1: Information Strategy

Art & design units need to develop a local strategy with respect to computing and communication technologies, based upon their sense of the essential nature of art & design education and within the context of their wider objectives. When developing such a strategy particular attention should be given to the support of art & design practices as well as the dissemination of information. Units within larger institutions should promote their strategy within the context of any institutional strategy.

2 : Administration & Management

Art & design units should initiate and support collaborative projects to collect information and provide guidance on the legal and regulatory aspects of material held on computers and should make this available to the sector. Units should also investigate ways in which electronic communication systems could enable them to reduce dependence on physical meetings and facilitate more discussion and less paperwork.

3: Teaching & Learning

Art & design units should consider the location, configuration and environment around computers so that traditional teaching and learning practices can take place.

Units should consider the need for a common first year module teaching generic technical skills with relation to digital technologies. This could be extended to a wider consideration of the relationship of communication technologies to student centred learning and modularity.

Units should develop strategies so that responsibility for the purchase, installation, and maintenance of computers resides with those who use them in practice. These strategies need to allow for the integration of equipment owned by students and staff

4: Research

Art & design units should endeavour to bring to the attention of those research councils which have responsibility for funding computing and communications research the very important contribution that artists and designers can make to these fields, and should explore mechanisms whereby this potential might be better realised.

5: Computing equipment

Art and design units need to develop policies on the provision of computers for staff, particularly with respect to part-time staff and technicians. The policy needs to give guidance on where equipment allocated to staff should be kept and the expectation for staff to be network accessible. Units should review any explicit or implicit policy of adherence to a single supplier.

Units should initiate and support projects to collect more data concerning numbers and funding of equipment in art and design units and make this available to the sector and should develop positive strategies to try to attract external funding to provide computer equipment.

6: Networks

Art & design units should collaborate to decide upon a desirable national minimum level of network provision and maximum pressure should be exerted within institutions for this to be achieved.

Units should endeavour to persuade the funding councils to continue to support projects to develop and disseminate subject specific materials for art and design.

7: Professional support

Institutions should endeavour to ensure that there are technical and/or professional staff with experience of computers and communications that are accountable to the head of art and design.

8: Art & design community

Art & design units should support and encourage national initiatives to improve the status and funding of the entire sector. The sector should attempt to persuade appropriate bodies (e.g. the Arts Council, the Design Council, the Crafts Council, regional arts bodies, the Humanities Research Board & the ESRC) to support research into the national contributions made by art & design and its graduates. Art & design units need to initiate a dialogue with the wider art & design community concerning the latter's material support for technological infrastructures.

Professor Colin Beardon

Exeter School of Arts & Design,

University of Plymouth,

Earl Richards Road North,

Exeter EX2 6AS

Tel/Fax 01392 645028

c.beardon@plym.ac.uk