First priorities for the Interim President

With the immanent appointment of an Interim President, what are the priorities for this new member of the Art Center community? Fundamentally, we believe that the college needs to set itself on a positive course before the new permanent president arrives. If things seem to be a mess with destructive factionalism, it will be much harder to hire a really great new president. Here are a few specific suggestions for the Interim President. Please add your own.

1. Make a clear statement to the students, faculty, alumni and staff that from now on the college will be more transparent and communicative with them. Start by holding a public forum that explains the current status of the college, and then listens to the concerns of the community.
   
   
2. Immediately spend money on visible improvements to the educational environment - these should be things that students and faculty experience as part of the day-to-day educational experience.
   
   
3. Embark on a comprehensive review of spending with an eye towards focusing the school's budget on high quality education and recruitment, and the elimination of high-cost, low benefit spending and staff.
   
   
4. Engage education (faculty, students, chairs, alumni) to initiate a dialog on art & design education for the 21st Century. How should the evolving role of artists and designers change our curriculum? What college-wide initiatives should there be to modernize education, create strong faculty development, and integrate technology and computing into education?
   

ART CENTER COLLEGE OF DESIGN ANNOUNCES EARLY DEPARTURE OF PRESIDENT RICHARD KOSHALEK

Pasadena, California, September 24, 2008 … The Board of Trustees of Art Center College of
Design announced today that they have reached an agreement with Richard Koshalek allowing
for Mr. Koshalek to be released from his position as president of the College prior to his contract
term date (December 2009). With this agreement, Mr. Koshalek’s departure from the College’s
Board of Trustees is effective immediately.

“We honor Richard’s request to leave early and want to thank him for the hard work and
dedication he has shown over the past nine years,” said John Puerner, Chairman, Board of
Trustees, Art Center College of Design. “Richard’s commitment to educational excellence and
the value of design education in the world is truly noteworthy, and we wish him all the best in his future endeavors.”

“It has been a great privilege to lead this important institution and to work with the College’s
talented students, faculty and staff,” said Mr. Koshalek. “Throughout its history, Art Center has
been a leader in art and design education, and I have no doubt this will continue to be the case
well into the future.”

While the Board of Trustees has already launched the search for a new president, they have
recognized the need to appoint an interim president as soon as possible. Meanwhile, the
College’s senior management team will report directly to the Board of Trustees.
“The trustees are moving swiftly to secure interim leadership to ensure a smooth transition,” said Mr. Puerner. “This will also enable the search committee to focus their full attention on finding a permanent president who can lead Art Center into the future while meeting the
curricular and programmatic needs of our students.”

The presidential search committee, which was organized several months ago, is headed by
Trustee Robert Davidson and is comprised of a broad representation of key Art Center
stakeholders, including trustees, faculty members, students, and administration. The committee
has begun working on identifying the qualities the College will seek in candidates for the
presidency, including a strong track record of successful leadership in the academic world or in
industry, a deep understanding and appreciation of design and the creative process, and the
ability to articulate and implement a strong strategic vision for Art Center.

Where is the Board, Where is Hafermaas? Where is the Leadership?

Art Center is adrift and our supposed leadership is failing us. It has been 2 1/2 months since the Board announced that RK would not have his contract renewed, and they have been basically silent ever since. Nik Hafermaas has been the Acting CAO for more than a month, and almost nothing has happened from his office, not even a statement of what his direction will be, or how he will engage the campus community to implement changes.

There are serious issues pending: A new president needs to be hired, the financial health of the school, poor scholarships & high tuition, a lack of vision in 21st century education, false moves towards sustainability, falling apart facilities, under-spending in education and over spending in other areas, enrollment standards, falling confidence in the companies that hire our graduates, over-crowding, low faculty/staff moral, poor governance system, and a terrible communication tradition. We understand these issues will not be solved overnight, but THERE MUST BE BETTER COMMUNICATION and CLEAR INDICATIONS OF PROGRESS.

Students, faculty, alumni, and staff want to know: What is the school's plan? What changes are being implemented? What is the timeline? 

The leadership of this school needs to show respect for the community it serves. You are responsible for making change happen, and you are responsible for communicating how that change is progressing. God dammit, get moving!

Changes. More coming.

Dear Students, Faculty and Staff:

I would like to share with you a message from Marty Smith (below), who will be leaving his post as Chair, Product Design Department on September 5. Marty has accepted a position at Hong Kong Polytechnic University as Chair Professor of Industrial Design, where he will develop a new program targeted to the international business and design communities.

Marty has been an invaluable member of the Art Center faculty since 1985. He has made extraordinary contributions toward developing Product Design's growing focus on business and entrepreneurship, including the successful international exchange program with INSEAD.

