AV News 180 - May 2010
RPS Audio Visual Distinctions Day - April 2010
M a lc o lm Im h o ff FRPS, K e ith L e e d h a m FRPS, E d d ie S p e n c e FRPS
The last RPS Audio Visual Distinctions Assessment Day (scheduled for 10th
April) received no applications. The RPS Council/Advisory Board are
concerned about the lack of applicants for the April Distinctions Day. Why are
they surprised?
Mention of the day was noticeably absent from the last two RPS Journals.
If members don't know about it they can't apply.
But why would anyone want to apply when everything we hear from the RPS
management seems to suggest that AV is not valued and that all we love and
hold dear count for nothing. In particular, the chances of success at
Fellowship level would now seem to be very slim, because, even if the Panel
recommend an application it has to be then referred to a committee, the
"Fellowship Board", where none of the members is an AV specialist. The
recently discontinued system for assessing Audio Visual Distinctions was
widely regarded as a model of excellence, but has been discarded without
any consultation with Panel members or the RPS AV Group. This is why
many of us think the baby has been thrown out with the bathwater:
They were held in locations in the North and South of England to be
accessible to candidates from all over Britain. To insist on all applications
being heard in Bath can only be for the convenience of RPS staff and is
to the disadvantage of candidates from the North and Scotland.
The assessments were totally open and above board, unlike the secrecy
that surrounds the present system and the constant requests for
"confidentiality". Members of the public could attend, see the
applications, learn and be encouraged to go for Distinctions themselves.
Observers and family members would be charged an admission fee so
the Days stood a good chance of covering their costs. The Hilton does
seem "over the top" in terms of expense.
The Panel retired to a room where full and frank deliberation took place,
with every member of the Panel being given an opportunity to speak,
followed by real discussion, not as seems to be the case at present, a
series of statements, some quit H