Victoria University of Wellington is the oldest university in Wellington, New Zealand. It is particularly well known for its programmes in law, the humanities, and certain scientific disciplines, but offers a broad range of other courses as well.

The university was established in 1897 as the fifth constituent college of the University of New Zealand by an Act of Parliament. It was named after Queen Victoria, as 1897 was the sixtieth anniversary of her coronation. There was initially dispute as to where to site the university, and it initially opened in temporary facilities. It was eventually decided to place it in Kelburn, where it still has its primary campus. This decision was influenced by the Cable Car Company's offer of a donation of £1000 if the University was located in Kelburn so students would patronise the car, between the city and the University. The university's historic Hunter Building was opened in 1904. The Wellington College of Education, established in 1880, joined the university as its Faculty of Education on 1 January 2005.

The dissolution of the University of New Zealand in 1961 saw the College become independent, becoming the Victoria University of Wellington and conferring its own degrees.

Gradually, the university expanded its facilities, its courses, and its student body. It presently has around 18,200 students (including around 2,500 students who came to study at the university from other countries), of whom 14,000 are undergraduates. It has around 1,500 staff.

Its main campus is located in Kelburn, a suburb situated on a hill overlooking the Wellington central business district, where its administration, humanities and science faculties are based. The law and commerce faculties are located in the Pipitea campus, which consists of the Rutherford building, the restored Government Buildings, and parts of the Wellington Railway Station (all near the Parliament Buildings). A smaller campus in the Te Aro region of Wellington serves as a base for the architecture and design schools.

In theory, the governing body of the University is the General Court of Convocation, composed of all graduates of the university who choose to participate in it. In practice, however, governorship is delegated to the University Council. The Council consists of twenty people: five elected by the Court of Convocation, three elected by the academic staff, one elected by the general staff, two appointed by the student union executive, four appointed by the Minister of Education , four people selected by the Council itself, and the university's Vice-Chancellor.

The Faculty of Education's campus, located in the suburb of Karori, was acquired upon the Wellington College of Education merger. Victoria University is also home to the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology and the Malaghan Institute of Medical Research , both of which are based at the university's Kelburn campus.

The Victoria University of Wellington Students' Association publishes a weekly magazine called Salient.

External links

• The University's website
  • The Faculty of Education's website
  • MacDiarmid Institute