Edition 1, 2016 – Watt’s Next For Creative Arts?

From The President, Future Direction, Higher Education Policy

Welcome to NiTRO, Your Non-Traditional Voice in the Academy!

By Su Baker, President, Australian Council of Deans and Directors of Creative Arts — At the DDCA annual conference in Adelaide in 2015, a group of 25 leaders in the creative arts engaged in rigorous and expansive discussion following a series of highly astute commentary and presentations by invited colleagues. Our goal was to determine how to advance our profession amidst the volatility of the higher education sector.

Editorial

Editorial – Watt’s Next For Creative Arts?

By Jenny Wilson — Welcome to the first edition of NiTRO, DDCA’s dedicated space for views and news in the tertiary creative arts community. Every six weeks we explore an issue of particular interest to creative artists practicing in the university sector. Our first edition focuses on the changing higher education landscape as we ask: Watt’s next for creative arts?

Contribution, Future Direction, OLT, Teaching and Learning scholarship

OLT Demise Severe But Not Fatal

By Professor Margaret Gardner AO — The Australian Government’s Federal Budget announcement in May was confirmation that funding for the Office for Learning and Teaching would be discontinued after this year. The news, though not unexpected, represented a blow to funding for teaching and learning scholarship in Australia.

Contribution, Engagement, Evaluation, Higher Education Policy

The Rough Magic of Engagement Measurement

By Dr Tim Cahill and Professor Julian Meyrick — ‘In God we trust. All others bring data,’ quipped US statistician, W. Edwards Deeming. As he implied, measurement is an inherently conservative occupation. Units of appraisal have to be agreed in advance, while the aim of measuring something is usually to compare it with something that already exists.

Contribution, Discipline collaboration

“Is There An Artist in the Lab?”

By Julie Hare There are a lot of things that happen in universities that the majority of the population don’t know about. Research is one of them. The average punter – even the average undergraduate – would have little idea as the scope, scale and importance of research that takes place. And having a scientist […]

Contribution, curriculum reform, design education, Higher Education Policy, massification

Strategic Manoeuvres: Creative Practice Thriving?

By Lynn Churchill and Jill Franz, IDEA (Interior Design Interior Architecture Educator’s Association) — IDEA comprises 12 International Institutions providing a minimum four-year Bachelor degree in the disciplines of Interior Design (ID), Interior Architecture (IA) and Spatial Design (SD). Most include an Honours program and the opportunity to undertake further research in Masters and PhD programs in compliance with the object of IDEA - excellence in ID/IA/SD education and research. Academic Research is a significant requirement for most academics in these disciplines.

Contribution, Higher Education Policy, metrics, Watts Review

ATSE’s Research Engagement for Australia May Just Fit Creative Arts

By Associate Professor Denise Ferris and Professor Marie Sierra, Australian Council of University Art and Design Schools (ACUADS) — The National Innovation and Science Agenda, launched in December 2015, has significant consequences for tertiary institutions, and in particular, for the art and design disciplines, as well as the broader arts, humanities and social science (HASS) fields.

Communication, communities of practice, Contribution, Higher Education Policy

Creative Communication Needs Reciprocal Valuation

By Dr Lynda Hawryluk, Australasian Association of Writing Programs — The ever-changing higher education landscape affects all disciplines and their related industries in a variety of ways, and the creative arts discipline is not immune to these changes and challenges.

academic workload, Contribution, Higher Education Policy, Screen Production

Policy Changes Stymie Industry Engagement Benefits

By John Cumming and Craig Batty, Australian Screen Production, Education and Research Association (ASPERA) — Australia is engaged in completing a transition that will result in academic endeavor being placed squarely within the ‘triple helix’ of university-industry-government. Priority research projects will be those that can secure funding from ‘end-users’. The challenge for researchers is now shifting from publication and peer review to benchmarks of impact and industry engagement.

NiTRO Creative Matters