Victoria University of Wellington

Victoria University of Wellington
Te Whare Wānanga o Te Ūpoko o te Ika a Māui
Motto	Latin: Sapientia magis auro desideranda
Motto in English	"Wisdom is more to be desired than gold"[1]
Established	1897
Type	Public
Chancellor	Ian McKinnon
Vice-Chancellor	Pat Walsh[2]
Students	22,270 (2009)[3]
Postgraduates	4,200 graduate
Location	Wellington, New Zealand
Campus	Urban
Website	www.victoria.ac.nz

Victoria University of Wellington, also known in Māori as Te Whare Wānanga o te Ūpoko o te Ika a Māui,^[4] was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a former constituent college of the University of New Zealand. It is particularly well known for its programmes in law, the humanities, and some scientific disciplines, but offers a broad range of other courses as well. Entry to all courses at first year is open, although entry to second year in some programmes (e.g., law, criminology, creative writing, architecture) is restricted. Victoria had the fourth highest average research grade in the New Zealand Government's Performance-Based Research Fund exercise in 2006, having been ranked 3rd in 2003.^[5]

Contents 1 General information 2 History 3 Organisation 3.1 Faculties and Schools 3.2 The Library 3.3 Institutions 4 Notable alumni 5 Notable academics 6 References 7 External links

[edit] General information

Victoria has 22,270 students (including 2547 international students), of whom 14,590 are full-time equivalent (EFTS) undergraduates. It has 1,884 full-time equivalent staff.

Its main campus is in Kelburn, a suburb on a hill overlooking the Wellington central business district, where its administration and humanities & social science and science faculties are based. The law and commerce and administration faculties are in the Pipitea Campus,^[6] near Parliament Buildings, which consists of Rutherford House, the restored Government Buildings, and the West Wing of the Wellington Railway Station. A smaller campus in the Te Aro^[7] district of Wellington is the base for the architecture and design schools. The Faculty of Education is in the Karori campus. The University's newest facility, the Victoria University Coastal Ecology Laboratory supports research programmes in marine biology and coastal ecology on Wellington's rugged south coast.

Day-to-day governance is in the hands of the University Council, which consists of 20 people: five elected by the Court of Convocation, three elected by the academic staff, one elected by the general staff, two appointed by the student union executive, four appointed by the Minister of Education, four selected by the Council itself, and the Vice-Chancellor. The Court of Convocation is composed of all graduates who choose to participate.

For New Zealand residents entry to most courses is open, with a few exceptions. Performance Music requires an audition. There is selection for entry into the second year in degrees such as the LLB, BArch and BDes. BA in criminology and creative writing is also based on selection.

The University is one of only three institutions (University of Auckland and Unitec New Zealand being the others) to offer a degree in Architecture in New Zealand.

Victoria, in conjunction with Massey University, also owns The New Zealand School of Music.

[edit] History

Victoria is named after Queen Victoria, as 1897 was the 60th anniversary of her coronation. There was initially a dispute as to where to site it, and it opened in temporary facilities in Thorndon. It was eventually decided to place it in Kelburn, where it still has its primary campus. This decision was influenced by the Cable Car company's offer of a donation of £1000 if Victoria were located in Kelburn so students would patronise the car between the city and the University.^[8] The foundation stone of the historic Hunter Building was laid in 1904. The original name was Victoria University College, but on the dissolution of the University of New Zealand in 1961 Victoria or "Vic" became the independent Victoria University of Wellington, conferring its own degrees.

An extramural branch of Victoria was founded at Palmerston North in 1960. It merged with Massey College on 1 January 1963. The merged college itself, having become a branch of Victoria upon the University of New Zealand's 1961 demise, became an independent Massey University on 1 January 1964.^[9]

In recent years, Victoria has had to expand out of its original campus in Kelburn, and new campuses have been set up in Te Aro (architecture and design), Pipitea (opposite Parliament, housing the law, and commerce and administration schools) and Karori (education) - the Wellington College of Education, established in 1880, merged with the University to become its revived Faculty of Education on 1 January 2005.

[edit] Organisation

[edit] Faculties and Schools

The university's faculties are:

• Architecture and Design
• Commerce and Administration
• Education
• Engineering
• Humanities and Social Sciences
• Law
• Science

The university's schools are:

• Graduate School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health
• School of Accounting and Commercial Law
• School of Architecture
• School of Art History, Classics and Religious Studies
• School of Asian and European Languages and Cultures
• School of Biological Sciences
• School of Chemical and Physical Sciences
• School of Design
• School of Economics and Finance
• School of Education Policy and Implementation
• School of Educational Psychology and Pedagogy
• School of Engineering and Computer Science
• School of English, Film, Theatre, and Media Studies
• School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences
• School of Government
• School of History, Philosophy, Political Science and International Relations
• School of Information Management
• School of Law
• School of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies
• School of Marketing and International Business
• School of Mathematics, Statistics and Operations Research
• School of Psychology
• School of Social and Cultural Studies
• Te Kawa a Māui
• Te Kura Māori
• Victoria Management School

Other important Teaching and Learning entities are:

• International Institute of Modern Letters
• Centre for Continuing Education and Executive Development
• Stout Research Centre for New Zealand Studies
• Va'aomanu Pasifika (Pacific Studies unit)
• The New Zealand School of Music, a joint venture with Massey University.

