THE WESTERN ONION: UWS STUDENT NEWSPAPER
Semester 2, Issue 6, 2006
Hot off the presses!
The UWS student newspaper reports that Head of School, Associate Professor Lynette Sheridan Burns sent letters to prospective students about the School of Communication Arts not enrolling Fine Arts students, advising them to consider a Design degree or consider Fine Arts at TAFE. If prospective students wanted to study Design would they not have enrolled in Design in the first place? While Fine Arts and Design have a relationship, they are not the same thing, and not always compatible disciplines.
We'd love to see that letter! Anyone who received that letter from the Head of School, please scan it and email it to us to be posted on this blog.
The Western Onion article states: "The cancellation of fine arts at UWS does not appear to have been approved by the university's academic senate, which sets academic policy and approves changes to courses and units. The official position seems to be that the courses are not being 'retired' (official UWS-speak for cut); they are just enrolling no students. No doubt at some future time they will be 'retired' on the basis that they have no students."
Our understanding is, the said programs have been retired because the new Bachelor of Contemporary Arts is replacing the Fine Arts and Electronic Arts degrees. Reiterating what Associate Professor Sheridan Burns has told us in an email: "The Bachelor of Contemporary Art has been approved by the UWS Course Approvals and Articulations Committee and will be introduced in 2008."
So the implementation of the BCA was approved, but the relevant senate did not approve the "cancellation" of the Fine Arts degree. What is going on?
(Apologies the Western Onion article is scanned as two images - our scanner was not big enough)
Semester 2, Issue 6, 2006
Hot off the presses!
The UWS student newspaper reports that Head of School, Associate Professor Lynette Sheridan Burns sent letters to prospective students about the School of Communication Arts not enrolling Fine Arts students, advising them to consider a Design degree or consider Fine Arts at TAFE. If prospective students wanted to study Design would they not have enrolled in Design in the first place? While Fine Arts and Design have a relationship, they are not the same thing, and not always compatible disciplines.
We'd love to see that letter! Anyone who received that letter from the Head of School, please scan it and email it to us to be posted on this blog.
The Western Onion article states: "The cancellation of fine arts at UWS does not appear to have been approved by the university's academic senate, which sets academic policy and approves changes to courses and units. The official position seems to be that the courses are not being 'retired' (official UWS-speak for cut); they are just enrolling no students. No doubt at some future time they will be 'retired' on the basis that they have no students."
Our understanding is, the said programs have been retired because the new Bachelor of Contemporary Arts is replacing the Fine Arts and Electronic Arts degrees. Reiterating what Associate Professor Sheridan Burns has told us in an email: "The Bachelor of Contemporary Art has been approved by the UWS Course Approvals and Articulations Committee and will be introduced in 2008."
So the implementation of the BCA was approved, but the relevant senate did not approve the "cancellation" of the Fine Arts degree. What is going on?
(Apologies the Western Onion article is scanned as two images - our scanner was not big enough)
posted by UWS Arts at 7:27 PM
7 Comments:
Go western onion. You may have a dumb name, and you may be ugly as hell (compared to the last student rag when the fashionistas ran the show) but thanks so much for giving a damn. You are POLITICISED, western onion.
Apologies if this seems slightly flippant, but dude. I have so much respect right now for *anyone* who gives enough of a shit to a) speak out and/or b) do a thing.
(and of course a is a subset of b).
HOORAY FOR ACTIVISM
yes, samuel, activism often needs an oprah fashion makeover.
this blog proves activism lives on in the uws student body and it's the best dressed serve i've seen in years.
ditto: HOORAY FOR ACTIVISM
How rude of her ..sheesh !
Reveals a lot, wouldnt you say.
Onya Onion - a breath of fresh air at the University of Western Apathy.
TAFE is one option, why not recommend one of the other fantastic UNi level art schools that are out there. Is it perhaps that we dont really deserve a uni education.
You design a cocal cola label baby and drink the odd coffee, we take speed and start revolutions.
Speaking of Politics, A Previous post mentioned that the Technical Staff have been offered voluntaryRedundancy packages.
Is this whole business of "retiring" the intake for a year, and restarting the degree in a different name, a device to introduce the new negotiated contracts where possible? Have the staff working under Academic awards also been offered Voluntary redundancy packages? The technical staff are under a different award than the people under an academic award, I do know that.
If this is the case, then the university can probably only make this money saving change if they can "prove",(by less student numbers), that the positions are "redundant." It seems a very destructive way to save money.
It means that the school looses all the expertise and familiarity with the job that staff build up over the years. On the other hand, this sort of restructuring can enable an institution to "get rid of dead wood". The staff list indicates to me that this has already happened, and the remaining staff are of extremely high calibre, with respected reputations in their proffessions. Any more pruning could deprive the plant of its roots, shoots, blossoms, leaves and fruit, by killing off the whole thing completely.
I suggest that some of the staff might wish to Voluntarily enter into Workplace agreements, instead of complete redundancy packages.
Just try to discuss it with each other, and support each other to get the best deal you can. These negotiations will be easier if you get together to discuss them, rather than allow the situation to divide you.
Some might even prefer less hours, pay, and leave, if the alternative is to run down the school so that it does not have the diversity of expertise that one might regard as minimal to a functioning Art institution. They would have to set up their own super and workplace insurance, and probably give up holiday pay and sick leave.
Some staff might rather work under these arrangements than see the Art school pared down to an unworkable shadow of its former self.
This seems to me to be to do with wages and contracts. If you can post as much information as possible, you might be able to get it all out in the open,and work out something better than this apparently loose-loose situation.
For all the administration knows, the people working there might prefer to have more time for their families and Art practise, than the conditions in the awards.
One may not like or agree with changes to working relations, but it is important to deal with things as they are, not how one would like them to be, to achieve a better result all round.
This is about money, well start talking exact details, and negotiate.
from what we understand, redundancies were offered to all academic and technical staff in the fine arts and electronic arts areas.
It's fun to take speed and stay up all night...(don't worry folks, it's just poetry. Yes mum, I *am* looking after myself)
Ozymandes is spot on. You gotta fight these people with Powerpoint and Excel (or preferabåly openoffice.org). And occasionally full frontal nudity.
I know there are at least a few students compiling a report at the moment - I'll see if I can get some details for you. Networking, baby. Or should that be community?
WHAT THE FUCK PEOPLE LET's JUST FUCKEN *SWARM*
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