Farnham university to cut half its journalism courses

Half the journalism courses on offer at the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham are to be axed following government funding cuts.

The university’s BA undergraduate degrees in Motoring Journalism, which claims to be the only one of its kind in the UK, and Leisure Journalism, launched in September 2009, have both been closed to new entrants in the face of financial pressures and low market demand.

Students already on the courses will be able to complete their studies, but those hoping to start in the next academic year have been written to by the university to be informed of the closures and offered a place on an alternative course at the university.

Currently there are no applicants holding offers for the Leisure Journalism course and three people with an offer of a place on the Motoring Journalism course.

The university runs four journalism courses, the other two in Sports Journalism and just Journalism alone. According to a news release on the university website, all four courses were accredited by the Broadcast Journalism Training Council in February.

In a statement today, the university said it was facing "unprecedented financial pressures" following government funding cuts, prompting a review of the courses it offers.

"An outcome of this review was the recommendation that we stop recruiting new students to nine UCA courses for 2011 entry. This decision took a variety of factors into consideration including student demand, applications per place and the size of cohorts."

The statement added that the university is "deeply sympathetic to any inconvenience or distress applicants may now face".

Responding to the news today, BJTC secretary Jim Latham told Journalism.co.uk it is a "short-sighted" move.

"It's shocking that UCA have reached this decision with virtually no consultation with either staff or students. I understand existing students and those expecting to take these courses have been emailed to say they won’t run next year.

"It’s so short-sighted – here we are with clear evidence that specialist courses round the country are taking off, with strong demand and applications – finance, medicine, investigative, sports – and a realisation from many other employment sectors that journalism skills are actually generic, and we have UCA striking off two in which they’re leading the field.

"It’s particularly inexplicable with the motoring journalism course, when I gather two car manufacturers have expressed interest in supporting the course financially. Isn’t this exactly the kind of co-operation which would open up work placements and jobs that our government is trying to encourage."

He added that the BJTC will be writing to the Vice Chancellor of the university to "express our dismay as forcefully as we can".

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