GU is formalising its film school’s independence from the university’s Queensland College of Art

“The change to enable the Griffith Film School to be fully independent of the QCA would capture existing leadership, engagement and fiscal practices and would enable the Film School to more effectively realise its potential as an independent School at Griffith,” a change proposal states. While some reporting lines will change, no jobs are cited as being abolished.

The big reason appears to be to unleash the film school’s inner entrepreneurs, with the proposal described as “an opportunity to further nurture and support the evolution and eventual expansion of the GFS (e.g. to the Gold Coast) in future.”

They like a low-key, carefully calibrated restructure at Griffith U with minimum employment pain (except for small numbers of people whose jobs go). Last year Griffith management quietly folded the Centre for Creative Arts Research into the QCA, with two jobs lost. There was also a restructure in library and learning services where four positions spilled. There was also work on the service delivery function in the mcoms portfolio. And over the last couple of years there was work on student and academic administration and on restructuring Griffith’s science schools.

With university leaders now deep in the weeds, working on VC Carolyn Evans’ first strategic plan, there can’t be many legacy issues blurring big pictures.