BACKGROUND

The University of Auckland was established in 1883 and it is New Zealand's largest research university with more than 28,000 students. It offers a comprehensive range of study programs attracting postgraduate and undergraduate students from over 50 countries. In 2000 the university was New Zealand's top-ranked institution in Asiaweek magazine's annual survey of Asian and Australian universities (Bachelor of Commerce—The Undergraduate Handbook, 2002). The university has four campuses with seven faculties representing a number of disciplines: Architecture, Property, Planning and Fine Arts; Arts, Education and Music; Business and Economics (also known as the University of Auckland School of Business); Engineering; Law; Medical and Health Sciences; and Science. More than 4,000 students are enrolled for postgraduate studies (nondoctoral) and around 900 for doctorates. Some departments are associated with more than one faculty and various research centres cross disciplinary boundaries (Slattery, 2002).

The university's governing body is the Council, a mixture of elected staff, students and graduates, and outside appointees. The vice-chancellor, the university's chief academic and administrative officer, is also a member of Council. On academic matters the Council is bound to consult the Senate, which the vice-chancellor chairs. The Senate includes all the full professors, some nonprofessorial staff and student representatives. Each faculty is a subcommittee of the Senate and is headed by a dean who is responsible for overseeing the academic and research activities of individual departments and, in coordination with Registry and Senate committees, manages aspects related with staff appointments, research funding, time-tabling, etc. The Registry performs central administration, and it is divided into Information Technology Systems and Services (ITSS), Finance, Human Resources, Student Administration, and Property Services sections (Slattery, 2002). Financial information (university revenues and expenditures) for the year 2000 is included in Appendix 1.

The School of Business has over 200 academic staff and seven departments: Accounting and Finance, Commercial Law, Economics, International Business, Management and Employment Relations, Management Science and Information Systems, and Marketing. The school offers more than 350 courses in 15 major fields of study, and there are approximately 6,000 students currently enrolled in the faculty programs (Bachelor of Commerce—The Undergraduate Handbook, 2002).