Faculty Burnout Panel Notes

Panel Statement- Simon Penny

Electronic media arts in university and college contexts face new and demanding environmental conditions, both within and outside the college context. The most significant of these from a teaching and administration point of view is the rapid change of the technology. This is due to the fact that the rate of change and direction of change of the technology is controlled not by artists or the art community, but by the need for continued profits by the computer industry. This induces a false, technologically determined criterium on art works and art pedagogy. This results in heavy pressures upon faculty to continually retrain, and the spectre of students being trained on hardware and software that will be obsolete by the time they graduate. It also puts a financial strain that many schools cannot bear. Funding often occurs in large one time lump sum grants for hardware with no infrastructure, technical support or ongoing upgrade and maintenance budgets. This results in under utilized hardware which becomes obsolete before it has been well used. It is necessary therefore, that teachers and administrators establish a well thought out and sustainable plan for development of teaching programs in this field.