Restore the UNE Music Department

The University of New England Music Department is located in the C.B. Newling Building on the corner of Mossman and Faulkner Streets. Over time, the rooms allocated to UNE Music have fallen to a state of disrepair. It has become so bad that the University is losing potential students and as a direct consequence, money. Furthermore, the current students and staff have to work and learn in sub-standard rooms with sub-standard facilities.

This has gone on long enough. The staff have tried and requested something be done from UNE’s Facilities and Management Services, but to no avail. It’s only UNE Music’s rooms that are affected, the rooms in which the New England Conservatorium of Music are located have been restored and maintained. This is because NECOM pay ‘rent’ to the University and they in turn, maintain the facilities.

Even though the building is protected by Heritage listing, it can still be restored. What we’re proposing is simple. The rooms and hallways need to be restored to their original splendour; in some places the paint needs touching up, doors need varnishing, curtains need replacing, mould needs removing from the walls and ceiling, the carpets need to be steam cleaned and in places trimmed (for OH&S purposes), and most importantly the cracks in the walls need filling and fixing.

Then, the department needs upgrading to the standard that the Main Campus of UNE can boast; ceiling data projectors and smartboards need to be installed in the main lecture theatres, desktop computers for a student study space and new furniture in some of the rooms, particularly the student common room, lecture theatres and student study space.

All students and staff at UNE have the right to work and learn in a clean and safe environment, with technology of the same standard as each department in the University. The C.B. Newling Campus does not, at present meet those criteria. Each student in UNE Music deserves to study in an environment that is conducive to productive and effective learning. The department of UNE Music deserve to be treated as a part of the institution, because at the moment, we are not.