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University of Canterbury Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha
Motto:	Ergo tua rura manebunt (therefore may your fields remain [yours]) (Virgil, Eclogues)
Established	1873
Type:	Public
Chancellor:	Robin Mann
Vice-Chancellor:	Roy Sharp
Students:	20,927 (2007)
Postgraduates:	1,642 graduate
Location	Christchurch, New Zealand
Campus:	Urban
Website:	http://www.canterbury.ac.nz/

This page is about the New Zealand university. The universities in Canterbury, England, are the University of Kent and Canterbury Christ Church University. The similarly-named, unaccredited institution is Canterbury University of the Seychelles.

The University of Canterbury (Māori: Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha; postnominal abbreviation Cantuar. or Cant. for Cantuariensis, the Latin name for Canterbury), New Zealand's second-oldest university, is located in the suburb of Ilam in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. It offers degrees in Arts, Commerce, Child and Family Psychology, Education, Engineering, Fine Arts, Forestry, Law, Music, Social Work, Speech and Language Therapy, Science, Sports Coaching and Teaching.

The James Hight building at the University of Canterbury

The University has a 760,000 square metre main campus at Ilam, a suburb of Christchurch about 5 km from the city centre. Adjacent to the main campus is the University's College of Education, with its own sports fields and grounds. There are six libraries, with the Central Library (Māori: Te Puna Mātauraka o Waitaha) housed in the tallest building on campus, the 11-storey James Hight building.

The University's College of Education maintains additional small campuses in Nelson, Tauranga and Timaru, and teaching centres in Greymouth, New Plymouth, Rotorua and Timaru. The University has staff in regional information offices in Nelson, Timaru, and Auckland.

There are six Halls of residence: Bishop Julius Hall, College House, Rochester and Rutherford Hall, and University Hall, Sonoda Christchurch Campus and Ilam Village.

The Science Lecture Theatre complex with the top of the Physics & Astronomy and Chemistry building in the background

There are four field stations that are administered by the Field Facilities Centre:

• Cass Field Station - Provides a wide range of environments - montane grasslands, scrub, riverbed, scree, beech forest, swamp, bog, lake, stream and alpine habitats can all be reached by day trips on foot
• Kaikoura Field Station - Provides a wide range of environments - diverse marine habitats, alpine habitats, Kanuka forests, rivers, lakes
• Harihari Field Station - Access to native forests, streams
• Westport Field Station - study of the West Coast of New Zealand in particular mining

There is also an additional field Station run primarily by the University and its project partners in the Nigerian Montane Forests Project - this field station is on the Ngel Nyaki forest edge in Nigeria.

The Department of Physics and Astronomy run their own field laboratory:

• Mount John University Observatory at Lake Tekapo for optical astronomical research
• Birdling's Flat radar facility
• Scott Base radar facility
• Cracroft Caverns ring laser facility

The Department of Physics and Astronomy is also involved in the Southern African Large Telescope.

University of Canterbury logo

The Vice-Chancellor is Professor Roy Sharp, who has held this position since 2003. The governing body of the University is the Council. The Council Chair is the Chancellor, who in 2005 is Dr Robin Mann. Also on the council are representatives from the faculties, students and general staff.

The University was restructured in 2004 into four Colleges and a School of Law, administering a number of schools and departments (though a number of departments are involved in cross teaching in numerous academic faculties). In 2007, a fifth College was added with the merging of the Christchurch College of Education into the University. The main constituents of the university structure are:

• College of Arts, administering:
  • School of Classics and Linguistics
  • School of Culture, Literature and Society
  • School of Fine Arts 1966 Article
  • School of History
  • School of Languages and Cultures
  • School of Māori and Indigenous Studies
  • Centre for Music and Theatre & Film Studies
  • School of Philosophy and Religious Studies
  • School of Political Science and Communication
  • School Social Work and Human Services
  • School of Sociology and Anthropology
  • MacMillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies

• College of Business and Economics, administering:
  • Accounting, Finance, and Information Systems
  • Economics
  • Management
  • Management Science
  • National Centre for Research on Europe

• College of Engineering, administering:
  • Civil Engineering
  • Chemical and Process Engineering
  • Computer Science and Software Engineering
  • Electrical and Computer Engineering
  • Mathematics and Statistics
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Mechatronics Engineering
  • Natural Resources Engineering
  • School of Forestry

• College of Science, administering:
  • School of Biological Sciences
  • Chemistry
  • Communication Disorders (formerly Speech and Language Therapy)
  • Geography
  • Geological Sciences
  • Physics and Astronomy
  • Psychology

• College of Education, administering:
  • School of Educational Studies and Human Development
  • School of Māori, Social and Cultural Studies in Education
  • School of Literacies and Arts in Education
  • School of Sciences and Physical Education

• School of Law

The above are administrative groups - Each College and the School of Law is headed by a Pro-Vice-Chancellor (PVC), who is responsible to the Vice-Chancellor for all activities of the Colleges/School. The PVCs are supported by a College Office providing financial, administrative, academic, and human resources advice to the PVC. Each College also has a College Manager, who acts as the day to day manager of the College.

In addition to the administrative structure, there are seven faculties in the University: Humanities and Social Sciences, Commerce , Engineering and Forestry, Education, Science, Visual and Performing Arts, and Law. Each faculty consists of the teaching staff of the departments and schools which offer courses that may be part of the particular degree from that faculty. There are also student representatives on the various faculties.

The University is state funded.

Together with the New Zealand government, the University formed the UCi3 ICT Innovation Institute in 2006 to commercialize research and to encourage local high-tech industry. The cluster of technology companies around Christchurch has led to the area being dubbed the Silicon Plains.

