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I would like to thank the following for their responses to my query about curriculums responding to a perceived need to update our old vocational silos. Thanks to, in no particular order: Chris Bisbin, Tom Morgan, Terence Love. Gunnar Swanson, Amanda Bill, Susana La Cruz, Riley Triggs, Peter Jones, Veronika Kelly, Andy Polaine, Mike Zender, Andrew Jackson and Alun Price. I am working through the replies and also the various urls that many of you sent. Thank you all so much. Regards Mike Dr. MIKE MCAULEY SENIOR LECTURER, SUBJECT DIRECTOR, ILLUSTRATION Institute of Communication Design College of Creative Arts Massey University Museum Building Buckle Street Wellington http://creative.massey.ac.nz ________________________________ (04) 801 5799 ext 62461 (04 027 357 8799 On Mar 13, 2011, at 11:20 PM, Andy Polaine wrote: > Gunnar wrote: > >> None of this is meant to claim that current university structures >> are sustainable. We agree on that. But when redesigning >> universities, it would make sense to remember that affiliations >> based on similar expertise do have real value. That doesn't mean >> they need to be the center of any organizational scheme but it >> does mean that dismissing them as merely a remnant of feudal >> allegiances is a mistake. > > I think this is a good point and, in many respects, we're arguing > the same point from different sides. I think affiliations based on > similar *interests* are probably more useful than those based on > shared *expertise*, although there is obviously a large overlap. I > make the distinction because I've seen several marriages of > convenience in the name of garnering inter-disciplinary research > funding and without the real shared interest, they struggle. Taking > into account human level is really important and I think this is > what we're both saying and what, in my experience, most of those > administrative structures and managers miss. Things can look > organised on the org chart in a committee meeting, but on the > ground it doesn't work because, for example, two key people don't > get on, have offices on opposite sides of the building, etc., etc. > > The biggest problem is faculty (I include myself in this). The > issue in higher education is that everyone is an expert > (supposedly). So it's very hard to do much in the way of gaining > either consensus or having the benevolent dictator model (sounds > like RISD model). Neither works, so stasis reigns. > > Doesn't anyone want to do a design-thinking/design management/ > service design PhD on this and help us out? :-) > > Cheers, > > Andy