University of Canterbury

Date founded: 1873

Colleges or faculties: Arts; Business and Law; Education, Health and Human Development; Engineering; Science

Location: Christchurch, New Zealand

Type: Public

Size: 24,354 enrolled students (2023); 1,009 full-time equivalent academic staff (2017)

The University of Canterbury is the second oldest university in New Zealand. It is located in the Ilam suburb of Christchurch and has shaped several nationally and internationally renowned alumni, such as John Key and Ernest Rutherford. The university faced setbacks with the Canterbury and Christchurch earthquakes of 2010 and 2011, which caused significant infrastructure damage and led to a decrease in student enrolment. However, enrolment began to rise again beginning in 2014. Advancements at the university in 2018 included the first Masters of Māori and Indigenous Leadership graduates and the development of the Lava Lab. The school celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2023.

History

The university was first established in 1873 as Canterbury College, the first constituent college of the University of New Zealand. It was structured using the Oxbridge model, with the notable exception that it admitted male and female students from the very beginning. Its small faculty grew over the years as professors were recruited locally and from Australia and Europe.

When the University of New Zealand dissolved in 1961, the University of Canterbury became an independent university able to award its own degrees. The dissolution also led to a temporary joining with Canterbury Agricultural College, which became a constituent of the University of Canterbury. The constituent became independent in 1990 as Lincoln College. In 2007, the Christchurch College of Education merged with the University of Canterbury.

The original campus was in central Christchurch; it was moved to a larger campus in the nearby suburb of Ilam in 1975. The 76-hectare site was built to include a central library complex, lecture theatres, laboratories and accommodation. The buildings are surrounded by woodlands, sports fields and the Ilam Gardens.

On 4 September 2010, the University of Canterbury and the surrounding Canterbury area was struck by a 7.1 magnitude earthquake. A 6.3 magnitude aftershock occurred on 22 February 2011, killing 185 people. The earthquakes damaged buildings and infrastructure at the university. The rebuild was slowed as revenue dropped due to students leaving the university and local young people leaving Christchurch for other opportunities instead of entering the local university. While there were 18,783 students enrolled in 2010, the number had dropped to 14,725 by 2014. However, this grew to 16,253 in 2017 and 24,354 in 2024. While the increase in enrolment promised growth, the university continued to struggle financially from the years of low enrolment numbers and the cost associated with repairing damaged buildings and infrastructure. However, the Beatrice Tinsley Building, wich was completed in 2019, was one of many innovative improvement projects. The building, designed by three academics of the University of Canterbury’s Engineering Department, was designed to use thin layers of timber (which are said to be stronger than concrete) for the construction of flexible, earthquake-resistant buildings.

Impact

The University of Canterbury was a shaping force for several notable alumni. Helen Connon, who graduated with a BA in 1880 and an MA with first-class honours in 1881, was the second woman to graduate with an arts degree in the British Empire and the first to gain a degree with honours. Ernest Rutherford, who studied at the University of Canterbury in the 1890s, went on to become the founder of nuclear physics. His contemporary, Apirana Ngata, became the first Māori graduate from a New Zealand university. New Zealand’s $100 and $50 bank notes are illustrated with portraits of these two men. Another alumnus, Russell Howie, who studied civil engineering at the University of Canterbury, was appointed an officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to environmental resource management in 2018. He is one of several University of Canterbury alumni to receive the New Zealand Order of Merit. The University of Canterbury also boasts former prime minister John Key as an alumnus.

The University of Canterbury offers more than seventy undergraduate and postgraduate subjects across its five faculties. It has a network of field stations in places like the Snares Islands, Antarctica and Nigeria. The university also operates the University of Canterbury Mount John Observatory (UCMJO), New Zealand's premier astronomical research observatory. The observatory has five large telescopes in regular use and hosts research teams from around the world; it is also a tourist destination. In June 2012, the 430,000 hectares around the observatory was declared a Dark Sky Reserve by the International Dark-Sky Association, making it one of two hundred Dark Sky Reserves worldwide as of 2023.

The University of Canterbury continues to make innovations across its diverse disciplines. In 2018, the university’s first class of Master of Māori and Indigenous Leadership (MMIL) graduated. This applied professional program is dedicated to advancing Māori and Indigenous self-determination. Graduands are equipped to fulfil management and governance roles in positions of leadership to implement the aspirations of the Māori community. The ultimate goal of the program is to foster the next generation of Māori leaders. Also in 2018, a multidisciplinary collaboration brought together volcanologists, mathematicians, engineers and artists to construct a bronze casting furnace able to melt rock into lava. Experiments using controlled lava flow will assist with developing new ways to monitor, model and understand the properties of lava. The research will be of great value in places like Hawaii and, if predictions are correct, Auckland. The Lava Laboratory, situated in the School of Fine Arts, has been touted as a monument to what can be achieved when vastly different disciplines collaborate on novel, valuable projects.

Bibliography

“Annual Report 2017.” University of Canterbury, 2023, www.canterbury.ac.nz/content/dam/uoc-main-site/documents/pdfs/reports/University-of-Canterbury-2023-Annual-Report.pdf.coredownload.pdf. Accessed 12 June 2024.

“Canterbury University's Post-Quake Struggles.” Stuff, 6 Oct. 2012, i.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/christchurch-earthquake-2011/7777550/Canterbury-Universitys-post-quake-struggles. Accessed 12 June 2024.

Fletcher, Jack. “Canterbury Technology Behind the Future of Earthquake-Resistant Construction.” Stuff, 28 Aug. 2018. i.stuff.co.nz/business/106598828/canterbury-technology-behind-the-future-of-earthquakeresistant-construction. Accessed 12 June 2024.

Gorman, Paul. “Christchurch Lava Lab Could Help Prepare for Auckland Eruption.” Stuff, 20 Dec. 2018. i.stuff.co.nz/science/109265756/christchurch-lava-lab-could-help-prepare-for-auckland-eruption. Accessed 12 June 2024.

“History and Chronology.” University of Canterbury, www.canterbury.ac.nz/about/history/chronology/. Accessed 12 June 2024.

“World’s First Masters of Māori and Indigenous Leadership Graduate.” University of Canterbury, 18 Dec. 2018. www.canterbury.ac.nz/news/2018/worlds-first-masters-of-mori-and-indigenous-leadership-graduate.html. Accessed 12 June 2024.

“University of Canterbury.” Te Pokai Tara Universities New Zealand, 2019. https://www.universitiesnz.ac.nz/universities/university-canterbury. Accessed 5 February 2019.