The University of Canterbury () is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was founded in 1873 as Canterbury College, the first constituent college of the University of New Zealand. It is New Zealand's second-oldest university.
Its original campus was in the Christchurch Central City, but in 1961 it became an independent university and began moving out of its original neo-Gothic buildings, which were re-purposed as the Christchurch Arts Centre. The move was completed on 1 May 1975 and the university now operates its main campus in the Christchurch suburb of Ilam.
The university offers bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees in, among others, Arts, Commerce, Education (physical education), Fine Arts, Forestry, Health Sciences, Law, Criminal Justice, Music, Social Work, Speech and Language Pathology, Sports Coaching and Teaching.
History
Canterbury College, 1873–1960 On 16 June 1873, the university was founded in the centre of Christchurch as Canterbury College, the first constituent college of the University of New Zealand and was funded by the then Canterbury Provincial Council. It became the second institution in New Zealand providing tertiary-level education (following the University of Otago, established in 1869), and the fourth in Australasia. It was founded on the basis of the Oxbridge college system, but it differed from Oxbridge in that it admitted female students from its foundation. Its foundation professors arrived in 1874, namely, Charles Cook (Mathematics, University of Melbourne, St John's College, Cambridge), Alexander Bickerton (Chemistry and Physics, School of Mining, London), and John Macmillan Brown (University of Glasgow, Balliol College, Oxford).Gardner, W. J., Beardsley, E. T., & Carter, T. E. (1973). Christchurch: University of Canterbury. A year later the first lectures began and in 1875 the first graduations took place. In 1880, Helen Connon was the first woman to graduate from the college, and in 1894, Āpirana Ngata became the first Māori-born student to graduate with a degree. The School of Art was founded in 1882, followed by the faculties of Arts, Science, Commerce, and Law in 1921, and Mental, Moral, and Social Sciences in 1924. The Students' Union, now known as the University of Canterbury Students Association, was founded in 1929 operating out of the Arts Centre of Christchurch Old Student Union Building, and the first edition of the student magazine Canta was published in 1930. In 1933, the name changed from Canterbury College to Canterbury University College.
College House, a student dormitory that maintains its old tradition by adopting the Oxbridge college system, broke away from Christ's College in 1957 and relocated to the Ilam suburb of Christchurch in 1966 as a hall of residence at the University of Canterbury. In 1957 the name changed again to the University of Canterbury.
Independence, 1961–2009 Until 1961, the university formed part of the University of New Zealand (UNZ), and issued degrees in its name. That year saw the dissolution of the federal system of tertiary education in New Zealand, and the University of Canterbury became an independent University awarding its own degrees. Upon the UNZ's demise, Canterbury Agricultural College became a constituent college of the University of Canterbury, as Lincoln College. Lincoln College became independent in 1990 as a full university in its own right and is now known as Lincoln University.
Relocation to Ilam campus
Over the period from 1961 to 1974, the university campus relocated from the centre of the city to its much larger current site in the suburb of Ilam. 1973 saw the university celebrate its centenary, during which the neo-Gothic buildings of the old campus were gifted to the City of Christchurch, which became the site of the Christchurch Arts Centre, a hub for arts, crafts and entertainment in Christchurch. 1974 also marked the opening of the James Hight Library, which at the time, was New Zealand's largest university building. Ilam's three university halls of residence were renamed University Hall in 1974, and the student dormitory was used as the Athletes Village dormitory for the 1974 British Commonwealth Games hosted in Christchurch.
In 2004, the university underwent restructuring into four Colleges and a School of Law, administering a number of schools and departments (though a number of departments have involvement in cross-teaching in numerous academic faculties). For many years the university worked closely with the Christchurch College of Education, leading to a full merger in 2007, establishing a fifth College.
Post-earthquakes, 2010–2022
On 4 September 2010 at 4:35 am local time an earthquake struck the South Island of New Zealand with a moment magnitude of 7.1; several aftershocks followed the main event, the strongest of which was a magnitude 6.3 shock known as the Christchurch earthquake that occurred nearly six months later on 22 February 2011. Although there was no serious injuries to staff or students on campus and only minor damage to buildings, the initial quake closed the university for a week, and the library was shut for months while shelves were repaired and half a million books placed back on shelves. The Student Volunteer Army was a group of around 10,000 university students and others who worked over a period of months to help clean up liquefaction.
In the months following the earthquake, the university lost 25 per cent of its first-year students and 8 per cent of continuing students. The number of international students, who pay much higher fees and were a major source of revenue, dropped by 30 per cent. In October 2011, staff were encouraged to take voluntary redundancies. As well in September 2011, plans were announced to demolish some University buildings that were damaged from an earthquake.
