Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Up to 60 students are pursuing the University of Sydney for "deceptive conduct" after it announced plans to merge its Sydney College of the Arts with the faculty of art and design at cross town rival the University of NSW.
Hundreds of students look set to be forced out of the historic, heritage listed Rozelle campus where they had planned on completing their degrees, while the future of staff remains uncertain.
The solicitor representing the students, Thomas McLoughlin, said they would pursue the University of Sydney for allegedly breaching consumer law.
"The Student Representative Council Legal Service has instructions from 60 students regarding the university's breach of section 18 of the Australian Consumer Law. That is, for misleading and deceptive conduct in the course of business," said Mr McLoughlin.
"The legal service will proceed to litigate 60 of those cases in the consumer division of the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal."
A spokeswoman for the University of Sydney said regardless of the final outcome of merger discussions, the university has fulfilled its legal obligations.
The vice-chancellors of both universities have championed the move as an "important step" towards the creation of national centre of artistic excellence that would combine better visual arts education and research outcomes.
But the move has infuriated students, with hundreds of protesters swarming the University of Sydney's quadrangle on Monday accusing the university of deliberate neglect of its Rozelle campus, a former asylum for the mentally ill that houses specialist glasswork facilities and kilns.
"The university has not invested in marketing SCA, but we as SCA students believe SCA has done a brilliant job of staying on top and offering us a high-quality experience despite the neglect," said undergraduate SCA student Jemima Wilson.
"The SCA's ability to maintain enrolments and continue to operate under such conditions is a mark more of its strength, tenacity and excellence than of any manufactured decline."
The merger could leave Sydney with just one arts school, after the ownership of the Darlinghurst jail which houses the National Arts School was transferred to the NSW Property, the division responsible for identifying state-owned property for sale.
It is understood NAS, UNSW and the University of Sydney have been in discussions about creating a super-arts campus, with NAS' director Michael Snelling telling Fairfax Media "it's on the cards."
