New degree provides business skills for artists

THE University of Western Sydney’s associate degree in creative industries is such a good idea it’s surprising no one thought of it sooner.

The degree, available at the NSW-based university from 2012, is targeted at artists and other creative people already working in their fields, but who lack a fluent understanding of the enterprise skills needed to turn their output into a livelihood.

According to composer and course consultant Art Phillips: “The creative crafts demand strong discipline and years of study and practice to achieve artistic success. [This] often doesn’t leave much time to focus on honing business acumen, management skills and entrepreneurial thinking.”

“Rather than spend valuable time studying all aspects of business, why not focus on the elements that are most relevant and directly related to creative industries, skills that are essential for a successful and sustainable career?”

Mr Phillips has donated his time and enthusiasm to chair an external committee of 12 industry professionals, including representatives from academe and government arts bodies, assembled to advise UWS on core business skills needed across seven sectors: music and performing arts; visual arts; film, television and radio; writing and publishing; media and communication; interactive and digital design; and advertising and marketing.

The associate degree is being offered through UWSCollege, an institution UWS set up in 2006 to provide pathways into higher education for candidates lacking traditional entry qualifications. There are no formal academic requirements for the creative industries program: applicants will be assessed on a case-by-case basis and according to experience in their fields.

The two-year course will be offered full-time on the university’s Nirimba campus, near Blacktown on the western outskirts of Sydney, but timetables will be arranged, as far as possible, to fit around the work commitments of the initial intake of 30. Plans for part-time delivery are being considered. Applicants who successfully complete the associate degree will have the option of articulating it into a full bachelor’s degree at UWS in communications or business.

The course is an initiative of UWSCollege chief executive Kerry Hudson. It sprang from the notion of developing degree programs that could involve a lot of engagement with the industries located in the greater western Sydney area covered by UWS’s footprint.

“There’s a significant creative arts industry in western Sydney,” Ms Hudson says. “We did some preliminary market research [and asked its participants]: “Given your time over again, what are the skills that you actually need?’ That formed the basis of our concept for the creative industries degree.”

Market research also revealed that most creative practitioners are either self-employed or working on a contractual basis, which highlighted the need for teaching negotiation skills.

“We’ve got a whole communications stream and negotiation is right up there,” Ms Hudson says. “Most creative industry work is collaborative, so it’s not just about being able to negotiate your legal and commercial aspects but also being able to negotiate working in collaborative relationships with people who often come from quite disparate backgrounds.”

“I’m pretty confident we’ve got [the course] right because of the level of industry participation that we’ve had. We’ve really been informed by people’s experience.”

A key figure from the entertainment industry, promoter Michael Chugg, recently launched the program and offered ongoing assistance in rounding up industry input. Mr Chugg left school when he was 15. As he says in his autobiography, Hey You in the Black T-shirt: “Maybe if I had gone to university I’d still be doing what I do, but I could have been a lot smarter more quickly, rather than learning by trial and error.”