New Zealand's first postgraduate qualification in company and trust governance is to be launched this month by Waikato University.

The university's management school and faculty of law have developed the qualification which aims to upskill company directors, trustees, board members and elected government officials, in collaboration with the Institute of Directors.

The $8000 nine-month programme will be launched on February 15 and is attracting strong interest from the private sector, local government and Maori trusts, said the management school's director corporate and external relations, Andrew Buchanan-Smart.

Programme intakes will initially be limited to 30 participants, he said.

The programme will be taught by management school and law faculty staff and will cover finance, corporate law, ethics, governance, strategy and leadership.

Participants will also complete a final project on their own organisation, directly applying their newly-acquired skills.

Waikato Management School dean professor Frank Scrimgeour said the qualification would help bridge the gap in understanding of the role of a strategic leader.

''Good governance is crucial for any private business, not-for-profit or public sector organisaiton but often the role of a strategic leader is not well understood, especially by those coming from managerial positions.

 ''This qualification will help change that.'

'The IoD has been involved in creating the programme which it says complements its own director development programme.  

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