New degree to be introduced

The University of Otago’s business school dean Prof Robin Gauld has announced the first new undergraduate degree at the school in 110 years. PHOTO: LINDA ROBERTSON

From the start of next year, it will offer a three-year bachelor of entrepreneurship degree.

It will be the first new bachelor’s degree to be offered at the business school since the bachelor of commerce degree was introduced in 1911.

It would be ‘‘completely new and different’’ to anything that had been offered in New Zealand before, the school’s dean Prof Robin Gauld said.

It would be structured so students could major or minor in any topic across the university, with only two compulsory papers, called ‘‘starting a business’’ and ‘‘entrepreneurship in practice’’.

‘‘The aim of that is to encourage the students to work across sectors so, for example, they could do papers in health while doing the entrepreneurship degree and start a business in health,’’ Prof Gauld said.

Planning for the degree began after last year’s Covid-19 lockdown. After a lengthy consultation process, the proposal was signed off last week by Universities New Zealand's Committee On University Academic Programmes — the overarching group that gives approval for degrees in New Zealand.

Prof Gauld said it was an exciting time for the university, which already offers a postgraduate master of entrepreneurship programme.

‘‘I have this theory that one in five students in North Dunedin have a really good idea that could be turned into a successful business but the majority don’t do much about it.

‘‘So if we can create a method or a sort of fabric by demonstrating to young people that this is a place that you can come to and do the degree ... we could do amazing things,’’ he said.