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VCA uprising engulfs Glyn Davis
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University of Melbourne Vice-Chancellor Glyn Davis has a problem on his hands as unrest grows at the Victorian College of Arts. Today, VCA students staged a well-attended (and suitably theatrical) protest rally and march from St Kilda Road to Melbourne Parliament in Bourke Street, accompanied by high-profile supporters Julia Zemiro and Geoffrey Rush. The rally featured more than the usual pomp and ceremony of student protest, with Rush giving a rousing speech decrying attempts to erode the practical nature of the VCA’s training and calling for Arts Minister Peter Garrett to take over funding for the VCA as a national arts training institution in the same category as NIDA and AFTRS. The University seems to have badly under-estimated the strength of feeling about the proposed changes to VCA. The protests are now starting to garner broader media attention, owing to strong feelings in Melbourne’s tight-knit artistic community and the high profile of Rush and Zemiro. Now three prominent members of the VCA Advisory Board have quit in what looks suspiciously like a protest. The situation has been exacerbated by the University’s ham-fisted attempts to spin the issue. The Embattled new Dean, Sharman Pretty, who has become the lightning rod for student and staff discontent, was initially held back from all but hand-picked media appearances, until this strategy started to look like arrogance. When she finally fronted up to be interviewed by the ABC 774’s Jon Faine this Wednesday, it was deer-in-the-headlights stuff as Faine took her apart on air. No wonder University of Melbourne spokeswoman Christina Buckridge is sounding increasingly frustrated at Crikey’s repeated attempts to try and get some on-the-record comment from either herself or Pretty. The strength and feeling of student, staff and community protest about the VCA course changes appear to have surprised senior executives at the University, who perhaps thought the VCA could be successfully integrated without too much fuss. Instead, student action has intensified with a week of protests culminating in today’s rally and march. Vice-Chancellor Glynn Davis can now expected to start to feel some pressure over the furore. The protests were initially in response to the University’s decision to axe two courses, puppetry and music theatre from the VCA’s 2010 intake. It then emerged that other course changes, including the introduction of the so-called “Melbourne Model” would be implemented. The background to the story, as reported last week, is that the University’s appointment of Dean Sharman Pretty appears to have been about hiring an experienced university manager to drive through cost-cutting measures; Pretty was in charge of similar controversial amalgamations in Sydney and Auckland. Soon after Dean Pretty arrived, she suspended two key courses, puppetry and music theatre, amalgamated the VCA with the Music course, and formulated a business plan (which leaked) to shed jobs and increase staff-student ratios from 7 to 12. Crikey has continued to chase Sharman Pretty for an interview, so far without success.
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One Comment
I was fortunate enough to have lived and studied through the glorious Rusden Teacher’s College years in Melbourne (along with the likes of Rachel Griffiths, Peter Rosethorn etc).
Despite being a ‘Teacher’s College’ by name, everyone knew that if you wanted to get into acting, directing and other stage crafts, Rusden and VCA were two of the places you vied for in Victoria. Media studies and Dance also produced incredible industry specialists who are now scattered all around the globe.
Bit by bit the government eroded the viability of this magnificent and truly democratic place of study (It was Free! with open access to ANYONE talented enough to get through the auditions and bright enough to pass the year 12 exams).
Just a few hundred dollars said then ‘Howard Govt’ to assist the Universities.
…we protested…but is still happened….as all knew it would… they kept going up and up and up - diminishing and segregating the can manage its from the got no hope of it parts of the population. Just surviving four years of working all the jobs you can squeeze in around your studies to fund basics of living and studying was complex enough.
It was not just the individuals who suffered. The quality of availability of courses, teachers and curriculum started to be eroded when the ‘bean counters’ moved in and took over Colleges and Universities with their rulers and calculators rather than their passion for a well rounded Australian future. They cut and diced them. They amalgamated them. They handballed great open spaces to the developers to make more estates with.
They were incredibly irresponsible. They lied and we shrugged - what can we do?
Needless to say, Rusden is long dead. They killed it with calculators and rationalization.
That left the wonderful VCA to fight it out to be the lone survivor of a total disregard for the place of Art and Culture in a well rounded education = society of the future.
And now we see the ‘bring out your dead’ wagon circling again for VCA.
I am dumb founded that we are so narrow, so ignorant that we don’t all get up and scream that we’ve had enough and am not taking this any more! Congratulations to those who got mad enough to march their anger up to Parliament. Good for you! to the few Board members that are on the Board for the good of VCA (rather than of themselves).
No policy maker seems to give a damn about what the future of Australia’s young looks like (as they ARE ‘crafting’ it!). Enough! Even if individuals have no apparent interest in VCA per se, surely more of us can raise our voices to support the future of a more holistic educational future for the sake of our entire society! VCA represents a very marginalized part of Australian youth’s aspirations - and for the future of us all (as they do become the decision makers - these youths). We will lament it being gobbled up, but it will happen so rapidly if we don’t keep vigil.
We need to stop being so damned lazy about our rights in this country. Be angry - be counted! Maybe someone will finally listen who can turn this ‘sinking boat’ around. This protest today certainly got me motivated again…all the way from Queensland.
Now i am social networking it as far and wide as i can. Individuals can make a big difference in this day and age - let’s all do one degree and see how much separation we can manage!