Victoria University of Wellington
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Victoria University of Wellington, also known in Māori as Te Whare Wānanga o te Ūpoko o te Ika a Māui, 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 most courses is open.
General information
Victoria presently has around 18,200 students (including some 2,500 overseas students), of whom 14,000 are undergraduates. It has around 1,500 staff.Its main campus is in Kelburn, a suburb on a hill overlooking the Wellington central business district, where its administration, humanities and science faculties are based. The law and commerce faculties are in the Pipitea campus, near Parliament Buildings, which consists of the Rutherford Building, the restored Government Buildings, and part of the Wellington Railway Station. A smaller campus in the Te Aro district of Wellington is the base for the architecture and design schools. The Faculty of Education is in the Karori campus.
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 to 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.
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. 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 [link] of £1000 if Victoria were located in Kelburn so students would patronise the car between the city and the University. The historic Hunter Building was opened in 1904. On the dissolution of the University of New Zealand in 1961 Victoria 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. [link]
In recent years, Victoria has had to expand out of its traditional campus in Kelburn, and new campuses have been set up in Vivian Street, Te Aro (architecture and design), Pipitea (opposite Parliament, housing law, and commerce and administration) 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.
Faculties
The university's faculties are:
- Architecture and Design
- Commerce and Administration
- Education
- Humanities and Social Sciences
- Law
- Science
- Toihuarewa
Institutions
- The Faculty of Education's campus, in Karori, was acquired upon the Wellington College of Education merger.
- MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology
- Malaghan Institute of Medical Research
- Victoria University of Wellington Students' Association
- Salient (student magazine)
- Adam Art Gallery
- [New Zealand Electronic Text Centre]
Notable Alumi & Alumnae
Of either the university and college of education:
- Fleur Adcock, MA (distinguished poet & recipient of the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry)
- Barbara Anderson, BA (prominent author & poet)
- Sir Brian Barratt-Boyes, BSc (pioneering cardiologist)
- Dr John Cawte Beaglehole, BA & MA (world expert on Captain James Cook, & OM recipient)
- Sarah Billinghurst, BA (artistic director Metropolitan Opera)
- Dr Robert Burchfield, BA (lexicographic scholar)
- John Campbell, BA(Hon) (New Zealand television personality)
- Jane Campion, BA (Oscar & Palme D'Or-winning director/screenwriter)
- John Clarke, BA (creator of Fred Dagg)
- Baron Cooke of Thorndon, LLB & LLM (former Law Lord)
- Sir Thomas Eichelbaum, LLB (former Chief Justice of New Zealand)
- Gareth Farr, BMus(Hon) (Composer and Percussionist)
- Sir Michael Fay, LLB (merchant banker & third-richest person in New Zealand)
- Patricia Grace, DipTchg (prominent author)
- Sir Michael Hardie Boys, BA/LLB (former Governor-General of New Zealand & Court of Appeal judge)
- Harry Hawthorn, BA (eminent NZ-Born Canadian anthropologist)
- Professor Witi Ihimaera, BA (prominent author of Whale Rider)
- Sir Robert Jones, BA (property tycoon)
- Sir Kenneth Keith, LLM (international jurist)
- Honourable Doug Kidd, LLB (former Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives)
- Dr Michael King, BA (respected historian)
- Sir Jack Marshall, BA/LLB (former Prime Minister)
- Sir Thaddeus McCarthy, LLM (Court of Appeal judge)
- Professor Alan MacDiarmid, BSc & MSc (2000 winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry)
- John Money, BSc (world renown sexologist)
- Beverley Randall, BA & TTC (children's author)
- Sir Paul Reeves, BA & MA (former Governor-General of New Zealand & Archbishop and Primate of New Zealand)
- Bill Sutch, BCom & MA (public servant, suspected spy)
- Sir Ronald Syme, MA (pre-eminent classicist historian & OM recipient)
- Sir Brian Talboys, BA (former Deputy Prime Minister)
- Georgina Te Heuheu, BA/LLB (MP and 1st Māori woman to gain a Law Degree)
- Fran Walsh, BA (multiple Oscar winner, wife of film director Peter Jackson)
- Dr Marilyn Waring, BA(Hon) (feminist, former MP, and Professor at Massey University)
- Albert Wendt, MA (renown Samoan Poet & Author)
- Gillian Whitehead, BMus(Hon) (New Zealand composer)
- Sir Richard Wild, LLM (former Chief Justice of New Zealand)
- Thomas, Cardinal Williams, BCA (New Zealand's only cardinal)
Notable Academics
Of either the university and college of education:- Dr James Belich (prominent New Zealand historian, currently teaching at the University of Auckland) (Alumi MA)
- Dr (Vera) Doreen Blumhardt (art educationalist, potter, former WCE lecturer) (honorary graduate, 2003 [link])
- Prof Paul Callaghan (Alan MacDiarmid Professor of Physical Sciences) (Alumi BSc & MSc)
- Mai Chen (law, prominent public law expert)
- Sir Frank Holmes (Emeritus Professor of Economics) (Alumi BA)
- Jack Lasenby (children's author, teacher education lecturer 1975-1987 [link])
- Dr Douglas Lilburn (late Professor of Music)
- Prof Bill Manhire (creative writer, author, poet)
- Sir Tipene O'Regan (Māori leader, former WCE lecturer) (Alumi BA(Hons), honorary graduate, 2006)
- Vincent O'Sullivan (English literature, prominent New Zealand poet)
- Prof. The Rt. Hon. Sir Geoffrey Palmer (law, former New Zealand Prime Minister) (Alumi BA/LLB).
- Prof Matthew Palmer (former Dean of Law School, son of Sir Geoffrey Palmer above) (Alumi LLB)
Panorama
External links
- [Victoria University of Wellington's website]
- *[VUW Student Recruitment and Course Advice]
- *[The Faculty of Education's website]
- * [Law Faculty]
- *[MacDiarmid Institute]
- [Victoria University of Wellington Students' Association]
- [Victoria University of Wellington History at the New Zealand Electronic Text Centre]
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