Here's a thing. The University of East Anglia are looking to close the School of Music. That's right. No, I understand. You need a bit of time to look this one up yourself.
I only graduated from UEA this year. In another 3 years time, the last generation of Graduates will have already hung their gowns up and taken their tentative steps into their futures, without another year to fill their shoes. I think that as many Alumni as possible should make the final graduation. No placards, no protesting, just stoic solidarity.
The School of Music is a somewhat unique place even in the relative oddity that surrounds the University of East Anglia. This is not to say there is anything wrong with UEA; far from it. The unique, brutalist architecture of the campus is recognisable all over the world, mostly thanks to the iconic Ziggurats of Norfolk and Suffolk Terraces. The Houses of Britten, Paston, Colman, Browne and Kett are no less recognisable to those who have lived there, and the great flats of Constable Terrace and of course, Nelson Court are a welcome sight to many. The pecularity of the student body produces some outstanding relationships. There's a real cross section of society enrolled at this University, from the droves of Essex men and women, to the Internationals of every imaginable race, to the ends of our own Islands; this is not a place where droves of Private boarders are told to go. This is a place where you choose to go, and I for one think it's a great place.
Well, I won't think that so much soon. Maybe. There has been a Review carried out by a panel of senior members of the University staff. Heads of Faculty, you know. This review has been carried out, and its findings are in. The Panel have found it in their hearts to advise that Music should no longer be offered as an academic discipline at the University. I'll give you a minute to read that again. Music should be dropped from the University, the department closed, the staff to find new jobs. What will happen to the buildings? Good question, most likely to be repurposed, but who knows? The Chronology of this is very important. The review Panel met in September, they have taken around a month to come to their conclusions. The news was broken to staff 10 minutes before the students in the School itself. The oficial release was posted on the UEA website on the morning of the 26th, at around the same time that Facebook and Twitter suddenly went downhill - no, they certainly didn;t crash, but the amount of extremely angry and simply distraught Muso's was both staggering and unsurprising.
The cut and thrust of the public face of this closure plan in funding. Now, funding has always been and will be an issue, but the current plans of cutting funding to the Arts across the board and the massive hike in tuition fees means pennies are even tighter, perhaps even tighter than tight across the board. According to the official release the University could no tafford to support the School of Music without "imperiling other, better positioned disciplines". I'm sorry? Do they not know the meaning of imperiling?
It appears from the report as well that the Music Department has been, in short, neglected. The death of the Head of Department in 2006 created an interregnum in School leadership that has only been filled recently by the head of another department. Not another faculty member, but from outside, but still in the HUM umbrella. Of course this raises the question of why there hasn't been a new Head of Music proper. It's a good point, and a good question. There are indeed some hard hitting questions, but also quite a lot of ignorance. We don't have "cutting edge" studios by any means, that's true, but the work produced by staff and students with the facilities we have is renowned for its innovation and high concept. The work of the Sonic Arts series of concerts that are hosted in the Concert Room has also been been either dismissed entirely, or the reivew panel were not aware of it. Sonic Arts host a range of Avant Garde Electronic performances, and some premieres. Sorry it's a bit vague, but Sonic Arts was never really my thing. This said, there are a lot of ardent supporters who deeply enjoy these events, and I would gladly hand the reins of this part over to them.
Throughout the report there is a general shrugging of shoulders. I've said it before and I'll publish it now that I think part of the problem is that MUS has been operating in quite a different way to the rest of the University. We don't have a Head, we don't have a strict curriculum, and there's something about our admissions policy that just isn't the same. For saying that 9 years ago in 2002, the School was operating at the "margin of viability", we have done extremely well to maintain a solid and lasting reputation, and an enjoyable course taught by passionate academics. We can't offer everything, because we don't have the expertise, which is far better than saying we can do everything and then not being able to deliver the greatest experience. Swings and roundabouts. As for our admissions? Well, the grades thing is a little over my head. As a rule though, we audition prospective students. You can't measure talent or potential. Sadly. That's why we have the audition process. Academic expectations are somewhat lower in MUS than the rest of the University however.
However, I fear that this is a done deal. I've said this many times already, but it's all at the last second, perhaps even deliberately so, to avoid a successful rebuttal. They are just going through the final, public motions of closing the coffin and nailing it shut. There's going to be one hell of a fight about this, and sadly I am TOO FAR AWAY to really get involved, and that's a thorn in my side.
For now though, as Ro-Jaws, the robot with the bigger bite says, SPREAD THE WORD JOHN. There is an online petition here, the Facebook Group is here, and a very interesting article about wages, funding and fees from the Telegraph here. Also, the outcome of the Review Panel can be found here as well.. There's also a Tumblr blog as well as the Twitter updates to take into account. If you want to, get involved. I urge you to consider the facts on offer. If you don't want to, and then we actually respect that, but just don't antagonise us please. The School of Music at UEA cannot afford to become a martyr to funding cuts. The slashing of Arts budgets is not on. There's no similar cuts to Science or Sports. That's it.
