Auckland University of Technology
Auckland University of Technology is a public university in Auckland, New Zealand. It was established on 1 January 2000, when the Auckland Institute of Technology was incorporated into the newly created university by Order in Council under the Education Act 1989. The institution’s lineage dates to 1895, when the Auckland Technical School opened; it became Seddon Memorial Technical College in 1913 before later evolving into a tertiary institute.
AUT is one of the country’s larger universities by enrolment. Universities New Zealand reported a student headcount of 25,270 in 2024. The university operates three campuses in Auckland—City, North and South.
AUT is also associated with two specialist locations: AUT Millennium, a high-performance sport and community facility on Auckland’s North Shore, and the Refugee Education Centre at the Māngere Refugee Resettlement Centre, where new teaching spaces were opened in 2016.
History
Historically, New Zealand lacked technical training institutions, even after the establishment of free and compulsory education in 1877. As a result, many calls were made for the education system to incorporate technical training. In response, Robert Stout, the Minister of Education in 1885, tried to compel universities and secondary schools to establish technical education. This fell on deaf ears, so instead he gave land to the Wellington Board of Education to establish a school.In 1886 the Wellington School of Design was opened. Later, in 1895, the Auckland Technical School opened as an evening school. In 1913, the organisation became the Seddon Memorial Technical College, named for Richard Seddon, the longest-serving New Zealand premier.
In the early 1960s, educational reforms resulted in the separation of secondary and tertiary teaching. Two educational establishments were formed; the tertiary adopting the name Auckland Technical Institute in 1963 and the secondary school continuing with the same name. For three years they co-existed on the same site, but by 1964 the secondary school had moved to a new site in Western Springs, and eventually became Western Springs College. In 1989, ATI became Auckland Institute of Technology, and the current name was adopted when university status was granted in 2000.
Sir Paul Reeves served as university chancellor from 2005 until his death in 2011.
Campuses and facilities
AUT has three campuses: City, North and South, and the training institute, Millennium. City and North campuses offer student accommodation. AUT runs a shuttle bus service between the city and south campus.City campus
City Campus spreads over several sites in the heart of central Auckland. The largest site is situated on Wellesley Street East and is home to most of the academic units and central administration, including the Vice-Chancellor's Office and research centres. The Faculties of Business, Economics and Law, Design and Creative Technologies, Culture and Society and Te Ara Poutama share this location.Facilities of the campus include an early childhood centre, International Student Centre, printing centre, gym, Chinese Centre, Pasifika Student Support Service, Postgraduate Centre and Te Tari Āwhina Learning Development Centre. The Central Library holds over 245,000 books and journals on four floors. There are cafes, restaurants and bars, including the student-owned Vesbar. Training restaurants Piko Restaurant and Four Seasons Restaurant have operated commercially since 2011. There is also a marae, the AUT Shop, St Paul St Art Gallery, a university bookshop, and the Wellesley student apartments.
AUT has recently completed a number of buildings, including the new WZ building designed to house the engineering, computer science and mathematics students under one roof. The first 8 levels of the 12-storey $120 million building opened in July 2018 to coincide with the start of the second academic semester. The building itself was designed to be a teaching tool, with structural components visible, ceilings left exposed for viewing and the building management systems being visible on screens for analysis by students. Sustainability was also a goal, with rain water being collected for use in the labs, occupancy sensors in the rooms to ensure that areas are not being unnecessarily lit and solar fins on the outside of the building to regulate heat from the sun and ease load on the air-conditioning system.
Another recent building completion is the $98 million WG precinct. Named after the former Chancellor of the university, the Sir Paul Reeves Building hosts the School of Communication Studies. The 12-storey building was officially opened by Prime Minister John Key on 22 March 2013. It provides an additional learning space of about 20,000 square metres that consists of convention spaces, screen and television studios and a motion capture, sound and performance studio.
The most recent addition to the city campus is the WQ building. This building serves as the home to 697 students in the student accommodation part of the building operated by UniLodge. The rest of the building is occupied by the AUT Recreation centre which has a multipurpose court, breakout rooms, dance studios as well as staff offices. The student accommodation opened its doors in February 2021 and the Recreation Centre followed shortly later with it being officially opened by MP Chlöe Swarbrick on 22 July 2021.
South campus
AUT opened South Campus in 2010, creating the first university campus based in the region. It offers undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in business, computer and information sciences, education, health sciences, year 1 of law, as well as sports management and science. South Campus hosts its own library, student lounges, student information centre, course information centre, computer labs, wireless network, and café. The campus also boasts astro turf courts with tennis, basketball, netball, volleyball, touch, and soccer equipment available for hire.In 2016, the university invested significantly in the construction of the Mana Hauora Building. Construction of MH was completed in December 2016, and was officially opened by Prime Minister Bill English in March 2017. As the largest building on campus, MH is now the new heart of the campus and incorporates a number of sustainability design features. In 2017, three awards were given in recognition of the new MH Building at the New Zealand Institute of Architects Auckland Regional Awards.
North campus
North Campus is located on Akoranga Drive in Northcote. The Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences and School of Education share this campus, which has park-like grounds. AUT's main sport and fitness centre is located at the campus, encompassing a gymnasium, weights room, testing equipment, golf swing clinic, and indoor courts. The campus also offers a library, student services centre, early childhood centre, AuSM branch, PrintSprint shop, health counselling and wellbeing centre, university bookshop, and food outlets. In addition, the campus provides five health clinics, which are now located at the NorthMed Health Clinic building at 3 Akoranga Drive, Northcote. North Campus is closely linked with the nearby AUT Millennium Institute of Sport and Health.AUT Millennium
Like AUT North Campus, the Millennium Institute is located on Auckland's North Shore, at Mairangi Bay. AUT Millennium provides sports training, and hosts national and local sports organisations, including Swimming New Zealand, New Zealand Water Polo, Northsport Olympic Weightlifting, and Sport and Recreation New Zealand. The institute has training facilities, athlete accommodation, sports science laboratories, an aquatics facility, and a commercial gym.Warkworth Radio Astronomical Observatory
AUT maintains a number of facilities off campus, which until 2023, included the AUT Radio Telescope, New Zealand's first radio telescope. The 12m telescope is located near Warkworth and is part of New Zealand's and Australia's involvement in the international mega-science project, the Square Kilometre Array. The AUT/New Zealand Alliance won the 'Highly Commended' award in the Innovation Excellence in Research category at the 2016 New Zealand Innovation Awards.AUT Centre for Refugee Education
AUT's Centre for Refugee Education, located in Māngere, provides an on-arrival six-week education programme for the 1,000 refugees who come to New Zealand each year under the government quota scheme. The education programme teaches English language skills at early childhood, primary, secondary and adult levels, as well as orientation to life in New Zealand. With a new set of learners arriving every two months, and with ages ranging from early childhood to adult, the teaching team has developed a curriculum that gives refugees English and life skills, but remains flexible in order to tailor the lessons to each new intake.Organisation and administration
Faculties
AUT has five faculties. These are:- Culture and Society
- Business, Economics and Law
- Design and Creative Technologies
- Health and Environmental Sciences
- Te Ara Poutama
- Art and Design
- Business
- Clinical Sciences
- Communication Studies
- Economics
- Education
- Engineering, Computer and Mathematical Sciences
- Future Environments
- Hospitality and Tourism
- Language and Culture
- Law
- Public Health and Interdisciplinary Studies
- Science
- Social Sciences and Public Policy
- Sport and Recreation
- Te Ara Poutama – Māori and Indigenous Development
Programmes
The AUT Business School has been recognised as one of the top business schools in the world by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International.