The University of Auckland was formally opened on 23 May 1883 as Auckland University College, part of the University of New Zealand. A disused courthouse and jail served as premises for the 95 students and four teaching staff. The roll increased slowly but steadily during the remainder of the 19th century; by 1901 it had risen to 156 students. Most students were enrolled part-time, training as teachers or law clerks, although after 1905 the number of commerce students rose markedly.
Today, the University of Auckland is the largest university in New Zealand, hosting over 40,000 students on five Auckland campuses. We opened the Newmarket Campus in May 2015, featuring extensively refurbished buildings and a new large-scale structures hall for the Faculty of Engineering, with space for some Faculty of Science activities. The $200 million investment in the new Science tower on the corner of Symonds and Wellesley Streets allows us to begin co-locating the Schools of Environment and Psychology with most of the other schools in the Faculty of Science. The University Council approved the business case for a new $250 million Faculty of Engineering building on the City Campus to be completed in 2019. This will allow us to accommodate the very rapid growth in the faculty in line with national priorities and government investment. Given our objective of attracting students of high academic potential from throughout New Zealand and around the world, we have continued to invest heavily in student accommodation. We opened the 264-bed apartment-style Carlaw Park stage II development and completed a new block of 343 studio apartments in Symonds Street. Both of these are public-private partnerships. We took ownership of the long-established Grafton Hall in a generous arrangement with the Presbyterian Methodist Congregational Foundation. This saw the $8.4m net proceeds of the sale of surrounding properties owned by the Foundation returned to University students through an endowed scholarships programme.
At UniServices, we bring ideas to life. We partner with the best minds in academia and business to apply intelligent thinking to ideas that have the potential to change the world. For nearly 30 years, UniServices has worked alongside researchers and academic staff at the University of Auckland to transfer world-class knowledge and technology into existing companies and start-ups.
SET (Summative Evaluation Tool) is designed to facilitate student feedback on learning and teaching for students, teachers and academic managers. Students have the opportunity to provide feedback through SET on eligible courses and teachers at the University each time a course is offered. In SET, teaching and course evaluations are administered simultaneously using standard questionnaires for courses and teaching.
The graduate profile reflects a set of attributes that we consider to be attainable by graduates of a research-led comprehensive university. They make clear to students and staff, to potential students, to employers, to the community and to other academic institutions, the qualities that the University of Auckland seeks to impart to, or foster in, its graduates. Responsibility for enabling graduates to meet the Graduate Profile lies with University staff and students. We hope that, as individuals and as members of the University community, all will engage in the teaching, learning, research and creative activities of the University, and in its extra-curricular, cultural, intellectual, social and sports life, to achieve the aspirations we hold for our graduates.
The University is implementing a new 3-level Graduate Profile in 2017. Level 1 and 2 below provide the foundation and faculties are currently developing level 3 for implementation in upcoming years. Further background on the Graduate Profile and its implementation is at the end of this page.