Arts hit again at NTU
By Bernie Brian
DARWIN — The Northern Territory University administration sacked, 11 staff members of the arts faculty on the final day of exams, when very few students were on campus.
As a result of the cuts, the NTU no longer has an English department, and ceramics and sculpture have been cut from fine arts department.
These cuts are in addition to the scrapping last year of 19 subjects from the arts faculty and the loss of several experienced and respected academics. Undergraduate students' choice of subjects is restricted, and postgraduate research students are losing their supervisors.
The cuts have generated considerable opposition. Friends of English has been formed, and many local identities, including a former NT administrator, have spoken out against the cuts. Even the local Murdoch-owned NT News has criticised the cuts.
More than 100 students and staff attended a student union-organised meeting on June 27 to hear dean of arts Chris Healey explain away the cuts as a result of declining funding and enrolments. He argued that the faculty needed to consolidate its focus on the region of north Australia and Asia.
Healey promised that students who have already nominated to do a major in the affected areas will still be able to do so. It is unclear how such promises will be met.
Last September, when the University Planning Board voted to reduce the arts faculty's budget by $500,000, Healey was one of the few to speak against it. This was the result of the disastrous cuts to university operating grants by the Howard government.
The NTU management is promoting those areas which will generate revenue, such as the more professional and vocational-oriented disciplines and research grants. It also has its sights on full fee-paying students from Asia.
The student union has concentrated on a media campaign to embarrass an administration which dislikes bad publicity. The student union is also investigating launching a legal action against the university for breach of contract.
[Bernie Brian is president of the Northern Territory University Postgraduate Students Association.]