The University of the South Pacific (USP) is a public research university with locations spread throughout a dozen countries in Oceania. Established in 1968, the university is organised as an intergovernmental organisation and is owned by the governments of 12 Pacific island countries: the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. USP is an international centre for teaching and research on Pacific culture and environment, with almost 30,000 students in 2017. The university's main campus is in Suva, Fiji, with subsidiary campuses in each member state. History Discussion of a regional university for the South Pacific began in the early 1950's, when an investigation by the then-South Pacific Commission recommended the creation of a "central institution" for vocational training in the South Pacific, with a university college as a distant goal. In December 1962, the Fijian Legislative Assembly discussed establishing a university in Fiji. In 1964, New Zealand proposed the establishment of a regional teachers' training college in Suva. In 1965, the governments of Great Britain and New Zealand appointed a "Higher Education Mission to the South Pacific", chaired by Sir Charles Morris, to investigate "the future education requirements of the South Pacific area" and recommend the type of level of institutions needed. In 1966 the Mission reported back, recommending the establishment of "“fully autonomous university comprehending within itself, as well as Faculties of Arts and Science, the Fiji School of Medicine, the School of Agriculture in Fiji, a College for the education and training of secondary teachers, the Pacific Theological College, and, in so far its activities in the field of diploma courses are concerned, the Derrick Technical Institute". The Mission recommended that it be called the University of the South Pacific. The former Royal New Zealand Air Force seaplane base at Laucala Bay in Fiji was recommended as a suitable location. A subsequent report by Norman Alexander fleshed out the proposal, and in 1967 the Fijian government passed an ordinance establishing the university's interim council. In February 1970 this was replaced with a royal charter. The university opened on 5 February 1968, with Colin Aikman as its first Vice-Chancellor. Initially teaching was limited to preliminary courses, the equivalent of New Zealand's School Certificate and University Entrance. Degree teaching began in 1969, with a school of natural resources, a school of education, and a school of social and economic development