Arts Group

Hi Arts Group,
I’ve been asked by Roxy Shamsolmaali  (Project Officer at NUS) to advertise an upcoming event. Possibly no-one still frequents this website, but those brave souls who still do from time-to-time, or those who get updates from us; its worth checking out.
Roxy is trying to encourage a diverse range of people from a wide array of disciplines to attend, hence me contacting those interested in the arts (the best of all the disciplines) . Check out the details below!

Thursday 29th March, Manchester

http://www.nusconnect.org.uk/ents/event/433/

Dear Mr Willetts,

My Name is Benjamin Westhead. I am the Education Officer working on the sabbatical team in the Students’ Union for the University of the Arts London.

I am writing to you about the recent Higher Education White Paper produced by your department. More specifically I am concerned that the White Paper has failed to acknowledge the application and selection process implemented at most arts universities.

University of the Arts London has around 20,000 students studying a diverse range of creative subjects. However, within this large range of different specialities a common feature of the majority of courses is that they have an application process not acknowledged by the White Paper. I am sure you are aware, as it is with most creative institutions, UAL does not conform to the traditions of A-level and UCAS application system. A large proportion of the university’s student places are awarded in light of academics viewing portfolios, interviews and auditions, then assessing talent on this basis. The new proposal on the manner in which student numbers will be regulated, particularly in reference to ‘AAB students’, fails to account for this difference -  not only the application process that fits the courses we offer, but on a more rudimentary level on learning style.

Our process of application is one that must be preserved as our current system is tailored to fit the manner in which the university and creative sector operates. Many students who excel in the creative arts may perform less well in traditional academic subjects and be even more constrained by the conventions of the standard academic examination process. The current proposal discriminates against the creative sector. It is fundamentally wrong to punish universities and students for failing to meet guidelines that are not applicable.

I urge the government to review their blanket-policy as it has the potential to be devastating not only for my own institution but for creative teaching establishments across the nation. This issue stretches further than Art and Design courses – music and the performing arts will all feel the pressure of this policy. I am speaking not only for University of the Arts London, but even more so for the smaller colleges that may be left with no way to develop and expand to the point of destruction under a system that is clearly biased against them. Whilst the AAB approach attempts to ensure that the most academically able students are prioritised for University places, it does not ensure that the most creatively able students will be prioritised for places at arts institutions.  The White Paper and in particular the proposal to regulate student numbers through the ‘AAB’ approach, must be revised to include flexibility for creative institutions to use the appropriate process of portfolio or performance application to recruit the best and most creatively able students.

The modes of learning and the facilities that are required by creative courses are different to other disciplines, and a different approach should be applied if we are going to get the most talented creative students to the best courses at the best universities.

Benjamin Westhead

Benjamin Westhead SUARTS

Performing arts colleges should be exempt from quota, says principal:

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=417162&c=1

Benjamin Westhead SUARTS

Ben

Hello everyone,

This is my first post to Artsgroup. My name is Benjamin Westhead I’m the new Education Officer at SUARTS. I realise that Artsgroup has gone unused for sometime now and I’m looking to revitalise a little.

Many of you will have already (I hope) received this message or one very similar to it – I am Sorry for cross posting as I know how annoying it can be.

The message I’m trying to spread is one in reaction to the government’s new white paper and more specifically how the content of that paper might effect institutions who either specialise or have a vested interest in creative courses.

I’m working under the assumption that most of us who represent or have links to universities and colleges of a creative nature  operate a non-standard application system that is based on portfolio/interview/audition rather than the traditional A-level results ‘UCAS system’. I am also working under the assumption that our current application process is one we want to preserve. Students who excel in the creative subjects should not be punished for not jumping through the hoops of the traditional academic grading system.

At this point the government has not made any official statement about how our specific circumstance will be dealt with – so it might be wise to work under the expectation that we will be given no special circumstance until we hear otherwise. The government has already decimated that creative sector with massive cuts to arts and humanities and we have no reason to believe they are going to change their stance now.

I would encourage everyone to write an email to their rector/vice chancellor/ whoever is at the top, asking them what they are doing to tackle this pressing issue. On top of that I would suggest that we all start writing to our local MPs and more specifically David Willetts in order to pressure a reconsideration of these blanket rules.

Click his face to get linked to his contact page

More than anything I would encourage you all to forward this message on to others who work in similar institutions to ours so we can build a network.

I have pasted in a copy of the email I sent to the rector of our university regarding the issue (with all of the personal, UAL specific talk removed) which you can use as a template or at least a jumping off point if you want.

Dear ( X ),

I am writing regarding the universities stance on the government’s white paper on the future of the university system.

