Friends,

This is a quick me-too in support of David's comments. I signed the petition shortly after Ksenija posted. There are over 6,700 signatures -- more would be helpful. Alas, many university decisions are driven by financial considerations these days -- the global meltdown made a difficult situation even worse for most universities. Half of what deans do now is to find ways to make money. The difference as I see it between wise deans and foolish ones is that wise deans seek funding that will keep the excellent programs going, and always balance short-term financial needs against the larger needs of what it is to be a university.

David's comments on what is sometimes known as the "Staffordshire diaspora" strikes a sad note for those of us who watched a talented dean and a great research director transform art and design into what was at one point the highest-ranked research group in the university. Interestingly, philosophy played a key role -- and Staffordshire hosted the first two of what became a rich conference cycle leading to the Center for Philosophy of Art and Design. Happily, CEPHAD lives on at The Danish Design School in Copenhagen, where the fourth CEPHAD conference recently took place.

Nurturing research centers is -- and should be -- one of the central roles of the university. If on the one hand, we must be fiscally prudent to undertake the work of the university in a sustainable long term, we must on the other hand remember what the work of the university is. The core mission of research is one of the issues that distinguishes us as universities from vocational schools and certificate-oriented private providers. Such subjects as philosophy are both valuable and priceless; the nature of their value is what makes them difficult to price. What should distinguish a university from a hamburger chain or a department store is our ability to recognize those times when a program or department adds immense value to the university even when it only breaks even, as it seems the Middlesex philosophy department does. If we do not attend to or understand these issues, we will not long remain universities.

Here's hoping that the petition helps.

Best regards,

Ken

Ken Friedman, PhD, DSc (hc), FDRS
Professor
Dean
Swinburne Design
Swinburne University of Technology
Melbourne, Australia

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David Durling wrote:

"Research centres take such a long time to nurture and bring to national and international prominence, and yet this kind of managerial barbarism can dismantle them so quickly. If I sound bitter and twisted about this, I have been there myself: after years of work to set up a significant art and design research institute at Staffordshire University, it collapsed due to similar decisions - Staffs art and design has now disappeared off the radar almost completely. Removing philosophy from MDX will diminish the intellectual life of the arts courses around it, and the life of the university as a whole, quite apart from their national and international contribution.

"I would encourage anyone here to sign the petition, and see if this silly decision can be rescinded."