By 2013, the university had lost 22 per cent of its students. However, a record number of 886 PhD students were enrolled at the University of Canterbury as of 2013. Other New Zealand universities, apparently defying an informal agreement, launched billboard and print advertising campaigns in the earthquake-ravaged city to recruit University of Canterbury students who were finding it difficult to study there. In 2013 the New Zealand Government also agreed to provide $260m to support the university's rebuild programme.
Student numbers were steadily on the rise, with a 4.5% increase in students enrolled from 2013 to 2016. International numbers also increased, nearing pre-earthquake figures at 1,134 enrolled in 2016.
In March 2016, Vice-Chancellor Dr Rod Carr said in The Press newspaper: "In 2014, [students] wanted to leave Christchurch and went to Wellington, Otago and into the workforce. Now we're retaining Christchurch school leavers and we're getting our fair share of provincial students, as well as attracting greater numbers from the Auckland region." "Living on or near the UC campus, and having a lifestyle that can take you from lectures to skifields in 90 minutes or the beach in 20 minutes, is much more appealing and affordable than living in Auckland."
In January 2017, the University of Canterbury released its campus master plan – 50 building and landscape projects proposed over three stages by 2045, the cost could exceed $2bn. In a comment to The Press, Rod Carr said that the plans were proof the university was moving away from the falling enrolments post-earthquake.
150th anniversary, 2023–present
The University of Canterbury celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2023. In the same year the university experienced a surge in enrolments, reaching a record high of 21,361 students by late March, compared to 20,223 at the same period in the previous year. Among these figures, UC counted 19,975 domestic students, witnessing a substantial increase from the preceding year's count. Concurrently, the international student body also expanded to 1,393, marking a rise from 1,098 in the prior year. This growth in enrolment stands in contrast to a decline in domestic student numbers across all five North Island universities during this period. According to a spokesperson for the university, in 2023 every affiliated hall was "at 100% occupancy" and "may be a record-breaker for highest number of enrolments".
Campuses
The University of Canterbury has three campuses spread throughout the city of Christchurch:
Ilam Campus: The university has a main campus of at Ilam, a suburb of Christchurch about from the centre of the city. The Ilam campus maintains three libraries with the Central Library () housed in the tallest building on campus, the 11-storey Puaka–James Hight Building. The Ilam campus is where the Faculties of Education, Health, Science, Engineering, Business, Law and Arts are based. The University of Canterbury Students' Association is based there in the Haere roa building. The Ilam Campus is home to cafes and restaurants as well as a pharmacy, bookshop, the UC rec centre and the UC Health centre. Dovedale Campus: The Dovedale Campus is and became a part of the University of Canterbury when the Christchurch College of Education (a specialist teacher training institution) merged on 1 January 2007. The Dovedale campus is located adjacent to the Ilam campus and is off Dovedale avenue. The campus consists of the old Henry Field Library, The Christchurch College of English, Ilam early Learning Centre and Hayashi and Sonoda student residences. The Faculty of Education also maintains a presence here. City Campus: The Christchurch City Campus is made up of the Christchurch Arts Centre and the Manawa building which is a part of the Faculty of Health. Music and Classics are again taught from the Christchurch Arts Centre in the old chemistry building, and within the new Manawa building in Christchurch city health and education are taught. The city campus also includes the Teece Museum of Classical Antiquities – home of the James Logie Memorial Collection.
The university also 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.
Libraries The UC Library was first established at Canterbury College in 1879. Today there are three libraries on campus each covering different subject areas.Library Locations University of Canterbury. Retrieved on 21 February 2018
Central library
The Central Library () – is housed in the Puaka–James Hight Building that is designed in the brutalist style architecture. In 1974, the old city campus library moved to the Ilam campus and was housed in the newly constructed James Hight building, originally named after former Canterbury professor James Hight.James Hight Library & Arts Tower University of Canterbury. Retrieved on 6 April 2014 The building was renamed Puaka-James Hight in 2014, after the brightest star in the cluster Matariki, to reflect the growing strength of UC's relationship with Ngāi Tahu and the mana of Te Ao Māori at the heart of the university's campus.James Hight is now Puaka-James Hight UC student blog. Retrieved on 14 January 2016 The University of Canterbury Central Library is the largest university library in New Zealand. The Central Library has collections of over 2 million physical items including books, archives, journals and a miscellany of other items that support research and teaching in Humanities, Social Sciences, Law, Commerce, Music, Fine Arts and Antarctic Studies.
The Henry Field Library (named for the New Zealand Educationalist Henry Edward Field) on the old Christchurch College of Education site joined the fold when the university and Christchurch College of Education merged. However, the Education collection was incorporated into the collections within the Puaka–James Hight Building, and Henry Field is now a library store at the campus off Dovedale Avenue.