| University of Waikato | |
|---|---|
| Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato | |
| Motto | Māori: Ko te tangata |
| Motto in English | For The People |
| Established | 1964 |
| Type | Public |
| Chancellor | Jim Bolger, ONZ |
| Vice-Chancellor | Roy Crawford |
| Students | 13,089 (2010)[1] |
| Location | Hamilton, New Zealand |
| Campus | Urban |
| Website | www.waikato.ac.nz |
The University of Waikato (informally Waikato University, or simply Waikato) (Māori: 'Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato') is located in Hamilton and Tauranga, New Zealand, and was established in 1964. It has strengths across a broad range of subject areas, particularly its degrees in Computer Science and in Management. Its School of Māori and Pacific Development is acknowledged as the world centre for study in this subject area.
In 2007, over 12,000 students were enrolled at the University. More than a quarter of students were aged over 25, and over half were women. It has the highest proportion of Māori students on any campus in New Zealand. The Māori character of the campus is an important aspect of its overall identity.
In 2010, the QS World University Rankings gave Waikato 316th place, slightly down from its ranking in 2009.[2]
Out of 3,900 business schools in the world, University of Waikato is one of the 48 universities in the world to have Triple accreditation. In New Zealand, it is one of the two universities to have Triple accreditation and one of the three universities in Australia and New Zealand. The other universities are the University of Auckland in New Zealand and Brisbane Graduate School of Business, Queensland University of Technology, in Australia.
The University of Waikato in Hamilton is spread over 0.67 square kilometres (170 acres) of landscaped park-like grounds, and includes extensive sporting and recreational areas surrounding three ornamental lakes. Many sporting and cultural groups are active on campus, including various international students' clubs. The University provides study facilities including modern lecture rooms and laboratories, a library of over 1,000,000 volumes, and an extensive computer network with over 800 terminals.
The University of Waikato at Tauranga (formerly Tauranga University College) is smaller than the Hamilton campus. It offers 150 papers predominantly at undergraduate level.
The University consists of seven faculties and school of study:
These faculties and school of study offer undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate degrees in their respective subject areas.
Waikato Pathways College specialises in preparing students, and in particular international students, for further study at Waikato.
The University's research involvement is varied, and it is noted for research in the management disciplines of Accounting, Finance and Human Resource Management; Computer Science, Mathematics, Science, particularly in the Biological Sciences including both Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour and Cellular, Molecular and Whole Organism Biology, and Chemistry, Education and the Social Sciences.
The University has many research facilities, including:
Research is further reinforced by close contact between the University and commercial or governmental research facilities located on or adjacent to the campus. Significant among them are the Ruakura Research Centre (the largest agricultural and horticultural research facility in the southern hemisphere), Landcare Research, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA Ecosystems), and the Institute of Professional Legal Studies.
Cementing the University's role as a key New Zealand research institute is UNILink, the University's own consulting division, dedicated to national and international sourcing of commercial research contracts. As a result the University attracts the highest percentage of research income in proportion to its student population of any university in New Zealand.
The Mathematics department was rated first in New Zealand on the PBRF rankings in both 2004 and 2007.
The Department of Biological Sciences earned first place rankings in both panels of PBRF: Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour and Cellular, Molecular and Whole Organism Biology. Within EEB, the department has long-term FRST funding in the areas of restoration ecology in both terrestrial and freshwater systems, reaching from urban to natural ecosystems, and from molecular ecology to environmental biology.
The School of Māori and Pacific Development is almost certainly the leading centre of academic study of things Māori; Russell Bishop is the Chair Professor. Similarly, the law school is a leading centre for research into the Treaty of Waitangi. Because of the relative youth of the University, the library's holdings are relatively undeveloped, but there are significantly holdings of Tainui taonga.
The Computer Science department is particularly strong, with research groups in networking, machine learning (Weka), digital libraries (Greenstone), Formal methods for Software Engineering and usability.
The School of Law was founded in 1990 and follows the principles of professionalism, biculturalism and the study of law in context. The School of Law focuses on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) as opposed to a more adversarial approach. As well as offering graduates their Bachelor of Laws (LLB), if students elect to take Commercial Transactions as well as Mediation: Laws, Principles and Practice, they may also apply for Associate status with the Arbitrators and Mediators Institute of New Zealand (AMINZ). This gives them professional status when conducting these activities and is globally recognised.
The University is co-located with Ruakura, a centre for research in the primary industries.
Due to the proximity of the Waikato River and Lake Karapiro the University has excellent rowing teams and competes against University of Oxford and University of Cambridge in alternating years on the Waikato River in The Great Race.
Performance Based Research Fund rankings are used to help rate different Universities in New Zealand.
In 2007, the University of Waikato was ranked fifth in New Zealand.
They also achieved top rankings in ten subjects areas:
(Only the University of Otago received more first placings with 14 places.) The School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences, Management School and Combined School of Education were also ranked top in New Zealand.[5]
In 2006, the University of Waikato was ranked first in nine subject areas:
In 2004, the University came first in:[6]
The 2003 evaluation rated Waikato to be fifth out of New Zealand's eight universities.