Having read in some more detail some of the information on the white-paper and its implications I have come to realise what a drastic effect it will have, especially on our institution because of our non-traditional application process. I am sure we will both agree that our current entry process based on portfolio and interview is one we want to protect.

This is clearly an issue that has the potential to affect the university in a very real way and I was hoping I could get some more information on what the university is doing in way of tackling this. This is an issue that I personally consider very important and so any information or ways that the students’ union might be involved in safe-guarding our application process would be very useful.

I was also wondering what the situation will be from the university perspective if the government refuses to recognise our special circumstance?

Thank you,

( X )

There is also an excellent article entitled:

‘Ten things everyone working in or studying art should know about the White Paper for Higher Education in England’

That can be found here.

Benjamin Westhead - SUARTS

Cheers guys and good luck

Ben

Young and dynamic jewellers Eva London are offering unique opportunities to arts universities to engage their students and raise funds for the university or students’ union. Whether your university is new to the concept of Graduation Rings or just ready for a fresh approach, Eva London will work with you and your students to create a collection unique to your university. Open a Graduation Ring design competition up to students on a specialist course or to the whole university and Eva London will sponsor the competition, assist with the format and judging and go on to realise the winning design(s) into a Graduation Ring collection which your students and alumni can then go on to order. Each ring will be a luxury piece of jewellery crafted to the highest quality, a timeless symbol of your graduate’s accomplishments. There are no setup costs or charges: all rings will be made to order and you will receive commission from every sale.

Case study: University of the Arts London Rings

Partnering with University of the Arts London Students’ Union, Eva London launched a Graduation Ring design competition open to students studying BA Jewellery Design at Central St Martins, one of the constituent colleges of the University. The competition was judged by a mixture of leading figures from the fashion industry, the media and the University itself. The result was a completely unique design that demonstrated a dynamic modernisation of the Graduation Ring concept, in keeping with the University’s ethos and image. The winning student received a cash prize, a set of Graduation Rings, design acknowledgement and features in national press (including Vogue.com). The winning designs were taken into production and can now be ordered at the SU shop, graduation ceremonies, alumni events and online at www.evalondon.com/arts.

How to get your university/Union involved

Get in touch with Eva London by calling 0207 148 7060, visit  www.evalondon.com or email info@evalondon.com for more information.

Time is running out to register your delegates for our Summit to discuss the future of Arts Education!

Visit www.artsgroup.org.uk/national-summit/ or click here for more info and to register your delegates.

The summit has be rearrange for July 1st/2nd at University of the Arts London.

Please visit our “National Summit” Pages for more details and to register.

With great regret, due to the increasing likelihood of rail strikes on the 6^th-8^th April, the organizers have taken the decision to postpone the National Arts Student Summit. The Summit is currently planned to be rearranged, probably in June, perhaps aptly, in the first 100 days or whichever government is in power after the election!

Many thanks to those of you who have registered to attend, we look forward to seeing you at the Summit when we can confirm details.

Any queries or issues please don’t hesitate to contact chair@artsgroup.org.uk

Words by Lemma Shehadi

The increase of the creative industry’s numbers and economic activity is a recent development. To account for this, the Creative Graduates Creative Futures published a report on the career patterns of creative graduates. Undertaken between 2008 and 2010 and involving 3,500 creative graduates from the last six years, here we outline the CGCF executive summary, released in September 2009, of which a full report is to be published this spring.

What is particular to graduates in creative degrees, is that in pursuing their careers, they tend to engage in a multitude of activities. The CGCF highlights  that these activities combine a pattern of portfolio work and learning. This stems from the practice-led research emphasised in the curriculum of creative degrees. Graduates seem to combine this skill of applying their learning to work, whilst always learning and working throughout their creative careers

What this tends to encourage is a combination of self-employment and employment, and also a perfect ease with self-employment as a means of self-led learning. The summary reports that 45% of the graduates interviewed had worked on a freelance basis.

Creative graduates find the transition from higher education to the work place quite smooth. Their creative curriculum requires them to apply their learning through live projects. In the course of their degree, they are asked to set up exhibitions, they may receive commissions, and they work amongst teachers who are also practising artists.  Practice-led research becomes an important factor that creative Higher Education institutions want to maintain and enhance for the future.

Whilst portfolio careers are more desirable to creative graduates, they are financially less sustainable. As the summary states, creative careers are not always very well paid. It emerges then that graduates working one steady job earn more than those engaged in three or more paid occupations. The latter, rely on these combined income streams to make a living.

However such a statistic-led research, though it can bring to light certain key patterns amongst creative graduates, does nothing to illustrate how such dynamics are achieved. Neither can it account for the concerns or the exceptions that it highlights. Why graduates choose portfolio careers over having one job with higher pay is not a question that can be answered by the executive summary. And whilst it gives a positive and dynamic portrayal of the ever growing cultural sectors, it merely glosses over a concern that creative roles tend to have a low pay.