As of 2007, there were a total of 17,779 students, with 1,642 being Post-Graduates and 1,422 being international students (students who are not New Zealand citizens or residents). There were 601 academic staff and 1,045 general staff.

The University of Canterbury Students' Association (UCSA) is active on campus with its own radio station RDU and magazine Canta. They also run two bars, the 430 seat Ngaio Marsh Theatre, and several cafes around campus. The most popular on-campus bar is The Common Room (known as The Foundry until 2005).

There are over 100 academic, sporting, recreational and cultural societies and clubs. The most prominent of these are the University of Canterbury Engineering Society (ENSOC), the Law Society (LAWSOC), the Commerce Society (UCom), as well as the largest non-faculty clubs such as CUBA (Canterbury University Boardriders' Association), CurrySoc, The Gentlemen's Club (The Gentlemen's Club), and KAOS (Killing As Organised Sport). The University of Canterbury Drama Society (Dramasoc) is famous for its 1942-1969 Shakespeare productions under Dame Ngaio Marsh, but regularly performs as an active student and alumni run Arts fixture in the small Christchurch theatre scene. There is also a similarly active Musical Society, MuSoc.

One of the biggest student traditions is the Undie 500. This is an annual car rally from Christchurch to Dunedin run by ENSOC. The only stipulations are that the car must cost under $500, have a sober driver, and be road legal. That of 2007 ended in rioting in the student quarter of Dunedin, North East Valley, and the future of the event is in doubt.

The university was established in 1873 in the centre of Christchurch as Canterbury College, the first constituent college of the University of New Zealand. It was the second institution in New Zealand providing tertiary level education, following the University of Otago which was established in 1869, and the fourth in Australasia.

It was created partly out of the efforts of the Canterbury Museum and Library and Christ's College, which were dissatisfied with the state of higher education in Canterbury.[1] In 1933, the name changed from Canterbury College to Canterbury University College. In 1957 its name was changed again to the present University of Canterbury.

Until 1961, the University had been part of the University of New Zealand, and issued degrees in its name. In that year the federal system was dissolved and the University of Canterbury became an independent University issuing its own degrees. Upon the UNZ's demise, Canterbury Agricultural College became a constituent college of the University of Canterbury, becoming Lincoln College.PDF Lincoln College was made independent in 1990, becoming a full university.

Over the period 1961 - 1974, the university campus relocated from the centre of the city to its much larger current site in the suburb of Ilam. The neo-gothic buildings of the old campus are now the site of the Christchurch Arts Centre, a hub for arts, crafts and entertainment in Christchurch.

The University inherited the arms of the former Canterbury College.

The "dead sheep" (actually a silver fleece) symbolises the pastoral pursuits of the province of Canterbury, while the plough on the base of the shield symbolises agriculture. The symbols from the at the top are (from left to right) Bishop's pall, an open book and a cross flory. The two crosses represent Canterbury's ecclesiastical connections. As it is an institution of learning, the University's coat of arms does not have a helmet, crest or mantling on its armorial bearings.

In 1962, it was proposed that the University's motto, a reference to the original endowment of land, be changed to something more relevant. A cleric proposed "The Truth Shall Make You Free" (John 8:32), but Professor of Mathematics Derek Lawden[2], a noted atheist, asked "But what if the truth should be that we are automata? Then we should not only be automata, but foolish automata." The motto was left alone.

• Rita Angus - Painter
• Rosemary Banks - Ambassador to the United Nations
• Don Brash - former Leader of the Opposition and former Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand
• John Burrows QC - member of the New Zealand Law Commission
• Michael P. Collins - Structural Engineer and professor at University of Toronto
• Jack Copeland - Philosopher
• Michael Cullen - Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand, Leader of the House of Representatives, Minister of Finance, Minister of Tertiary Education
• G. F. J. Dart - Headmaster of Ballarat Grammar School 1942-1970
• Denis Dutton - Philosopher
• Brian Easton - economist
• Stevan Eldred-Grigg - Historian and Novelist
• Jock Hobbs - New Zealand Rugby Union Chair and former All Black Captain
• Marian Hobbs - Minister of the Environment
• Bruce Jesson - political writer (graduated Bachelor of Laws, but refused to swear allegiance to the Queen and was never admitted to the Bar)
• Roy Kerr - Mathematician, solved Einstein's equations for a rotating black hole
• Roger Kerr - Executive director of New Zealand Business Roundtable
• John Key - Leader of the National Party, representing the electorate of Helensville.
• Sir Howard Kippenberger, military leader
• Jordan Luck - musician
• Euan MacLeod - Painter
• Margaret Mahy - children's author
• Javier Bono - Geologist, NASA collaborator.
• Julie Maxton Registrar at Oxford University
• John McMillan - Economist
• Sam Neill - Actor
• Sir Apirana Ngata - Early Māori politician
• Sir William Pickering - Director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory for 22 years
• Sir Karl Popper - Philosopher of science, who lectured from 1937 to 1946
• Lord Ernest Rutherford - Nobel winning nuclear Physicist. Displays of Lord Rutherford can be seen at the Rutherford Birthplace, Nelson, and in the basement laboratory where he worked, under the Great Hall of the Arts Centre
• Feleti Vakaʻuta Sevele -14th Prime Minister of Tonga
• Nick Smith - Politician
• Kevin Smith - Actor
• Peter Spiller - Principal Disputes Referee of the New Zealand Disputes Tribunals, Law Professor at Waikato University
• Beatrice Tinsley - Astronomer, conducted significant research on galaxies
• Andrew Tipping - Judge of the Supreme Court of New Zealand

• Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology