VC Zlatko Skrbis says its necessary “in order to boost rapidly declining enrolments”

“ACU needs to strengthen the teaching-research nexus within the Arts disciplines and refresh our Arts course offer” he told staff yesterday.

Professor Skrbis added  ACU is “not immune from the shifting attitude towards humanities, from how courses are funded to perceptions of their value compared to more vocationally based degrees.”

To address this he announced “the most effective and sustainable model is to combine the  School of Arts and the Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences.”

“This foundation will allow us to produce an innovative curriculum which brings the best of arts together with humanities and social science disciplines, to deliver a distinctive learning environment across ACU and take advantage of emerging opportunities.”

Which may not go down well with the campus branch of the National Tertiary Education Union, which is already unhappy with a plan for a common first year course in Arts and reminds management that major change requires consultation under the ACU enterprise agreement.