I am also pleased to advise that Karen Hofmann will fill the role of Acting Chair, Product Design, as she did last year during Marty's sabbatical. Thanks to Karen's efforts in developing CMTEL, our focus on design research continues to grow and attract international support and recognition. We look forward to her continued leadership.

Please join me in wishing Marty continued success in this exciting next stage of his career. We hope there will be opportunities for us to keep in touch and even collaborate in the future.


Richard Koshalek
President

Nik Hafermaas / Acting Chief Academic Officer

Dear students, faculty and staff,

I am very pleased to advise that effective immediately, Nik Hafermaas will serve as Acting Chief Academic Officer. This appointment was initiated by Tim Kobe as Chair of the Board of Trustees' Education Committee, and subsequently approved by the Education Committee members. Nik has been an invaluable member of our Education team, especially during this transition period, and we look forward to his continued leadership in placing education as Art Center's highest priority.

Sincerely,

Richard Koshalek
President

What do you think about this appointment?

Top 5 ACCD Issues

A lot has happened in the last couple of months, and many people we talk to feel like there is an unprecedented opportunity for positive change at Art Center. The college is searching for new leadership, the ill-communicated and overambitious DRC is tabled, the college has announced a "Zero Waste Plan", there is a renewed focus on education, scholarships have become a higher priority, and faculty and students are beginning to find their voices. 

Please use this post to state what you feel are the TOP 5 issues that need to be addressed at Art Center. We encourage people to use their real names if possible, and at a minimum to indicate if they are faculty, student, alumni, staff, admin, etc. It is helpful to understand your perspective. Even if you disagreed with the protests and felt the college was already on the right track, this is your opportunity to indicate your priorities for the college.

And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming

Note: The previous "Full Speed Ahead" statement has been revised to more appropriate language. We thank the college for this.

The meeting today with Koshalek and Hafermaas was mostly positive, and indicative of the long term, fundamental changes underway. Koshalek discussed his departure in 18 months, and Hafermaas discussed the education committee and his desire for change, increased transparency, and for a diversity of educational thinking. While some may decry the outpouring of criticism that occurred on the blogs and elsewhere, the essential changes going on would have never happened without that critique. We believe the college is on a new path that has very high potential.

Regarding the DRC and Master Plan, it is now pretty clear that the "full speed ahead" announcement was more an oddly motivated distortion of what's going on, than any indication that the Board is going back on its word to reevaluate the building plans - and all indications are that the DRC is now a dead project. Patricia Oliver, though unnecessarily defensive, indicated in the meeting that it was about the EIR (environmental impact report) being moved ahead. Thanks to Jason for pressing the point - you didn't get an appropriate answer, but in a self-defeating way, it seems difficult for many in the administration to admit mistakes. By the way, there was a very interesting radio broadcast today on KCRW regarding the DRC that included art critic Edward Goldman, LA Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne, and Patricia Oliver.

So we're pushing the previous post and discussion on the Master Plan down the page, and would like everyone to get back to the more urgent task at hand - contributing to the future planning. In particular, please make in-depth comments on the best characteristics of the new President and Provost/CAO. Just saying these people should be Alumni or be able to raise funds does not dig very deep. As a provocation, perhaps comment on the recent and controversial appointment of John Maeda to be the new president of RISD. Was this a good move for them? Is that kind of appointment a good model for us? Why do you think he was appointed? What kind of qualifications does he have? 

Sustainability at Art Center, what can we do?

What does this mean to students, faculty and staff?  Discuss tangible actions Art Center do to show an honest effort to this idea.

• What are things that symbolize sustainability to you (for example, recycling bins)?
• What are actions that people can do individually?
• What are actions Art Center as an institution take?

Criteria for the new President & Provost/CAO?

Comment here on what you think are the top criteria for the new Art Center President and Provost/CAO positions. Be specific. We'll assemble these and forward them to the Board of Trustees.

* Should they come from an educational institution?

* What kind of background should they have?

* What are the top 3 characteristics they should have?

The House that Tink Built

I am gathering letters on students, faculty and alumni's thoughts about ACCD. Not opinions on what is happening now, but their reminiscences of ACCD. Click on the comments to read letters gathered over the last few days, and add yours. We need to go back to the history of Art Center to move forward.

What is the essense of Art Center, and how should it evolve?

To begin the conversation, we invite students, faculty, staff, chairs and alums to comment here about what they think are the essential characteristics of Art Center.  

* What are the essential characteristics?

* Do they apply to all majors? How are they different?

* Looking to the future, how should this character evolve? 

College Governance - Best Practices?

Art Center has always been outside the norm when it comes to its governance structure - I.e. how educational decisions are made. In addition, the education structure has been in continual change for the last 10 years. What do you suggest for how education should be organized?

* What structure do you suggest? Should Art Center follow best practices from other art/design schools?

* How can faculty be better integrated into the educational process?