HALIFAX - Tonight, students from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD) University will be participating in an all night studio-in to demonstrate their opposition to proposed budget cuts that would remove 24-hour campus access and reduce library hours. NSCAD students rely on round-the-clock studio access for the use of specialized equipment to complete their academic requirements.
“24-hour studio access is what sets NSCAD apart from other art schools,” says Emily Davidson, President of the Students’ Union of NSCAD. “Many students make ends meet by finding daytime jobs and completing school work in the studios at night.”
NSCAD students currently have access to all three campuses twenty-four hours a day, seven days per week, but if these controversial budget cuts are passed, the school will close from 11:30 PM – 7 AM. This particular cut represents less than 1 per cent of the university’s total costs.
The proposed budget also suggests a reduction to hours of operation of the university’s library. In addition to negatively impacting the ability of students to do required research and academic course work, the proposed cuts would eliminate some of the Student Assistant positions at the library, some of the only jobs available to students on campus. Full-time tuition fees at NSCAD are over $ 5600.00 a year, higher than any other post-secondary art institution in Canada.
“For what amounts to little more than pennies in the university’s budget, these proposed cuts will drastically reduce the quality of education at NSCAD,” says Davidson. “It’s concerning that the university has chosen to push these through without any meaningful consultation with students.”
In addition to the studio-in, students are also collecting petition signatures, encouraging students to write letters to Board members, and organising several events in the lead up to the Board of Governor’s meeting, set to take place on April 30th.
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For more information please contact:
Emily Davidson, SUNSCAD President
Office: 494-8132
Cell: 478-0141
Students’ Union of NSCAD University (SUNSCAD), Local 7 of the Canadian Federation of Students, represents about 1000 craft, design and art students at NSCAD University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
I think that to the community, this issue is really representative of how bureaucracy comes to affect the people in a system... like a school.
I feel positive that the people of Nscad will resist this.
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