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Prestigious award to UiA’s music community

CreaTeME at UiA will become a new Centre for Excellence in Education (SFU). UiA’s academic community in popular music has been allocated NOK 38.2 million in funding.

Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts Marit Wergeland, Head of the Department of Popular Music Erik Gunvaldsen, and Rector Sunniva Whittaker are very pleased with the prestigious award. Credit: Damares Stenbakk

Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts Marit Wergeland, Head of the Department of Popular Music Erik Gunvaldsen, and Rector Sunniva Whittaker are very pleased with the prestigious award. Credit: Damares Stenbakk

The new SFU awards were announced by the Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills (HK-dir) on Tuesday 22 November. UiA’s CreaTeME centre at the Faculty of Fine Arts is one of a total of three new centres to be awarded the status this year. Thus, UiA now has two educational communities with SFU status. MatRIC received the status in 2013.

The funding from the Directorate for Higher Education and Skills amounts to NOK 38.2 million over five years from 2023 to 2027. Including funding from the university itself, the centre will receive a total budget of around NOK 78 million in total for the five years.

Prestigious national initiative

The newcomer CreaTeME will promote and further develop the creative use of technology in music education. HK-dir decides which applications are awarded SFU status.

The Norwegian Centres for Excellence in Education is a prestigious scheme for quality development in higher education. The scheme is a national effort to raise the quality and status of higher education in Norway.

UiA’s rector Sunniva Whittaker is proud of the recognition that accompanies the award:

“We are very proud that our academic community in popular music has been awarded this status and are delighted to have a new SFU centre at the university. All credit to them for doing a professional job with this application and managing to highlight the expertise we have here at UiA”, Whittaker says.

This is SFU:

  • Academic communities with the status of Centre for Excellence in Education (SFU) demonstrate excellent quality and innovative practices in education.
  • The scheme was established in 2010 and is managed by the Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills. The scheme is funded by the Ministry of Education. There are 12 centres with SFU status in Norway today.
  • The overall aim of the SFU scheme is to stimulate the development of excellence in higher education.
  • SFU status is awarded for five years at a time, with the option to renew it for a further five years after a midterm evaluation.
    (Source: diku.no)

“Important recognition”

Dean Marit Wergeland at the Faculty of Fine Arts says that the SFU status is very important for the faculty’s further efforts to offer top-quality education. She believes the award is a clear confirmation of the academic community’s leading position both at home and abroad:

“This is excellent news and an important recognition of the academic environment in the field of popular music. Winning the award means that they will have the opportunity to further develop the field, both nationally and internationally”, says Wergeland.

According to Wergeland, SFU status will make it possible for the centre to realise its bold ambitions in close cooperation with the faculty’s partners in fields such as music education, technology and entrepreneurship.

“I am incredibly proud of all those who have worked purposefully for years to make this happen.”

International Hub

Digital technology has changed the way music is created, performed, distributed and consumed. Technology has changed what musical knowledge and skills are needed.

“Some changes were already known, while others are completely new. What they have in common is that we as an educational institution must deal with them, in our research, artistic development and teaching”, says Erik Gunvaldsen who is head of the Department of Popular Music.

The department has for many years facilitated and encouraged the creative use of technology in its music education. The creation of CreaTeME is a natural continuation of these efforts.

“The goal is to become an international hub for the development of artistic and pedagogical use of technology in higher music education”, Gunvaldsen says.

Active student participation

Music students have played an important role working with CreaTeME. Now that the project has been given the green light to proceed, the students will continue to be important contributors.

“In future, the organisation of operations at the centre will become an important task. The centre will be run by a diverse team of managers, including student representatives”, Gunvaldsen says.

CreaTeME will facilitate the active participation of students in developing innovative ways of using technology in teaching.

“The students are our most important motivation, which is why it is both important and right that our students contribute to developing innovative practices and raising the education quality”, Gunvaldsen says.

This is CreaTeME:

  • The project CreaTeME is short for: Creative use of Technology in Music Education.
  • CreaTeME includes the students’ own perspectives and expertise to develop innovative ways of using technology in both creative and educational contexts.
  • The centre has ambitions to create knowledge that will not only be widely disseminated in the field of art education, but also in other fields where technology development has similar consequences.
  • The centre aims to become an international hub for the development of artistic and educational use of technology in higher music education.
  • CreaTeME’s vision is to promote innovative, inclusive, responsive and responsible use of technology in art education.

 

Source: https://www.uia.no/om-uia/fakultet/fakultet-for-kunstfag/createme (Norwegian only)