ACUADS Newsletter

January – August 2008

The ACUADS Newsletter is an ad hoc publication from the Australian Council of University Art and Design Schools. It aims to communicate information about activities of the Council Executive, research interests and events and activities related to the visual art and design sector.

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1. ACUADS Chair's Report

Su Baker, Deputy Dean, Victorian College of the Arts

It is hard to believe we are in September 2008 already and are soon to be meeting in Adelaide for the Annual Conference. Where does the time go?

So far this year ACUADS has been involved in responding to the new Government's initiatives including the Review of the National Innovation System submission. Copies of last year's ACUADS conference publication on research excellence were sent to the review team.

Excellence In Research for Australia (ERA)
The ERA initiative is being developed by the Australian Research Council with advice from the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research.

The new framework aims to:

• Identify excellence across the full spectrum of research activity
• Compare Australia's research effort against international benchmarks
• Create incentives to improve the quality of research, and
• Identify emerging research areas and opportunities for further development.

ERA will undertake evaluation of the research in Australian higher education institutions in each of eight discipline clusters one of which is Humanities and Creative Arts.

The new research assessment process is underway through the ARC and the ERA process. There is a sense of déjà vu of course, and it seems like we may be making our arguments anew in this new process. ACUADS will of course be an active participant in this process through the various forums available.

ACUADS also contributed to the review of the Journal rankings exercise, with particular thanks to Professor Anne Marsh from Monash University for her attention and contribution to this process.

Indicator Development Group, Creative Art Sub-Committee
For many years ACUADS has played a significant role in the challenges, debates and evaluation propositions around the nature and quality of research in the Creative Arts, in particular in Art and Design.

As Chair of ACUADS, Su Baker has been appointed as one of a six person Creative Arts Sub-Committee and welcomes the opportunity to continue that participation in finding appropriate and discipline-specific methods of evaluating high quality research outcomes in this field and to establish a productive and meaningful place for the creative arts in the research culture in Australia.

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Future-proofing the Creative Arts in Higher Education: a scoping project for quality in creative arts research training (ALTC funded Project)

Project Leaders: Su Baker, Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne; Brad Buckley, Sydney College of the Arts Graduate School, University of Sydney; and Project Manager Giselle Kett, Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne

This scoping project is an Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) funded initiative conducted in partnership between the Australian Council of University Art and Design Schools (ACUADS), the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA), University of Melbourne and the Sydney College of the Arts (SCA), University of Sydney.

The project aims to survey the current state of doctoral programs in the creative arts in Australian universities and to investigate corresponding programs in a sample of overseas universities. Key areas the study will address include: the structure of doctoral programs; expectations of supervision, coursework, and examination practices; multiple research outcomes produced; new knowledge evolving through these models of research; institutional support required; and the needs and expectations of research candidates. See www.creativeartsphd.com.

Roundtable – Scoping for quality in tertiary creative arts research training
After some discussions with fellow ALTC and other Grant recipients, a Roundtable discussion is to be held at the VCA in Melbourne on 14-15 September 2008 to share the scope of the various projects and to find common areas of concern.

As the creative arts PhD becomes the defining benchmark of quality and innovation in the field, the graduates, artists/researchers, will be the academics of the future. Their experiences and the quality of their work will substantially determine the future shape of the higher education art and design sector. It is therefore a timely opportunity to build high quality performance into the next generation of creative arts academics.

There are considerable synergies appearing in the initial discussions and we are keen to develop these further.

Publication Section – ACUADS Web Site
Following discussion over several meetings, the Executive has agreed that ACUADS will offer, as a core project, a publishing service to members through the establishment of a Publications section on our web site with its own masthead.

