10 June 1999 Lincoln University – Marriage of Scholarship and Business Enterprise

Education is big business in Canterbury generating millions of dollars for the local and national economies and earning big export dollars for the country too.

Among the key players is Lincoln University, recent winner of an Export Commendation from the New Zealand Trade Development Board for its revenue-earning international activities. Last year Lincoln made $13 million in overseas earnings, up from $12.5 million in 1997 and $9.9 million in 1996.

Lincoln University, which has a student roll of 4100, began life in 1878 as a School of Agriculture governed by Canterbury University College (now the University of Canterbury). There were only 16 students when it opened, today it is a $65 million p.a. enterprise at the head of natural resources education in New Zealand and with a reputation stretching around the world.

In 1896 the School of Agriculture at Lincoln became Canterbury Agricultural College and remained under that name until 1961 when it became Lincoln College, a constituent college of the University of Canterbury. In 1990 it became an autonomous university in its own right, Lincoln University.

The campus is located 1.5 kilometres from the village of Lincoln (population about 1600).

Close to the University are Canterbury Agricultural and Science Centre (home of a number of Crown Research Institutes related to agriculture and land use) and the national headquarters of the Wool Research Organisation of New Zealand.

Although Lincoln had its origins as a specialist institution for agricultural education, it is now more broadly based and covers the whole field of natural resources in terms of production, management, human involvement and sustainability. Its areas of teaching and research are defined in its Charter as – commerce and management; primary production and natural resources; science and engineering; social science.

Commerce and Commerce and Management degrees predominate at capping these days. Within Lincoln's Bachelor of Commerce degrees, students have a wide range of options in which to ‘major’. These cover Food Industry, Forestry, Tourism, Manufacturing and Technology Management, Hotel and Institutional Management, Transport, Agriculture, Horticulture and Valuation and Property Management.

Within the Bachelor of Commerce and Management programme the ‘majors’ available are Accounting, Business Management, Computing, Economics, Finance, Marketing and Property Studies.

Along with Commerce qualifications, Lincoln's portfolio of degrees and diplomas includes Science (with a range of B.Sc. streams including Computing and Mathematical Sciences; Animal Science; Food Science; Environmental Chemistry and Toxicology; Atmosphere, Weather and Climate; Land, Soil and Water; and Conservation and Ecology); Agricultural Science; Horticultural Science; Resource Studies; Viticulture and Oenology; Landscape Architecture; Recreation Management; Maori Studies; Social Science; Engineering (Natural Resources); Applied Computing; and Applied Science. Most are offered at all levels – bachelors, honours, masters and doctoral.

Diplomas cover Farm Management and Horticultural Management plus a range of Postgraduate Diplomas in specialist areas.

The University's academic structure comprises six ‘divisions’ servicing three ‘schools’. The three schools are Undergraduate; Postgraduate and Research; and Professional Studies, and the six divisions are Animal and Food Sciences; Applied Management and Computing; Commerce; Environmental Management and Design; Soil, Plant and Ecological Sciences; and Human Sciences.

Approximately one-third of the University's New Zealand students come from the North Island, one-third from Christchurch and one-third from other parts of the South Island.

The University has a policy of ‘internationalisation’ and last year students from 56 different countries made up 23 percent of the total roll with Malaysia being the largest single source. The proportion of international students at Lincoln is the highest of New Zealand's seven universities.

Proportionately Lincoln has more students living on campus than any other New Zealand university and its small size and rural location promote a great sense of community and heaps of socialising. Fellow students can become friends for life and these friendships can stretch around the globe. Lincoln alumnus Don McKinnon, New Zealand's Foreign Minister, attested to this in an address at the 1999 Graduation ceremony: "All around the world I meet Lincoln graduates," he said, "from the international money markets of New York and London ... I've met them in the jungles of Laos, the pampas of South America, the deserts of Turkey, and all over Africa."

Lincoln's 1999 academic year opened with the start of lectures on 22 February and closes with the end of second semester examinations on 30 October. The year is built around two 12-week teaching semesters and examinations are held at the end of each semester. Students may enter the University and begin courses in either February or July, corresponding with the start of each semester.

The University also offers a Summer School over November-February in which full degree papers can be taken within a compressed time-frame. The opportunity to do degree and diploma papers part-time and off campus in many home districts is available too, through the Regional Education and Regional Diploma programmes.

The 58-hectare campus is beautifully gardened with trees, shrubs, flowers and lawns and is regarded as one of the most attractive university settings in New Zealand. Facilities include a recreation centre, swimming pool, tennis courts, and sports fields.

The heart of the campus is Ivey Hall, which houses the University Library. Ivey Hall, dating from 1878, was the original School of Agriculture building. The interior was modernised in the late 1980s to convert it into a library.

To support its teaching, research and income earning capacity the University operates a number of farms and also has a horticulture research area with orchards, vineyard and biological husbandry (organics) unit.

Lincoln University undertakes contract research and consultancy through a number of separately constituted university companies and groupings. These include Lincoln Ventures Ltd, Lincoln International, the Agribusiness and Economics Research Group, the Plant Protection Research Group, the Lincoln Soil Quality Research Centre and the Centre for Mountain Studies.

The Chancellor of Lincoln University is Mr Malcolm Cameron of Wellington and the Vice-Chancellor is Dr Frank Wood.

Ian Collins, Journalist, Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand