Massey University - History

History

The New Zealand Agricultural College Act of 1926 established the sixth college of the University of New Zealand (UNZ) at Turitea, across the Manawatu River from Palmerston North City. It drew from the agriculture departments of Victoria University College in Wellington and Auckland University College.

In 1927 the college was renamed Massey Agricultural College after former New Zealand Prime Minister William Fergusson Massey who died in 1925 and had been vigorous in land reform efforts. The Massey Agricultural College Committee first met on 1 February 1927 and the Batchelar property, near the present Turitea site, was purchased that June. The college was officially opened for tuition on 20 March 1928 by O. J. Hawkin. Women were admitted from 1932, with Enid Hills being the first.

With the demise of the UNZ in 1961, it became Massey College, part of Victoria University of Wellington (VUW). In 1960 a branch of VUW was established in Palmerston North to teach students by distance education, known as extramural study. In 1963 this branch amalgamated with Massey College to form Massey University College of Manawatu, and on 25 September, the Massey University Act 1963 made it an independent university as Massey University of Manawatu, with its present name being adopted in 1966.

In December 2010 Massey announced that the Wellington campus would close its School of Engineering and Advanced Technology the next month. Students were offered places at either the Albany or Manawatu campuses with compensation, but those who could not make the move and chose to undertake their degree elsewhere were given no compensation, and only a few papers were able to be cross-credited.