It is proposed that given the need to publish research outputs and to do so with maximum independence (to avoid suggestions of 'vanity press'), ACUADS will provide an online publishing service to members through which refereed conference/symposia papers could be reviewed to ensure that they satisfy appropriate requirements for refereeing and then uploaded to the ACUADS website. The proposal would not require ACUADS to manage the refereeing process; ACUADS would merely verify that the particular conference/symposia organisers had followed the proper procedure and secured the required statement, etc. However a small committee drawn from the Executive would 'sign off' on the relevance of the subject matter to art and design practice and research and the appropriateness of the process used by the organisers.

It was noted that exhibition catalogues and the like also had potential to be acknowledged as 'published' in DEST terms with a version of this proposal.

It is proposed that the material be uploaded as PDFs and could be available in hard copy.

The project will be launched at the Adelaide Conference in October.

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2. ACUADS Executive Meeting 8 August 2008

Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) Update
The meeting noted the email on the UK debate on this matter.

The Chair advised the meeting that she would be attending the Indicator Development Group on September 12 and that two further meetings will be held before the end of the year, with the second scheduled for October.

The meeting agreed that an appropriate consultative session on the ERA should be part of the ACUADS Conference program when the Chair reports on matters to date.

ACUADS Constitution
It was agreed that the Constitution should be checked for any anomalies and suggested changes put to the AGM on 3 October 2008 for discussion.

ACUADS Web Site – New Publications Site
Kirsten Muir reported on the establishment of this new site and the meeting noted that there is a distinction between the Conference, Research and Publishing sites, but that they would be linked.

The meeting noted that the site would provide a record of scholarly works, which could be searched, and agreed to establish an Editorial Committee with Professors Noel Frankham and Kay Lawrence to act initially for a year. The meeting noted that the submitted work would have been refereed prior to submission.

The meeting confirmed that the site would be launched at the Adelaide Conference.

Australian Learning & Teaching Council (ALTC) Grant
Future-proofing the Creative Arts
The Chair reported that as the Project Manager, Giselle Kett, was not appointed until 2 May, a request had been made to the ALTC that the project be extended an extra two months and ACUADS would therefore be reporting at the end of March 2009 followed by the financial report on 31 May. The meeting noted that possibly an application for a second stage of funding may be made.

The Project Officer spoke to her report advising that a web site has now been established with links to the ACUADS site and invited members to submit material for the Literature Review section together with photos of art and design for uploading to the site.

The meeting noted that collecting data for the project included several phases and asked the Executive for the name of research degree coordinators to interview, following the Ethics approval. It was suggested that the Project Officer email Executive members for suggestions on appropriate students for interviews and that the list of interview questions be circulated to the Executive for comment.

The Chair advised the Committee of the PhD Roundtable being held at the VCA on 14-15 September with presentations from the various people who have received ALTC grants.

Treasurer's Report
The meeting noted the Report together with the Receipts and Payment account pages and agreed to ratify the expenditure.

Adelaide Conference: 1-3 October 2008
The meeting discussed the conference and agreed on some alterations to the timetable to provide more discussion time for the roundtables on Studio Teaching and Future-proofing the Creative Arts.

Over 30 abstracts for conference papers have been submitted and the refereeing process is currently underway.

To date 13 submissions have been received for the Research Report and the Committee agreed that the Report should be confined to one submission from each Institution, other than the host institution, which may include more than one submission.

The Council for the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (CHASS)
The Chair reported that it appeared that the organisation CHASS was to be dismantled. CHASS was established in 2004 as a peak representative body for the humanities, arts and social sciences sectors as a whole.

ACUADS Award Applications
The Meeting considered the Fellowship, Teaching and Research nominations and approved the granting of the ACUADS Award to each.

Award Process
The meeting discussed the process in light of queries and agreed that further clarification appeared necessary.

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3. ACUADS Executive Meeting 13 June 2008

Australian Learning & Teaching Council (ALTC) Grants
The Chair advised that in addition to ACUADS ($110,000), Dr. Paul Thomas, Curtin University, had been successful in his grant application for New Media Art receiving $110,000 and that another successful applicant was ASPERA, the film sector organisation. The meeting noted that these grants bring the total for our sector to approximately $440,000.

Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) Update
The Chair referred to the ERA consultation paper forwarded to the Executive for input. The meeting noted the closing date of 30 June.

Web Site – Publications
The Chair advised that a test web site has been established and the address will be forwarded to Executive members for their information.

Treasurer's Report
The meeting noted the Report and agreed to ratify the expenditure.

Adelaide Conference: 1-3 October 2008
Dr. John Barbour, on behalf of Professor Kay Lawrence, spoke to the various agenda papers. He advised that over 30 submissions had been received and that extra referees would be needed.

Dr Barbour advised that he had not yet heard from all Schools re their submissions for the research publication.

National Design Council – CHASS Proposal
The meeting noted the ongoing discussion on a proposal to establish a National Design Council.

ACUADS Awards
The meeting noted that the closing date was 30 June and agreed to discuss the applications at the next Executive.

HASS on Hill – The Council for the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (CHASS)
The meeting noted that CHASS will again organise this event where members hold meetings with various Federal Members and that the dates are 2-3 September with prices the same as last year: $2,000 for two attendees and $5,000 for five. The meeting agreed that five of the Executive would attend.

PNG Art School
The meeting discussed the proposal of Dr. Pamela Zeplin, University of South Australia, of inviting Daniel WasWas, Head of the PNG Art School, to the Adelaide Conference and assisting with his airfare. The meeting agreed that ACUADS would meet this cost while the University of South Australia would underwrite the cost of accommodation.

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4. ACUADS Executive Meeting 29 February 2008

Australian Learning & Teaching Council (ALTC) Grant
Future-proofing the Creative Arts
The Chair advised the meeting that the ALTC project funds has now been received and an office established at the VCA for the Project Manager, Giselle Kett.

The meeting noted that the project would run for 12 months from the date of the receipt of the grant.

New Publications Section – Web Site
The meeting agreed that the new site should be launched at the annual conference in Adelaide. In a discussion on process, Professor Noel Frankham stated that Peer Review should be adopted for assessing research papers for uploading.

Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) Update
The meeting noted that a link to CHASS was available on the ACUADS web site to download information on the recent changes to what was formerly known as the Research Quality Framework (RQF).

The meeting discussed the current status, noting that Peer Review has been retained and agreed that ACUADS should make the argument that Benchmarks be established for Professional Practice and Research through a process of Peer Review.

The meeting noted that ACUADS' role will be to contribute to the developmental research assessment in art and design.

Treasurer's Report
The meeting noted the Report and agreed to ratify the expenditure.

Adelaide Conference: 1-3 October 2008
Professor Kay Lawrence tabled for discussion a report on the forthcoming conference including: a list of the Conference Committee membership; a draft outline of the daily programs; subject matter of the proposed Publication and Refereed Papers.

The meeting confirmed that the theme of the Conference is Studio Teaching and Research and made suggestions on the program content.

The meeting noted that the next conference venue will be Brisbane and asked that the web site's rolling list of State venues be updated.

Dictionary of Australian Artists Online
Professor Ian Howard tabled a brochure of information on this new catalogue and noted that it was now online. The meeting agreed that a link should be provided on the ACUADS web site and that the Heads of School be advised of this new promotional and research tool.

Federal Government 20/20 Summit – Canberra
The Chair advised that four people will be invited to be on the Arts Panel and it was agreed that ACUADS should make a submission on the best model of an arts school and what art schools contribute to the nation.

The Council for the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (CHASS) Forum
The Chair advised that she was participating in this forum to be held in Sydney, 31 March and invited the Executive to submit proposals.

Thinking Through Practice: Art as Research in the Academy
Professor Elizabeth Grierson spoke on the content of this new publication and advised that it was being launched in Melbourne on 29 February.

Media Arts History Conference – November 2009
The Chair reported that the VCA is hosting part of this conference, run by Dr. Paul Thomas of Curtin University. Following discussion, the meeting agreed that ACUADS act as the auspicing body.

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