NEW ZEALAND: Surprise university merger proposed

New Zealand's smallest university has unveiled a plan to nearly triple its research capability and become one of the top five land-based universities in the world by merging with a government-owned research businesses.

Lincoln has a traditional focus on land-based industries such as sheep farming that are the mainstay of New Zealand's economy. But with just 2,600 full-time students and 610 staff, doubts have been expressed from time to time about its viability as a stand-alone institution.

Last week it announced a plan to merge with AgResearch, one of New Zealand's eight Crown research institutes, in order to capitalise on the institutions' strengths and deliver more value for the country's land-based industries.

Unlike Lincoln, AgResearch cannot enrol students or offer qualifications, but it is a specialist research organisation in agriculture with four main campuses, 1,000 staff and a budget nearly twice the size of Lincoln's at about $150m (US$77m) a year.

A merger between a Crown research institution and a university is unprecedented, but the government appears positive about the prospect. Minister of Research, Science and Technology Wayne Mapp said the proposal was logical given that Lincoln was a specialised university, unlike the country's seven other universities that offer a broader mix of programmes.

Lincoln University vice-chancellor Professor Roger Field said the aim of the proposal was to build critical mass in an area important to New Zealand's economy and he expected it would result in growth in postgraduate enrolments. "The opportunity to expand postgraduate activity is huge and that would be on all the campuses," he said.

Field said the merger would put Lincoln alongside leading land-based institutions such as Wageningen in the Netherlands, the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University in Denmark, and Cornell in the USA.

Tertiary Education Union Lincoln branch Co-president Scott Walters said staff could see advantages in the proposal and had been told it was aimed at growth and creating new opportunities rather than making cost savings.

"If it all goes ahead, it would cement our identity," he said.

However, university sector insiders queried the wisdom of merging institutions with different missions and suggested the merger could create tensions with New Zealand's other agriculture-specialist university, Massey. It collaborates with AgResearch and had been working on a closer relationship with Lincoln.

Massey vice-chancellor Steve Maharey said the merger was interesting, but went on to on to emphasise Massey's status as a world-class university focused on primary industries.
"Massey welcomes the merger's implied acknowledgment of the importance of what we already do," Maharey said.

The merger partners would put a case to the government for approval, and the merger may require a law change in order to go ahead.

* John Gerritsen is editor of NZ Education Review.

john.gerritsen@uw-news.com