Neil Sands
The University of Auckland’s Senate will on Monday consider a controversial plan to merge its law and business faculties ahead of a decisive university council meeting on the issue next month.
The university has remained tight-lipped about the issue, failing to respond to a LawNews request for an update on the proposal or even to say whether any senate recommendations on the plan will be made public.
The merger proposal, first mooted on November 12 after the university began its summer recess, has undergone a fast-track approval process that will culminate in the March 17 council meeting.
This is despite opposition from Law School staff, students, alumni and the broader legal profession, including eminent judges and The Law Association of New Zealand.
The plan – understood to be the brainchild of business school dean Susan Watson and university vice-chancellor Dawn Freshwater – has been widely viewed by the profession as a takeover by the larger business faculty, rather than a merger.
There are concerns it will damage the law school’s reputation and its ability to retain elite staff and students, as well as impacting the status of New Zealand’s top-ranked law school.
Ahead of the senate meeting, the university appointed a 16-person committee to review feedback on the plan which did not contain any practising lawyers or barristers.
Critics said the “stacked deck” froze out those most qualified to assess the proposal’s potential impact on the legal profession.
The university said in December it would make no public comment on the plan until it “has engaged with, and received feedback from, staff, students and stakeholders”.
The deadline for feedback closed on January 20 and the university is yet to make further comment.
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