[edit] The Library

History

The Victoria University of Wellington Library ^[10] was established in 1899. Today, the Library collections are dispersed over several sites including Central Library, Law Library, Education Library, Architecture and Design Library and Commerce Library.

In recently years, while maintaining the traditions of print collections, the Library is developing its collection of digital resources with a focus on the acquisition of full text material online. In addition to electronic resources, printed books and journals, the Library also acquires works in microform, sound recordings, videos and other media consistent with the University's academic programme needs.

Collections

The University Library Service holds approximately 1.3 million printed volumes. The Library currently provide access to 70,000 print and electronic periodical titles and 200,000 e-books.

The J. C. Beaglehole Room is the official repository within the Library of all archival and manuscript material, and also provides a supervised research service for Rare Books, for fine or fragile print items, and for 'last resort' copies of University publications.

The New Zealand Electronic Text Centre (NZETC) is a digital library of significant New Zealand and Pacific Island texts and materials.

The collection is arranged according to the library of Congress classification system.

Library Cats

Between April 2003 and February 2010 the Library was home to two locally famous residents, Tessa Brown and Sandy Rankine a pair of very popular library cats.

[edit] Institutions

• Toihuarewa
• MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology
• Malaghan Institute of Medical Research
• Wilson Centre for Molecular Ecology and Evolution]
• McKenzie Centre for the Study of Families
• English Language Institute
• Centre for Biodiversity and Restoration Ecology
• Centre for Biodiscovery
• Centre for Marine Environmental & Economic Research
• Victoria University Coastal Ecology Laboratory
• Centre for Strategic Studies New Zealand
• Institute of Policy Studies
• Adam Art Gallery
• New Zealand Electronic Text Centre (NZETC)
• Victoria University of Wellington Students' Association
  • Salient (student magazine)
  • Victoria University of Wellington Debating Society

[edit] Notable alumni

Of the university and/or college of education:

• Mark Paston BSc (All Whites goalkeeper for the 2010 Fifa World Cup, in which they were undefeated)
• Fleur Adcock, MA (distinguished poet and Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry recipient)
• Barbara Anderson, BA (prominent author & poet)
• Michelle Ang, BCA, BSc (Actor)
• Sir Brian Barratt-Boyes, BSc (pioneering cardiologist)
• Jacqueline Sturm, BA, MA, Honorary Doctor of Literature, (wife of the late James K. Baxter, the first Maori woman to earn BA at this university).
• Dr John Cawte Beaglehole, BA, MA (Captain Cook expert and OM recipient)
• Sarah Billinghurst, BA (artistic director Metropolitan Opera)
• Dr Robert Burchfield, BA (lexicographic scholar)
• Alistair Campbell, BA & DipT (renowned Cook Island poet and novelist)
• John Campbell, BA(Hons) (New Zealand television personality)
• Philippa Campbell, BA (New Zealand film producer)
• Jane Campion, BA (Oscar and Palme D'Or-winning director/screenwriter)
• John Clarke, Honorary DLitt (creator of Fred Dagg)
• Jemaine Clement, Flight of the Conchords
• Baron Cooke of Thorndon, LLB & LLM (former Law Lord)
• Frank Corner, MA, Honorary Doctor of Laws, (New Zealand diplomat and public servant)
• Sir Thomas Eichelbaum, LLB (former Chief Justice of New Zealand)
• Gareth Farr, BMus(Hons) (Composer and Percussionist)
• Sir Michael Fay, LLB (merchant banker & third-richest person in New Zealand)
• John Feeney (documentary filmmaker, nominated for two Academy Awards)
• Patricia Grace, DipTchg, honorary Doctor of Literature (prominent author)
• Sir Michael Hardie Boys, BA/LLB (former Governor-General of New Zealand)
• Prof Harry Hawthorn, BA (eminent NZ-Born Canadian anthropologist)
• Dr Fred Hollows, BA (eminent NZ-Born eye surgeon)
• Don Hunn, MA, (State Services Commissioner)
• Sir Jack Hunn, LLM (New Zealand public servant)
• Prof Witi Ihimaera, BA, honorary Doctor of Literature (prominent author of Whale Rider)
• Moana Jackson, BA LLB (Māori lawyer specialising in Treaty of Waitangi and constitutional issues)
• Lloyd Jones, BA (author & Commonwealth Writers' Prize recipient)
• Sir Robert Jones, BA (property tycoon)
• Sir Kenneth Keith, LLM, Honorary Doctor of Laws, (international jurist)
• Roger Kerr, Executive director of New Zealand Business Roundtable
• Hon. Sir Doug Kidd, LL B (former Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives)
• Dr Michael King, BA, DLitt (respected historian)
• Sir George Laking, LLB (New Zealand diplomat and public servant)
• Dianne Macaskill, Chief Executive and Chief Archivist (Archives New Zealand)
• Sir Jack Marshall, BA, LLB (former Prime Minister)
• Sir Thaddeus McCarthy, LLM (Court of Appeal judge)
• Prof Alan MacDiarmid, BSc, MSc, Honorary Doctor of Science (2000 winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry)
• Sir Alister McIntosh, MA (New Zealand public servant)
• Bret McKenzie, Flight of the Conchords
• Dr John Money, BSc (world-renowned sexologist)
• Sam Neill, BA (famous character Actor)
• W. H. Oliver, MA (historian, poet, writer)
• Lorae Parry, MA, (Playwright and Actress)
• Sir Guy Powles, LL B (New Zealand diplomat and first Ombudsman)
• Dr Christopher Pugsley, military historian
• Beverley Randell, BA, TTC (children's author)
• Sir Randal Elliott, BSc (surgeon and social campaigner)
• Sir Paul Reeves, BA, MA (former Governor-General of New Zealand & Archbishop and Primate of New Zealand)
• Dr Jonathan Sarfati, BSc(Hons) & PhD (New Zealand Chess Champion and author)
• Conrad Smith LLB(Hons), (current All Black)
• Dr Bill Sutch, BCA, MA (public servant, suspected spy)
• Sir Ronald Syme, MA (pre-eminent classicist historian & OM recipient)
• Sir Brian Talboys, BA (former Deputy Prime Minister)
• Hon. Georgina Te Heuheu, BA, LLB (MP and first Māori woman to gain a law degree)
• Fran Walsh, BA, Honorary Doctor of Literature, (multiple Oscar winner, wife of film director Peter Jackson)
• Dr Marilyn Waring, BA(Hons) (feminist, former MP, and Professor at AUT University)
• Albert Wendt, MA (renown Samoan poet and author)
• Maarten Wevers, diplomat and civil servant. Current Chief Executive of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
• Gillian Whitehead, BMus(Hons), Honorary DMus (New Zealand composer)
• Sir Richard Wild, LL M (former Chief Justice of New Zealand)
• Simon Wilson, BA (editor of Metro (magazine))
• Thomas Stafford Williams, BCA (New Zealand's only living cardinal)
• Alison Wright, BA New Zealand athlete and record holder^{[citation needed]}
• Niel Wright, PhD, poet and author
• Martin Wylie, CEO Slingshot (ISP)
• Jack Yan, LL B, BCA(Hons), MCA (businessman, publisher, and Good Morning panellist)
• John Stuart Yeates PhD (Botany) (academic, founding staff member of Massey University)
• Chong Kah Kiat, LLB, LLM (Hons), Former Chief Minister of Sabah state, Malaysia
• Chris Finlayson, BA, LLM (Attorney-General of New Zealand and MP)

