18 November 2011 University's intellectual influence on economic revolution recalled

Memories of New Zealand as an economic “fortress” and the philosophical and political revolution in the 1980s that swept away the battlements in favour of de-regulated free market economics,  were revived at Lincoln University at a “birthday” celebration (15 Nov.) to mark 40 years of commerce degree teaching.

Guest speakers Selwyn District Mayor Kelvin Coe and Lincoln University Chancellor Tom Lambie, both Lincoln University agricultural commerce graduates and both formerly active in Federated Farmers (Lambie was a national president),  reflected on the intellectual contribution the University’s commerce teaching and research made to the revolution and the important role their own commerce degrees played in shaping their careers.  

Each said they “wouldn’t be standing here today” in their roles if it hadn’t been for their Lincoln University commerce degrees.

Lincoln University first offered a commerce degree  -  a Bachelor of Agricultural Commerce  - in 1971.

“This, in itself, was a revolutionary development,”  says Dr Sharon Forbes, a Lecturer in today’s Faculty of Commerce and convenor of the 40th  birthday celebration. “But the climate was ready for change and innovation and the new degree set the University on an exciting educational path. Its traditional strengths in agricultural production and farm management were now matched with a parallel focus on scholarship in disciplines associated with the commercialisation of that production and the results of that management. 

“Agricultural Commerce, the original name in the first degree,  is one of the ancestors of what today we know as ‘agribusiness’, so we have been celebrating a very important field of activity within New Zealand’s land-based economy,” says Dr Forbes.

The Bachelor of Agricultural Commerce degree had an initial intake of 129 students and the first batch of graduates in 1974 were swiftly snapped up by industry, the professions and government agencies.

Prominent in developing the degree was Professor of Agricultural Economics Bruce Ross, later Lincoln University’s first Vice-Chancellor. Professor Ross taught into the degree programme for over a decade before secondment to the OECD in Paris. He was subsequently Principal of Lincoln College.

In 1978 the Bachelor of Agricultural Commerce was replaced by a Bachelor of Commerce (Agricultural) degree and innovation continued with Lincoln going on to offer the first off-shore teaching of a New Zealand commerce degree  - a Bachelor of Commerce and Management,  in  Malaysia  -  and holding the first off-shore graduation ceremony by a New Zealand university, again in Malaysia. 
Other innovations in the commerce area have included the first appointments in New Zealand of professors of marketing,  real  estate studies and transport studies and the first offering of university commerce  degrees in logistics and in hotel management.

Today a Bachelor of Commerce degree at Lincoln University is offered with “majors” in accounting, agribusiness, business management, economics, finance, hotel management, entrepreneurship, international business, marketing, and supply chain management. Also available are a Bachelor of Commerce (Agriculture)and a Bachelor of Commerce (Valuation and Property Management).

“The University’s commerce degree programmes continue to evolve, balancing personal career preparation with employment market requirements, and producing graduates who make a difference to New Zealand and the world, through appointment to positions in places such as Treasury, the banking and finance sector, government departments,  and corporate  business,” says Dr Forbes.

“Examples include Dr Murray Horn an honours graduate in agricultural commerce  who was Treasury  Secretary in the 1990s, then  head of the ANZ Banking Group’s international institutional banking business, a governor of the World Bank and an alternate director of the International Monetary Fund.  

“We are confident that the next 40 years of commerce at Lincoln University will be just as influential as the past period. With enrolments now open for 2012 the opportunity is there for school-leavers and others to start degree study and eventually become part of the next wave of influence on New Zealand and the world.”