Stage Two

Due diligence (2007–08)

Overview

Stage two, which commenced in May 2007, focuses on selection and assessment of a campus site. The process is being managed by Arrow International and is structured to produce a master plan that will include a conceptual design, infrastructure feasibility analyses, development and building cost estimates and marketing strategy recommendations.

Stage two will give Trust directors the detailed assessments required to decide if the project is viable and should proceed to stage three for marketing to international donors.

A Business Plan has been prepared and will continue to be refined over the life of the project.  Strategies and outcomes will be monitored against our plan during the course of the project. To download a copy of our business plan, click here.

Goals and objectives

• Select a site for the campus.  (Details below)
• Prepare a business plan. Status: completed


• Publish a web site and other informational materials. Status: completed


• Widen support from governments, community groups, service organisations, influential individuals, charitable trusts, Maori organisations and other interest parties through personal contacts, workshops and communications channels. Status: ongoing


• Hold project launches in major cities to acquaint business and government leaders with the project. Status:  Auckland launch was held in November 2007; Wellington event was held on March 19.


• Secure $750,000 in funding for stage two from charitable trusts, corporations and individual donors. Status: Applications for trust funding have been submitted. Meetings with corporations and individual donors have been held and will continue. In-kind services are being solicited where possible.


• Developing relationships with potential programme partners, including Outward Bound, Project K, Spirit of NZ Trust and the Sir Peter Blake Trust. Status: a memorandum of understanding was signed with Outward Bound in March. Talks with other groups are ongoing.


• On-site visits to a selection of United World Colleges will be conducted to obtain first-hand information on their establishment, operations and performance. The trips will include visits to existing benefactors of the colleges.

Infrastructure

PHASE 1

Identifying possible sites

The trust has five potential sites in the Queenstown area. The search for sites has expanded nationwide to ensure selection of the best possible location.

Arrow International to provide assistance in initial review of possible sites.

Specific criteria to be developed for narrowing potential sites down to no more than two. The criteria will embrace the vision of the United World Campus concept while giving due consideration to viability issues that include resource consent, infrastructure requirements, operational ability and surrounding community support.

PHASE 2

Pre-feasibility assessment

Arrow International to invite proposals and prepare a short list of consultants to do desktop analyses of the up to two sites selected by the board as potential preferred sites.

 The assessment team will include an architect, a quantity surveyor, a resource management specialist, and engineers specialising in structure, infrastructure, utilities, environment, traffic, and geotechnolgy. Where possible, services on a pro bono or reduced-fee basis will be sought.

The report from the assessment team will provide preliminary data necessary for the board to make a final decision on a site for the campus.

PHASE 3

Formal feasibility study

The final site will undergo a formal feasibility study undertaken by an Arrow International-led team of consultants.

This phase is dependent on raising about $450,000 in seed money to cover the cost of professional services.

The comprehensive feasibility study will confirm the viability of the site and provide a more detailed cost estimate based on regulatory approvals, site development and construction.

Workshops between trustees and the consulting team will be held to discuss the analyses.

The findings of the feasibility study will feed into a master plan for the site.

PHASE 4

Master plan and concept report

All elements of the work to-date will be drawn together into one comprehensive implementation plan that will include feasibility studies on resource consent, infrastructure requirements, and development and building cost estimates will be refined and combined with an architect’s conceptual design for the college.

The master plan would form the basis of a marketing package to be presented to potential benefactors.

Other feasibility elements

Concurrent with infrastructure studies, the trust will be working on corollary components that will feed into the master plan. They include:

• Land acquisition or leasing issues, if required.

• A financial component, spanning trust administration, fundraising, and campus construction and operation costs estimates. This portion of the plan will be carried out by McCulloch & Partners in conjunction with directors Grant McCulloch and Alison Gerry.

• A legal component comprising arrangements that may include leasing or purchase of a site, the future structure of the trust and the terms of funding from major donors. This work will be entrusted to Chapman Tripp, in consultation with trust chairman Tony Baldwin and director Suzanne Janissen.

• Resource management issues, including what consent process will be required and strategies must be implemented to manage the process.

• A land survey.

• A literature review to determine operations and performance standards related to United World Colleges.

• Market analysis of the community and region in which the New Zealand campus will operate.

• A risk analysis to identify potential problems and suggest strategies for dealing with them.

• Development of an academic and programme management plan that will include requirements in the International Baccalaureate accreditation process and key elements of the extension and service components.

• A fundraising strategy identifying potential benefactors and the elements required to market the project to them.

• A public relations and communications package that will identify the informational materials and channels required to promote the project to stakeholders, potential donors, the media and the community at large. 

• Peer review that will include input and sign-off by respected firms in the disciplines of accounting and financial modelling, architecture, law, public relations and communications, academia and the United World College International.

Decision on stage three

At the end of stage two, the directors and trustees will decide whether to proceed to stage three of the project plan.  That decision will be based on:

The successful completion of stage two in a rigorous manner.

A positive assessment of the project’s risk-benefit ratio. The board of directors will want to be satisfied that expected benefits justify any risks and that perceived risks are manageable

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