The academic year runs from March to November. It is divided into two semesters by a two-week study break in June/July. Most schools within the University offer a mid-year intake so it is possible to enrol in the March–June or the July–November semesters, as well as in the year-long program. Summer School is available for many courses and allows students to accelerate the completion of their degree. The International MBA is taught over one year and begins in July.
The summer school semester runs from the beginning of January to the end of February.
Waikato has a strong commitment to attracting international students. In 2002, the University had over 1,500 international students from more than 60 different countries, particularly from the Pacific Rim and Asia regions. There are also a growing number of students from diverse places such as Nepal, Eritrea, Mongolia, Ukraine, and various African countries. Many international students start at the University of Waikato by enrolling in a one-year Certificate of Attainment in Foundation Studies. This prepares students from a non-English background for university study in New Zealand. Courses in English for students from non-English speaking backgrounds are also offered through the University of Waikato Language Institute.
The University has approximately 1,000 places in accommodation available for students, a number of which are set aside specifically for international students. Many students choose to stay in the University Halls of Residence during their first year, and then move into a student flat (private rental accommodation) in subsequent years. Hamilton is an inexpensive city to live in for students on a limited budget.
The Waikato Post Graduate Student Association[7] was a development that come about as a need in the performance Based Research Funding (PBRF) environment. The group of students looked after the Masters and PhD students interest and had Dr Peter Hodder as a contact person appointed by Professor Richard Bedford at the time Pro Vice Chancellor Academic. PGSA organizes a number of activities.[8]
In November 2008, work began on one of the largest construction projects in the University's lifetime, this involved the upgrade and total rebuilding of the main library at the Hamilton campus.
The library which will transform into the "Student Centre" (yet to be officially named) is costing an estimated $33.4 million and is expected to take around four years to complete. The student centre will be the first library in Australasia to fully generate its own power, earning it a 5 star green building award.
Once finished, the Student Centre will include six levels, two new cafes, a new bookshop, and various other amenities. The Law Library will be situated on the 5th floor.
The Student Center and recent rebuilding of the Village Green (formerly the university shops) have been two developments which reflect the University's aim to provide the most modern facilities possible.
In August 2009, the University magazine Nexus gained information that the University was preparing to restructure its faculty and schools of study in response to a high increase in student numbers.
The proposed restructuring will create four new faculties of study:
The faculties will contain "Schools" which were previously departments within the old school of study system.
The University of Waikato has also stated it is intending on further restricting student numbers into its programs from 2010 onwards.
The Waikato University alumni is made up of past students at Waikato University and staff.[9] The numbers of alumni have steadily built from 1964 to number around 100,000.
The University rowing team is particularly strong. In 2002, the University started challenging a rowing team from another university to compete against it in the Great Race for the Harry Mahon Memorial Trophy.[10] This has become an important annual event in Hamilton.
| 2002 | Waikato vs Cambridge University | Won by Waikato |
| 2003 | Waikato vs Oxford University | Won by Waikato |
| 2004 | Waikato vs Cambridge University | Won by Cambridge |
| 2005 | Waikato vs University of Washington | Won by Waikato |
| 2006 | Waikato vs Cambridge University | Won by Waikato |
| 2007 | Waikato vs Harvard University | Won by Waikato |
| 2008 | Waikato vs Cambridge University (Males) | Won by Cambridge |
| 2008 | Waikato vs Sydney University (Females) | Won by Waikato |
| 2009 | Waikato vs Oxford University (Males) | Won by Waikato |
| 2009 | Waikato vs Sydney University (Females) | Won by Sydney |
| 2010 | Waikato vs Cambridge University (Males) | Won by Cambridge |
| 2010 | Waikato vs Sydney University (Females) | Won by Waikato |
The University of Waikato has a variety of different sport clubs. University Netball, Team Waikato, Rowing Club, Unicol Soccer,[11] Hockey Club and Rugby Club.[12] The University also have a wide variety of partner clubs and sports.[13]
The Don Llewellyn Sports Pavilion is the home of the University’s sport teams. It provides changing rooms for home and away teams. The Pavilion is located next to the University fields for rugby, cricket and soccer and the tennis and netball courts.[14]
The University campus swimming pools are open for public from 1 December to 31 March. The pools include a 50-meter aquatic leisure pool and a diving pool. They are unheated.[15]
There are a number of leisure sports activities close to the University of Waikato for students. The Unirec Centre provides a cardio studio with different cardio equipment, weight room, REV indoor cycling, squash courts and a sports hall.[16] The Unirec centre also offers a wide variety of exercise programmes, and is able to offer a personalised exercise programme for individuals. ASB Social Sport provides a variety of social indoor and outdoor sport.[17] The indoor social sports start in March and have six leagues that continue until the beginning of November. The indoor sports offered are netball, soccer, and volleyball. The leagues take place at the Unirec Centre. The outdoor sports offered are touch and soccer.
The University of Waikato is located on a number of different sites:[18]
The University has a large number of instruments available to assist research. These include:
Some instruments are available for hire to external users include:
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