacher, he worked briefly in the education system early in his career.

Quality Assurance Division
The Quality Assurance Division is responsible for:

• setting criteria for course approval and accreditation across the tertiary sector
• registering Private Training Establishments (PTEs)
• approving all courses for PTEs, Government Training Establishments (GTEs) and wānanga, and all postgraduate courses for Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics (ITPs)
• accrediting and auditing PTEs, GTEs, wānanga and Industry Training Organisations (ITOs)
• gazetting quality assurance criteria for universities
• monitoring functions delegated to the Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics Quality (ITPQ)
• registering and quality assuring standards as part of the National Qualifications Framework
• administering the New Zealand Register of Quality Assured Qualifications.