The Donal MacIntyre show on graduate schemes last week highlighted the following problem: that graduates looking for work experience get caught up in unpaid placements that can last over three months. The discussion was  geared towards the Graduate Talent Pool, a government scheme set up in 2009 to help graduates find work experience in their relevant fields. The project serves as a kick start for recent graduates facing unemployment because of the recession. However, it emerges that a large portion of the internships advertised on the GTP are unpaid and have an extensive period of over 6 months.

Words by Lemma Shehadi

Graduates fresh out of uni and looking for employment enter a vicious cycle: for though they have the qualifications, they do not have the experience required. Without this, they are unable to get a job, and are furthermore barred from gaining experience. Internships, paid or unpaid, help to resolve this problem.

There is a flexibility as to what qualifies as an internship, which leads some people to see it as “volunteered” work and others as exploitation of labour. The problem of definition begins with the distinct lack of grants available for interns, which make the opportunity exclusive to those who can afford to work without pay. Unpaid interships cover expenses only, and the Job Seeker’s Allowance is only legible to those who have been claiming it 6 months prior to their internship. This likens internships to indefinite unemployment.

In contrast, interns in Wales can claim a minimum of £240 for 10 weeks. What the Go Wales Work Placement does, in limiting the allowance  to 10 weeks, is also restrict the length of internships to that time. This makes the shorter placements more appealing and  reduces the risk of exploitation.

Consider the classic nightmare intern scenario. This is the one where the intern, hoping she will be offered employment by the company, or unable to find a placement elsewhere, works unpaid for over 6 months, during which she is asked to make coffee or squeeze oranges. What is clear in such cases is the following: a six month placement is no longer an internship, and neither do running jobs count as work experience for qualified graduates.

The fear is that in such cases, internships are breaking the minimum wage law, whereby anyone over the age of 22, working full hours should be paid a minimum of £5.80 an hour. A philosophy student argued that a worker’s relation with a company are purely financial, and his work contributes to an economic system of gain. To not receive monetary rewards in return is exploitation. Another student however points to a loop hole whereby because interns volunteer to work, they can do so without pay.

However interns have reported very positive unpaid experiences, many of which would no longer be available should pay become a requisite. Small businesses, online magazines, underground record labels cannot afford to pay their interns, but can provide them with great experience and the possibility of a job. A consultant at Chatham House in Picadilly told me about an intern for whom a solid position was actually created in order to make her an employee. When she left that job, the position was offered to another intern. Chatham House’s internships pay expenses and are restricted to three months.

It is not the pay, but the length of an internship that should be monitored, as well as the company’s work ethic. It is clear that this ethic will not change even if paid internships were enforced. This may, in the end, justify exploitation of employees, by becoming a disguise for what is really an underpaid job. To restrict the length is to reduce the time given for exploitation to become possible. This works on a number of levels, namely that it highlights the “temporariness” of an internship to both the intern and the employer. The former is less likely to feel trapped in an unpaid job with no financial or intellectual benefits.

See the article on jotta

The Draft Programme for our National Arts Student Summit follows. Please register your attendance here

Weds 7^th April 2010.

12.00 – 12.30  Coffee and registration

 An Arts Education, Policies and Innovation 

1.30 – 1.45   Kit Friend Chair of The Arts Group, 

Welcome and introduction to the

1.45 – 2.15 Professor Maureen Wayman OBE “Delivering the Dream”



2.15 – 2.45 Ian Thompson 
Sorrel Foundation, 
”Design and Innovation where do we start?”

2.45 – 3.00 Questions from the floor to the speakers



3.00 – 3.15 Coffee

3.15  -– 4.4 5  Facilitated Group Discussions

6pm onwards – Dinner and Evening activities

Thurs 8th April 2010.

Creative Industries and University Collaboration Opportunities, Barriers and Solutions

             9.30– 10.00  Coffee and registration

10.00 – 10.30 Steve Besley Head of Education Policy Edexcel, speaks on the wider education landscape and what we should prepare for.

10.30 – 11. 00  Marcus Mason, Development Officer, ‘New Deal of the Mind’ 

11.00 – 11.30  coffee

11.30 – 12.45  Workshops

12.45 – 1.45  lunch

1.45 – 2.00 Mark Crawley, National Arts Learning Network “Response and Responsibility”

2.00 – 2.20  Leanne Manfredi, Victoria & Albert Museum

2.20 – 3.00  Facilitators – report back and discussion

3.00 – 3.20  Tea Break

3.20   Plenary and ways forward

3.45    Closing remarks

Coffee