http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/NohigherFees/

Kit Friend, Chair of the Arts Group, was invited to attend the Higher Education Academy (HEA) Conference in Manchester as part of the first ever student panel, aimed at engaging students in the HEA’s work.

As part of the vigourous discussion put forward by the panel on the theme of the best and worst parts of the student experience, Kit spoke in particular about the inequality of the graduate premium, the need for the NUS’s funding blueprint for an alternative to top-up fees to be backed, and serious consideration given to the issues with the IELTS testing and international recruitment practices as a fair preparation for students. Both the ADM and Palatine subject centres were enthusiastic about the prospect of working with the Arts Group in the future to ensure a sustainable voice for students of the Arts.

Kit also visited the meeting of the CHEAD executive to present the Arts Group, and we look forward to working with this and other organisations in the HE sector in the coming months.

HEA website: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/
HEA Conference information and resources: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/events/conference
CHEAD Website: http://www.chead.ac.uk/

It’s time for the next meeting of the Arts Group!

Click here to register to attend

Topics currently planned for discussion include:

- Bursaries in Higher Education – 6 out of 10 of the bottom spenders in the recent Bursaries tables are Arts-specialist institutions. What can we do to make sure the additional income from our fees is being spent to enable access?

- Emerging Workers in the Creative Industries – Unpaid work experience, internships, and working for free for months or years are common place in parts of the Creative Industries and Cultural Sector – what is our stance, and where is the line drawn on unfair employment practice?

- FE Funding – The Learning Skills Council’s dispersion, and the future of Foundation courses and other areas of the Arts in FE, has been a topic at previous meetings. What’s going on and what can we do to preserve the core elements of Creative Education?

- The Future of the Arts Group – We’re here. We’ve got attention and a voice. What do we want from our collective and what are the key issues for the committee to act on for the next year?

Report from the Chair of the Arts Group, Kit Friend:
Apologies for the delay in posting up – after much discussion with the committee and others around employment issues, the debate kicked off properly at the Roundtable discussion on Internships and Bursaries chaired by Munira Mirza, the Mayor’s Director of Policy for the Arts, Culture and Creative Industries.

Much interesting discussion was had, with particular emphasis from Dani Salvadori and myself on how to develop better standards of pay and reduce the exploitation of unpaid interns and emerging workers in the Creative Industries. I will continue to push for progress from the discussion in this area, and in particular to get more private sector representatives to the table to enable us to truly move forward in ensuring fair employment in the industries Arts students will enter after graduating, and to widen access to those from all backgrounds – not just those who can afford to live unpaid for months or years.

Other attendees of the discussion included:

Dani Salvadori, Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design
Fiona Davidson, London Museums Hub
Junna Begum, Culture Strategy, Mayor’s Office
Kit Friend, UAL Students Union Campaigns Officer
Libby Anson, Ravensbourne College of Design & Communication
Manick Govinda, Artsadmin
Mark Greco, Cultural and Creative Skills
Sandy Nairne, National Portrait Gallery
Sonya Dyer, Hackney Visual Arts Cluster
Tom Cambell, Culture Strategy, Mayor’s Office
Vilma Nikolaidou, Tate Gallery
Matthew Gansallo, British Museum

ahead of the mammoth update post-NUS Conference just a quick shoutout to say the coverage from the New Deal of the Mind meeting at Downing St is now up and running! Hear what was said (including my own statements) at the New Deal of the Mind website here

Kit Friend, Chair of the Arts Group