Press release from Art Phillips
Creative industries refer to a broad range of activities that contain a substantial element of artistic or creative endeavour.These industries combine the creation, production and commercialisation of content which are artistic in nature. The product of these industries is typically protected by copyright and usually takes the form of a good or a service.
The majority of people in the creative industries are self-employed or employed on short-term contracts. As a result of extensive industry and market research, UWSCollege, a wholly owned entity of the University of Western Sydney (UWS), identified a deficiency in business and management skills amongst a large percentage of young industry personnel from the key creative industry groups.
The creative crafts require strong discipline and many years of study in order to learn the required proficiency necessary to articulate and produce the intended art form, a process that can take decades to accomplish. During these study years most artists are not able to focus much on business and management education skills that are essential for personal and professional development in order to maintain a successful career.
A successful business cannot exist without strong management skills,communication skills, an ability to coordinate a project, basic knowledge of law, business and ethics, and accounting principles.
UWSCollege has developed the ‘Associate Degree in Creative Industries’ that packages these entrepreneurialcapabilities into a two-year degree program which launches in 2012. The course will link closely with relevant creative industry partners.
The research indicated the needs of seven industry areas to be considered in the program, and that a practical component also be included. The UWSCollege focus includes:
• Interactive and Digital Design
• Music and Performing Arts
• Film, Television and Radio
• Writing and Publishing
• Advertising and Marketing
• Media and Communication
• Visual Arts
The practical component of the course requires the student to create and manage a creative industries’ event project that will be executed during the last session of the program.
The units of study have been mapped against the requirements that emerged from research. The units include: Creative Industries Business Academic Skills, Accounting Information for Managers, Approaches to Communication, Introduction to Business Law, Management Dynamics, Creative Industries Events Multidisciplinary Approaches, Law and Ethics for the Creative Industries, Creative Industries Events Planning, New Media Contexts, Entrepreneurial Management and Innovation, Creative Industries Events Delivery 1 and 2. The unit elective pools consist of: Advertising: An Introduction, Marketing Principles, Public Relations Theory and Practice, Managing People at Work, Design Thinking, Business Society and Policy, Cross-Cultural Management, Contextualising Indigenous Australia, From Corroborees to Curtain Raisers, and From Ochre to Acrylic to New Technologies.
The course will be delivered in combination with industry practitioners, artists and academic staff from UWS, with a significant input from industry. The course will utilise case studies as an integral part of the program. The studies will be published to allow students direct access to both success stories as well as the ‘pear-shaped’ non-successful case stories. The studies will engage the student and provide support for real world experiences.
The Associate Degree provides a higher education qualification in management of the creative industries bringing together existing units from the University’s College of Business and Law and College of Arts. A number of specific focus units, with an emphasis on project management, have also been embedded to ensure that the program is relevant and current. The program is the only one of its kind in NSW, where all content in the course relates to business and management education that are specific to the various crafts. The research indicated the necessity for a course at this level, aimed at the needs of current creative industry practitioners in Australia and particularly in the Greater Western Sydney area.
As ‘Consultant to the Associate Degree in Creative Industries’ for UWSCollege my focus is to identify and engage industry practitioners with the course, as well as provide input and advice to the program teaching and learning guides in order to maintain credibility to content.I am looking to find participants that include music creatives, visual and performing artists (including film, television, radio, theatre, dance and graphic designers), advertising personnel, journalists, photographers, managers, media creatives and digital content designers.
The Associate Degree program delivers logical skills and a practical pathway for a creative future where students will learn how to network, create strategies, build relationships, learn the art of promotion, presentation and pitching skill, communication techniques and many of the daily business tools that are essential to sell their story.
Course Summary
The Associate Degree in Creative Industries offers students an opportunity to develop relevant business management knowledge and skills within the context of the creative industries. An essential element of the core units of study is the grounding in practical application of the theories and models of business and management, and the exploration of issues facing creative industry practitioners in society.
There will be an emphasis on developing knowledge and skills applicable to a multidisciplinary environment that many creative industry workplaces require.
Four of the core units focus on the development, management and delivery of a creative industries project event that will be launched in the last session of the course. The project aims to put into practice all the core unit learning outcomes integrated into a real workapplication.
The UWSCollege focus will embrace the visual and performing arts (including film, television and radio), media and communication, music and sound, writing and publishing, advertising and marketing, photography, staging events management and public relations, as well as the various crafts and design. The program will engage case study material specifically targeted to relevant industry groups.
Students will benefit from accomplished industry personnel who regularly visit UWS College to deliver valuable content.
The Associate Degree in Creative Industries is designed as a complete award for people with a high level of expertise and technical skill in creative industries who seek to better position themselves in their respective business, and who desire a higher education qualification to support their career, or as a pathway to a higher-level university qualification.
Interested parties can contact Art Phillips at a.phillips@uws.edu.au