Good Shepherd College – Te Hepara Pai  has been ranked third in the “research intensity” category after Lincoln University and Otago University by the Tertiary Education Commission, New Zealand.

The New Zealand Government encourages research by tertiary organisations and every six years the Tertiary Education Commission surveys to see who is publishing what. The interim results of the 2018 survey have just been published and they include a surprising outcome in the “research intensity” category:

The average result across all participating TEOs in 2018 was 0.64. […] Again, all eight universities scored above 1.00, alongside two PTEs – Carey Baptist College and Good Shepherd College – Te Hepara Pai. Lincoln University continues to be the top performer, alongside the University of Otago and Good Shepherd College – Te Hepara Pai. – (“Improving Research Quality: The interim results of the PBRF Quality Evaluation”, 33.)

Rev Dr Mervyn Duffy SM, the Acting Principal of Good Shepherd College, said that he was delighted to have their small academic institution ranked alongside such heavyweights. Five faculty members had published steadily and been rated as Research Active leading to this impressive result.

He went on to explain that research intensity compares research outputs to the number of students at degree level and above. He praised the faculty who were contributing to scholarship, mentioning that several of them had authored books as part of their research: The Eros of the Human Spirit by Sr Elizabeth Snedden on the writings of the Jesuit theologian, Bernard Lonergan; Canon Law in Action by Msgr Brendan Daly; Alianza de Amor en sus Fuentes (Covenant of Love – Sources) by Rocío Figueroa Alvear; Verguet’s Sketchbook by Mervyn Duffy and Alois Greiler.

Congratulating Fr Merv and his team, Professor Jim Harrison, Sydney College of Divinity Research Director writes, “This is a very significant honour for Good Shepherd College, yourselves professionally, your sister college the Catholic Institute of Sydney, and the wider Sydney College of Divinity. We all rejoice with you in this very significant accolade from the New Zealand tertiary educational sector.”

Congratulations to the Good Shepherd College on coming third in research outputs in New Zealand.