Senate

Terms of reference

The Senate shall be the principal academic authority of the University and shall, subject to the powers reserved to the Council by Act of Parliament, take such measures and act in such a manner as shall appear to it best calculated to promote the academic work of the University both in teaching and research and for the regulation and superintendence of the education of the students of the University.

In particular it shall advise the Council on courses of study and training, awards and other academic matters and the Council shall not make any decision or statute in respect of courses of study or training, awards or other academic matters unless it has requested the advice of the Senate and considered any such advice. Academic matters shall for the purpose of this statute be deemed to include matters of an administrative nature which have academic implications for the University as a whole.

For further information please see the Senate Statute 2021 elsewhere on this website (refer to the University of Otago Calendar).

Composition

The composition of the Senate is set out in the Senate Statute in the University Calendar, and a current list of Senate members is provided below.

Senate membership as of 18 March 2025 (PDF)

To enquire about any updates to the list of current Senate members, please contact Academic Committees and Services.
Email academic.committees@otago.ac.nz

Contact details

Academic Committees and Services serves as the secretariat for the Senate and the Committees of the Senate. We manage the approval process for academic proposals and the process for the external accreditation of new programmes through Universities New Zealand’s Committee on University Academic Programmes.

You can contact:

Matt Angel
Specialist, Academic Committees and Services
Tel +64 3 479 4852
Email matt.angel@otago.ac.nz

Senate meeting dates 2026