Bids For New Funds Exceed Expectation

MEDIA STATEMENT 2 December 2003

Bids For New Funds Exceed Expectation

The Tertiary Education Commission Te Amorangi Mätuauranga Matua (TEC) has received many more applications than anticipated for its two new funding programmes.

The TEC received 105 applications, amounting to $93 million, for the $14 million available in the e-Learning Collaborative Development Fund (eCDF). It also received 159 applications totalling $134 million for the $20 million available in the Innovation and Development Fund (IDF).

Applications for the first round exceeded available funding by almost $200 million.

“Applications for the 2003/04-2004/05 round of funding closed on 10 October and we are pleased with the outstanding response and that tertiary education organisations have shown so much interest in bidding. We are now prioritising these applications against our assessment criteria,” says TEC Chair Dr Andrew West.

The Government set aside $68 million over the four funding years 2003/04 to 2007/08 for the two new capital and operational funds as part of its programme of developing the capability of tertiary education organisations. The purpose of the eCDF is to build e-learning capability in tertiary education in the form of information and communication (ICT) tools and knowledge. The IDF is intended to foster new and innovative ideas that will improve the operation of the tertiary education system.

All bids have been screened to ensure they meet set criteria and eligible applications have been put forward to an Assessment Panel for each of the two funds, comprising senior representatives from the TEC, Ministry of Education and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, and relevant external experts.

“All applications need to clearly show their contribution to the Government’s Tertiary Education Strategy, how they increase the provision of capability for this strategy, how they avoid fiscal risk to the Government and the applicant’s ability to undertake the project.”

The Assessment Panels’ recommendations will be put forward to the Tertiary Education Commissioners who will make the final decisions on which applications will received funding. All applicants will be notified of the Commissioners’ decisions in the week of 22 December 2003.

Round two of the funding will open for applications in the second half of 2004.

ENDS

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