QUT creatively cuts arts faculty

BY RA GREEN & SIMON BUTLER

BRISBANE — In a bid to access an extra $15 million of state government funding, the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) has decided to abolish its arts faculty and replace it with a new faculty called "creative industries".

The move has come under fire from the QUT Student Guild which is concerned that education standards will suffer and that humanities and social science courses will be cut. The guild's education officer, Matt Harrison, said the decision "shows the university has no value for arts degrees".

Many students and staff are now convinced that QUT administration is increasingly concerned with the profitability of their "enterprise" rather than the standard and diversity of their courses.

QUT's proposal will de-prioritise traditional disciplines, such as politics, language, history and social science, in favour of courses that will direct graduates towards business and industry.

Harrison told Green Left Weekly that enrolment figures consistently reveal that arts faculty courses are some of the most popular among students. The QUT Student Guild has called upon the university to guarantee that humanities and social science courses remain with no reduction in teaching and learning standards.

From GLW issue 444