This should be the only subject of conversation for every member of MUS Staff, every UG and PG Student, and every Alumnus until the very last second. It's going to bore everyone but we must make sure this is an issue that gets out. There's been a token notice on the BBC news website, but that's only a token. I hope you follow the link to the report on the University choosing to charge the full whack of £9000 from 2012, with quotes from Edward Acton throughout. We need national coverage. People need to be made aware of this. If the Music School gets shut here, then where next? The University of Exeter closed their music department down to build a new Hall of Residence, so for financial gain once more, but that was in 2007, well before the recent times of economic crisis. What other departments are in danger of having secret reports filed on them, before being told at the last second?
Perhaps though, like any good tyranny, the University will choose to close the Music Department down anyway. Regardless of how successful our campaign, how great our support through the petition, both online and on paper, this may well be over. To think this and give up is folly though. We will fight for our department, we will support the academic staff who have done such a fine job before and will continue to do so. this is far from over.
The cut and thrust of the public face of this closure plan in funding. Now, funding has always been and will be an issue, but the current plans of cutting funding to the Arts across the board and the massive hike in tuition fees means pennies are even tighter, perhaps even tighter than tight across the board. According to the official release the University could no tafford to support the School of Music without "imperiling other, better positioned disciplines". I'm sorry? Do they not know the meaning of imperiling?
It appears from the report as well that the Music Department has been, in short, neglected. The death of the Head of Department in 2006 created an interregnum in School leadership that has only been filled recently by the head of another department. Not another faculty member, but from outside, but still in the HUM umbrella. Of course this raises the question of why there hasn't been a new Head of Music proper. It's a good point, and a good question. There are indeed some hard hitting questions, but also quite a lot of ignorance. We don't have "cutting edge" studios by any means, that's true, but the work produced by staff and students with the facilities we have is renowned for its innovation and high concept. The work of the Sonic Arts series of concerts that are hosted in the Concert Room has also been been either dismissed entirely, or the reivew panel were not aware of it. Sonic Arts host a range of Avant Garde Electronic performances, and some premieres. Sorry it's a bit vague, but Sonic Arts was never really my thing. This said, there are a lot of ardent supporters who deeply enjoy these events, and I would gladly hand the reins of this part over to them.
Throughout the report there is a general shrugging of shoulders. I've said it before and I'll publish it now that I think part of the problem is that MUS has been operating in quite a different way to the rest of the University. We don't have a Head, we don't have a strict curriculum, and there's something about our admissions policy that just isn't the same. For saying that 9 years ago in 2002, the School was operating at the "margin of viability", we have done extremely well to maintain a solid and lasting reputation, and an enjoyable course taught by passionate academics. We can't offer everything, because we don't have the expertise, which is far better than saying we can do everything and then not being able to deliver the greatest experience. Swings and roundabouts. As for our admissions? Well, the grades thing is a little over my head. As a rule though, we audition prospective students. You can't measure talent or potential. Sadly. That's why we have the audition process. Academic expectations are somewhat lower in MUS than the rest of the University however.
However, I fear that this is a done deal. I've said this many times already, but it's all at the last second, perhaps even deliberately so, to avoid a successful rebuttal. They are just going through the final, public motions of closing the coffin and nailing it shut. There's going to be one hell of a fight about this, and sadly I am TOO FAR AWAY to really get involved, and that's a thorn in my side.
For now though, as Ro-Jaws, the robot with the bigger bite says, SPREAD THE WORD JOHN. There is an online petition here, the Facebook Group is here, and a very interesting article about wages, funding and fees from the Telegraph here. Also, the outcome of the Review Panel can be found here as well.. There's also a Tumblr blog as well as the Twitter updates to take into account. If you want to, get involved. I urge you to consider the facts on offer. If you don't want to, and then we actually respect that, but just don't antagonise us please. The School of Music at UEA cannot afford to become a martyr to funding cuts. The slashing of Arts budgets is not on. There's no similar cuts to Science or Sports. That's it.
This should be the only subject of conversation for every member of MUS Staff, every UG and PG Student, and every Alumnus until the very last second. It's going to bore everyone but we must make sure this is an issue that gets out. There's been a token notice on the BBC news website, but that's only a token. I hope you follow the link to the report on the University choosing to charge the full whack of £9000 from 2012, with quotes from Edward Acton throughout. We need national coverage. People need to be made aware of this. If the Music School gets shut here, then where next? The University of Exeter closed their music department down to build a new Hall of Residence, so for financial gain once more, but that was in 2007, well before the recent times of economic crisis. What other departments are in danger of having secret reports filed on them, before being told at the last second?
Perhaps though, like any good tyranny, the University will choose to close the Music Department down anyway. Regardless of how successful our campaign, how great our support through the petition, both online and on paper, this may well be over. To think this and give up is folly though. We will fight for our department, we will support the academic staff who have done such a fine job before and will continue to do so. this is far from over.
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