NEWS
campusreview.com.au
$12.5 million
instrument of
recovery
The Australian National University’s School of Music. Photo: ANU.
ANU acknowledges problems at School of
Music, kicks in funds for a fresh start.
By James Wells
T
he Australian National University has offered its
School of Music a $12.5 million boost after admitting
mismanagement allowed “distrust and emotional stress to
fester” within the faculty.
The ANU has released its final report into the school, written
by professor Andrew Podger, a former senior public servant who
now resides at the university’s College of Arts and Social Sciences.
Podger found the school failed to attract sufficient numbers of
high-quality students, wasn’t teaching at an acceptable level of
quality, and didn’t meet the needs of the Canberra community.
Previous vice-chancellor professor Ian Young attempted to
make the school financially sustainable by slashing its budget by
$1.5 million and cutting staff in 2012, media reports have stated.
The curriculum also shifted from a performance-based model
to a theoretical one. There has been low staff morale and some
resignations in the school since these changes, including the
departure of its head, Peter Tregear.
Podger called on current vice-chancellor professor Brian
Schmidt to acknowledge that the school was mismanaged
and that this had caused, “distrust and emotional stress to
fester” in the school. ANU acknowledged this in its response to
Podger’s recommendations.
“There is no one person or group of people responsible for the
difficulties the school has had over many years but it is clear, from
the consultation report, that the university has not handled the
challenges facing the school very well,” a statement from ANU read.
Schmidt said he is committed to rebuilding the School of
4
Music. This begins with a $12.5 million investment to turn it into a
conservatorium-style school.
“I’m delighted to announce that the university will be making a
substantial investment in the School of Music of $12.5 million over
the next five years to give it a solid foundation upon which to build
a school befitting ANU and this community,” Schmidt said.
“The school is already benefiting from a series of high-quality
appointments over the past year, all of whom are making their mark
on the school and in the community. I’m delighted by the energy and
enthusiasm with which our new staff are approaching their roles.”
Musicologist and former vice-chancellor of London Metropolitan
University, professor Malcolm Gillies, will be the school’s interim
head over the next six months. Schmidt is yet to announce a
permanent replacement but he assured an announcement would
be made in the near future.
Gillies said the School of Music needs a network of philanthropic
donors if it’s to become self-sustainable.
“Self-sustaining does not mean that [the School of Music] can live
on simply what comes through a government, [on] what’s called
cluster funding or students paying their HECS,” Gillies explained. “It’s [a
question of] how you build a broad portfolio of support. There needs
to be a lot of philanthropy. Some of the music schools in Australia
have good seven-figure flows of funding from philanthropy each year.
“Then it also gets down to how the local community may be
able to contribute and ... how the school pays back the support
from local communities. In a way, it’s a good issue because it
makes music schools confront the fact that they are right in the
middle of the community, which ultimately will be providing a lot of
the employment for their students.”
The ACT Government has pledged to support the school with
$250,000 each year for four years to help fund the advanced
music program. Gillies hoped this pledge would lead to a wave of
philanthropic donations. ■