University of Otago
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Categories: Otago | University of Otago | Universities and colleges in New Zealand | Educational institutions established in 1869
The University of Otago (Māori: Te Whare Wānanga o Otāgo) in Dunedin is New Zealand's oldest university with over 20,000 students enrolled during 2006. It is the South Island's largest employer and claims to have the world's 2nd longest continuously running annual student revue (the Capping Show) and New Zealand's oldest ballet company (the Selwyn Ballet). The University is known throughout the country for its unique student lifestyle and particularly its flatting culture, where students generally share semi-dilapidated housing units with a unique name and "character building" domestic life. The nickname Scarfie applies to the students after the cold weather and traditional habit of wearing a scarf for most of the year. Otago graduates are known to be among the most dispersed alumni in the world, with many graduates ultimately settling in Australia, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, United States, China, Malaysia, India, Sri Lanka, Japan or elsewhere in New Zealand. The university has New Zealand's highest average research quality, and is second only to the University of Auckland in the amount of A rated academic researchers employed,[1] and topped the New Zealand Performance Based Research Fund evaluation in 2006.[2]. Founded in 1869 by a committee including Thomas Burns,[3] the university opened in July 1871. Its motto is "Sapere aude" ("Dare to be wise"). (The University of New Zealand subsequently adopted the same motto.) The University of Otago Students' Association answers this with its own motto, "Audeamus" ("let us dare"). Between 1874 and 1961 the University of Otago was a part of the University of New Zealand, and issued degrees in its name. 
FacultiesAdministratively, the university is divided into four divisions: Commerce, Health Sciences, Humanities, and Sciences. For external and marketing purposes, the Division of Commerce is known as the School of Business, as that is the term commonly used for its equivalent in North America. Historically, there were a number of Schools and Faculties, which have now been grouped with standalone departments to form these divisions. In addition to the usual university disciplines, the Otago Medical School (founded 1875) is one of only two in New Zealand (with constituent branches in Christchurch and Wellington), and is the only university in the country to offer training in Dentistry. Other professional schools and faculties not found in all New Zealand universities include Pharmacy, Physical Education, Physiotherapy, Medical Laboratory Science, and Surveying. It was also home to the School of Mines, until this was transferred to the University of Auckland in 1987. Theology is also offered, traditionally in conjunction with the School of Ministry, Knox College, and Holy Cross, Mosgiel. Students[4]
CampusesIn addition to the main Dunedin campus, the University has small facilities in Auckland and Wellington (based at Westpac Stadium).[5] The medical schools have larger campuses near Christchurch and Wellington Hospitals. Additionally, the University has the Portobello Marine Laboratory on Otago Harbour. 180° view of Dunedin shot from the hills on the west. The University can be seen in front of the large hill to the left.
Merger with Dunedin College of EducationThe University and the Dunedin College of Education (a specialist teacher training institution) merged on 1 January 2007. The University of Otago College of Education is now based on the College site, and includes the College's campuses in Invercargill and Alexandra. Staff of the University's Faculty of Education relocated to the college site. A merger had been considered before, however the present talks progressed further, and more amicably, than previously. Student LifestyleO-WeekImage:Otago clocktower race.jpg
Participants in the annual clocktower race lining up, ready to go.
'O-Week' or Orientation Week is the Otago equivalent of Fresher's Week. While the new students are sometimes referred to as 'freshers' the label of 'first years' is more common. O-week is organised by the Student's Association OUSA and involves competitions such as 'Fresher of the Year' whereby several students volunteer to carry out a series of tasks throughout the week before being voted to win. All tasks are related to the O-Week theme. The OUSA also organise events each night including various concerts, a comedy night, hypnotist plus busses to Carisbrook (at the other end of Dunedin) where the Highlanders usually schedule a game.[6] Local bars organise events also with a range of live music and promotional deals including the Cookathon and a Miss O-Week competition hosted by The Outback.[7] The Cookathon is held by a local pub (the Cook) with the premise that your first drink costs you about $20 which gives you a t-shirt, three meal vouchers and reduced price on drinks then you spend the rest of the day drinking and relaxing with mates.[6] TraditionsEach year the first years are encouraged to attend the toga parade and party dressed in white sheets wrapped as togas. A clocktower race also occurs, in the style of Chariots of Fire. Students must race round the tower and attached building, beginning on the first chime of the clock at noon and completing before the chimes cease. Unlike Chariots of Fire the task is possible with a couple of students completing each year. Image:Couch burning dunedin.jpg
The gutted remains of a burnt out couch on Queen Street
ThemesEach year a theme is chosen for the O-week festivities, usually based on a recent movie or TV show. The week is then branded with altered posters depicting the theme plus all events are somehow linked to this.
Couch BurningCouch burning is a frequent, illegal, problem with partying students in the student neighbourhood surrounding the campus. In 2007, a pub owner was charged with sedition over a pamphlet offering O-Week students the prize of a fuel-soaked couch.[8] Distinctions
 Many Fellowships add to the diversity of the people associated with "Otago". They include:
In 1998, the physics department gained some fame for making the first Bose-Einstein condensate in the Southern Hemisphere. The 2006 Government investigation into research quality (to serve as a basis for future funding) ranked Otago the top University in New Zealand overall, taking into account the quality of its staff and research produced. It was also ranked first in the categories of Clinical Medicine, Biomedical Science, Law, English Literature and Language, History and Earth Science. The Department of Psychology received the highest score for any nominated academic unit. Otago had been ranked fourth in the 2004 assessment. In 2006, a report released by the Ministry of Research, Science and Technology found that Otago was the most research intensive university in New Zealand, with 40% of staff time devoted to research and development.[1] Journal "Science" has recommended worldwide study of Otago's Biochemistry database "Transterm", which has genomic data on 40,000 species. Otago was recently ranked 79th from a listing of top 200 institutions in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings [1][2] and within 201-300 in the Shanghai Jiaotong rankings of world top 500 universities. (PDF) Residential CollegesThe vast majority of first year ("fresher") students at the University of Otago stay in one of the many Residential Colleges. These provide food, accommodation, social and welfare services. Some of the colleges have developed a strong institutional personality over the years. This becomes self-perpetuating as applicants choose the college most suited to their own personality. Quiet, conservative St Margaret's College is next to the large, generic University College (Unicol) in the heart of the campus, which houses approximately 550 residents during the academic year. It is the most central hall on the campus, situated beside the university's original buildings. Aquinas College, being the smallest and perhaps farthest of the halls, has developed a more tight-knit community than many of the others. City College is influenced by two-thirds of its students coming from the Dunedin College of Education or the Otago Polytechnic, and Toroa International House is almost exclusively filled by international students. It provides accommodation that is welcoming and supportive yet allows residents to live, eat, study and socialise in an environment that meets their individual needs. Residential Colleges affiliated with the University of Otago select students based on their marks, extracurricular activities and high school testimonials. However, some colleges are more selective than others. Although their order varies from year to year, the most selective colleges are consistently Knox College, Selwyn College and Carrington College. Arana College received the most placement request for 2007. Unsuccessful applicants are referred to other colleges. St Margaret's College has similar entry standards, but the reputation of the college as quiet, religious and hard-working tends to attract a self-selected small group of highly-qualified applicants. Otago's Residential Colleges are not as significant in the life of the University when compared with the Colleges and Halls of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. Some halls seek to imitate Oxbridge colleges (occasional tutorials, "fellows", chapels etc) but students' primary affiliation is to the University rather than the hall, and the bulk of formal education does not take place within the college.
Notable peopleFaculty
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![[2]](http://www.timesonline.co.uk/TGD/picture/0,,348516,00.jpg){kind=link}