New Zealand's two largest Institutes of Technology have formalised a collaborative approach on strategic direction, programme development and academic alignment to enhance vocational education and training outcomes for the country's largest city.

Manukau Institute of Technology and Unitec Institute of Technology (Unitec) together educate approximately 50,000 students each year in a diverse range of career-focused programmes delivered from campuses in South, Central, West and Northern Auckland.

Delivering on the government's tertiary education strategy, both institutions educate and deliver work-ready graduates with the professional skills and training required to contribute to the long term economic and social needs of Auckland and New Zealand.

For the last two years both institutes have shared common governance through Kaye Turner, a government-appointed Council representative who chairs MIT's Council and is deputy chair of Unitec's Council. During this time joint Council strategy days and close cooperation between the leadership teams have created mechanisms for working collaboratively to meet the long-term needs of Auckland.

"By formalising our relationship we can deliver a better, stronger service for the people and employers of Auckland," says Unitec Chief Executive Dr Rick Ede. "We've long recognized the synergies between the two institutes but have also acknowledged the complementary nature of the two organisations. This approach allows the people of Auckland to get the benefit of cooperative tertiary provision while maintaining each institution's unique contribution to their communities and their complementary educational portfolios."

"This is about strengthening our strategic alignment by creating a strong partnership that recognises our differences and benefits for our shared aspirations. It will demonstrate that together, our two organisations are focussed on the future delivery of education for the benefit of Auckland as a whole," says Dr Peter Brothers, MIT Chief Executive.

Through the Auckland Vocational Plan, which was developed by MIT, Unitec, and Te Wananga o Aotearoa and examined the current and future educational and employment needs of Auckland, the institutions were able to secure from the Tertiary Education Commission additional funded places to help meet the growing skills needs of Auckland.

This helped to accelerate the development of Unitec's new campus in Albany which was opened in August, and allowed MIT to progress its planning for its new campus in the heart of the Manukau CBD.

Current and future areas of collaboration include:

� Technology Transfer - a project to develop a coordinated applied research and technology adoption capability between the two institutes focused on supporting Auckland's industry.

Joint Qualifications - for example, the joint Bachelor of Engineering (Technology) degree, in conjunction with the six Metro Polytechnics that sees MIT focus on mechanical and electrical engineering qualifications and Unitec focus on civil engineering qualifications to support the delivery of engineering technologists to industry.

Specialisation - In 2009 Unitec opted to withdraw from delivering Horticulture qualifications, and transferred students to MIT which now delivers its programme from Unitec's Mt Albert campus.

Emerging projects - include collaboration in Foundation Education provision, Diploma in Enrolled Nursing, Language Studies, Environmental Studies, Automotive training, Engineering and the national response to the construction industry as a result of the Christchurch Earthquakes.