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Board

The NZCER Board and Electoral College

The Board of NZCER consists of five elected members and one member appointed by the Minister of Education. The Board, as it sees fit, can co-opt up to three additional people to be members of the Council.

Board members are appointed for terms of 4 years, and every 2 years two or three of the five elected Board members will complete their term. At this point the Electoral College is tasked to nominate and elect two or three members to replace those stepping down. Retiring members may stand for re-election.

The Electoral College consists of persons as determined by the NZCER Act 1972.

In determining the persons who are members of the electoral college, the Council—

(a)     must ensure that the electoral college—

      (i)      is broadly representative of groups and bodies concerned with the conduct of education or educational
                research in New Zealand; and

      (ii)     includes distinguished New Zealand educators; and

(b)     may determine that a member of the electoral college may be a person nominated by a named education group,
           body, or office holder to be its representative in the electoral college.

Rules for the Conduct of Elections of Members of the
New Zealand Council for Educational Research 2017

Under section 33(1) of the NZCER Act 1972, the council makes rules prescribing the method of election of members of the council. Rules made under this section are a disallowable instrument and have been presented to the House of Representatives under section 41 of the Legislation Act 2012. Read a copy of these Rules

The 2017 Electoral College for NZCER

The Board of NZCER, which represents a wide cross section of education interests, helps identify key educational issues and stakeholder needs, thus providing a strategic focus for the Council. The NZCER Board Policies guide the Board's work.

Board members

Fiona Pimm

Consultant, NZCER Board Chairperson

Fiona affiliates to Ngai Tahu iwi with whakapapa links across the Ngai Tahu rohe, though she identifies Arowhenua as her whanau home.

She is an Executive Leader with extensive experience in governance roles in the health sector, government agencies, community NGO, local iwi and runanga. She is currently on the Board of an iwi development organisation, several health education and workforce training organisations, and the NZ Parole Board.

Dr. Vicki Carpenter

Education Researcher and Consultant, NZCER Board Deputy Chairperson, Audit and Risk Committee Chairperson

Dr Vicki Carpenter is a second term elected Council member of NZCER. Vicki is a registered teacher with many years’ teaching and leadership experience, mainly in schools in low income areas. 

Until recently, Vicki taught in the Sociology of Education in Teacher Education at the University of Auckland. Co-editor of five books, and has numerous research-based publications. Monitor of Teacher Education programmes for the Education Council. 

Dr. Lexie Grudnoff

Faculty of Education, University of Auckland

Lexie has enjoyed a long career in education and has held a number of senior leadership positions in the compulsory and tertiary education sectors.  She gained wide knowledge of Early Childhood, Primary and Secondary education through being responsible for the University of Auckland’s teacher education programmes for many years and throughout her work with the former New Zealand Teachers Council. 

Pania Gray

Independent Management Consultant

Pania is the Governor-General’s appointment to the NZCER Board, and began her four year term on 1 October 2014.

Pania carries out much of her management consulting work in the education sector. Her recent client base includes Education NZ, the Ministry of Education and Te Aho o te Kura Pounamu. She has also performed consultancy work previously for the Education Review Office, New Zealand Qualifications Authority and the Tertiary Education Commission.

Frances Nelson

Principal, Fairburn School, Auckland

Frances joined the NZCER Board in October 2014. Currently, she is the principal at Fairburn Primary School, a large multi-cultural decile 1 school in Otahuhu Auckland. She is a “career teacher/principal” and has worked in a range of schools across a variety of deciles. Frances has been a principal in six primary schools in the Auckland/North Auckland regions.

Grant Taylor

Ernst & Young

Grant is the Office Managing Partner at Ernst & Young Wellington.  He specialises in providing pragmatic financial management and assurance related advice to clients in a variety of sectors including Private Equity, Financial Services, Listed Corporate and Public sector entities.

Dr. Mere Skerrett

Senior Lecturer, College of Education, Victoria University of Wellington

Mere is currently a Senior Lecturer in initial teacher education, Victoria University of Wellington. She is an enthusiastic supporter of the regeneration of te reo.  Her reflective practice has been around the mechanics of regeneration in Kōhanga Reo (language nests) and young children’s conceptual development relating to their indigeneity. 

Dr. Arapera Royal Tangaere

Kaihere Kaupapa Kounga (National Advisor—Quality of the kaupapa) Te Kōhanga Reo National Trust

Arapera Royal Tangaere is of Te Arawa, Ngāti Raukawa and Kaitahu descent. 

She has been involved in early childhood since 1975 and was the Director of the School of Early Childhood Education at the Auckland College of Education in the 1990s.

Arapera has been with Te Kōhanga Reo since 1982 and joined the kōhanga national office in 1995.  She is a strong advocate for empowering all children and particularly Māori children and their whānau in life achievements and in their own learning and development. She  joined the NZCER board in October 2017.