[edit] Notable academics

Of the university or the college of education:

• Dr James Belich (prominent New Zealand historian) (Alumnus MA)
• Dame Doreen Blumhardt (art educationalist, potter, former WCE lecturer) (honorary graduate, 2003 [3])
• Prof. Sir Paul Callaghan (Alan MacDiarmid Professor of Physical Sciences and Director of the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials & Nanotechnology)
• Prof. Dame Margaret Clark, (Professor of Political Science)
• Mai Chen (law, prominent public law expert)
• Teresia Teaiwa (Pacific Studies; poet, writer, academic)
• Prof. Sir Lloyd Geering (prominent cleric and founder of the Religious Studies department)
• Prof. Sir Frank Holmes (Emeritus Professor of Economics) (Alumni BA)
• Prof. George Edward Hughes (1918–1994), first Professor of Philosophy
• Prof. Douglas Lilburn (late Professor of Music)
• Prof. Richard Cockburn Maclaurin (Foundation Professor of Mathematics 1899-1907 then President of MIT)
• Prof Bill Manhire (creative writer, author, poet)
• Prof. Paul Morris, Professor of Religious Studies
• Prof. Peter Munz (1921–2006), Professor of History
• Prof. David Norton (Professor of English, editor of the New Cambridge Paragraph Bible)
• Terence O'Brien (former diplomat, founder of Centre for Strategic Studies)
• Sir Tipene O'Regan (Māori leader, former WCE lecturer) (Alumnus BA (Hons), honorary graduate, 2006)
• Prof. Vincent O'Sullivan (English literature, Emeritus Professor, prominent New Zealand poet)
• The Rt Hon. Sir Geoffrey Palmer (law, former New Zealand Prime Minister) (Alumnus BA/LLB, honorary graduate).
• Dr Matthew Palmer (former Dean of Law School, son of Sir Geoffrey Palmer above) (Alumnus LLB)
• The Rt Hon. Sir Ivor Richardson Member of the Privy Council and former President of the Court of Appeal (former Dean of Law School).
• Prof. Kim Sterelny, Professor of Philosophy
• Prof. Matt Visser (Specialist in general relativity)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Victoria University of Wellington

• Victoria University of Wellington's website
• Victoria University of Wellington Students' Association
• Victoria University of Wellington Library

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Coordinates: 41°17′20″S 174°46′06″E / 41.28889°S 174.76833°E / -41.28889; 174.76833