Note: The previous "Full Speed Ahead" statement has been revised to more appropriate language. We thank the college for this.
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?
95 comments:
What I heard from the meeting is that the 400 student increase was not addressed at all. That is indeed a huge issue and I am surprised the administration is still pushing on it since we lack already the resources to deal with the current student body size.
Not to mention that of those 400 students 80% will end up in the illustration department further straining our already thin infrastructure.
"Discontent is the first step in the progress of a man or a nation." Oscar Wilde
I was at Serious Play when John Maeda was a speaker. He seemed like a very affable person with a sense of humor and a genuine love for art and design.
He seems to think that interaction with the students is a positive thing:
http://www.risd.edu/president/index.html
According to the link above, the RISD Presidential Search Committee was "comprised of an extremely committed group of students, staff, faculty, and trustees — bringing all their unique perspectives to the table."
I'm quite jealous of RISD at this point.. of their endowment, president, housing, campus, and student life.
But, I don't have much of an in-depth opinion on what kind of president would be best. I like the idea of an ACCD Presidential Search Committee though, but somehow, I don't see the Board of Trustees as willing in letting students, faculty, and staff to be part of the search.
One thing that is encouraging about John Maeda is that he shows appreciation of various kinds of design. He has also written very positively about what it's like to work in a Frank Gehry building at M.I.T. Imagine that! He is not afraid, but in fact embraces the work of a major architect. It's not rocket science, but just that makes him seem more open-minded than many who have been speaking out at Art Center.
To 7/2/08 1:07 AM
The whole point to the action taken by the student body was to put education first rather than architecture. It was not Gehry, it was the resources spent on building a structure that was going to benefit future students, but the present was being ignored. I don't know too many students that would sacrifice their education and money on a building that might appear in five to ten years.
Our next president should be able to understand the mechanics of design, that it is the interaction between instructor and student that begins the lesson. We need to foster an environment that in fourteen weeks, a student can mature in their understanding of art and design.
What came out of this was open communication. If you don't ask what the students want, you can't build for them. You can say that "we did and that was the DRC", if you did, then why all the noise?
Now is the time to walk amongst the students and to listen. They pay your salary and pension benefits. A great president walks amongst his/her constituents and listens.
Richard Koshalek is now listening and doing a great job of building bridges once again with the students. The job is not quite done, but I commend him on his efforts to listen.
"We need not fear the expression of ideas—we do need to fear their suppression." JFK
ophelia
discovolante,
I understand your concerns. Long-term planning documents filed with the city are not on-the-ground short-term planning. The number 400 was a way to keep our options open in the future--IF we want to expand. That's all. Please don't let the current wave of paranoia tell you otherwise.
Anonymous 7/2/08 6:56 AM
Anonymous 7/2/08 1:07 AM
"current wave paranoia"
"more open-minded than many who have been speaking out at Art Center."
"He is not afraid, but in fact embraces the work of a major architect."
We are willing to listen to the reasons why behind the zoning. Are you willing to explain? Paranoid? We are not afraid of bodily harm, what we are afraid of is the decline in education. It is not the number of another 400 students that gives us pause but the fact that ACCD can barely serve the present number.
Ophelia
# Q2: In a bulletin released recently we were told that students in the Advertising Department who are graduating this year would not be prepared for the job market. Why is that?
# Nik and Richard both said that during the past five years, the industry has changed very quickly and that, in all departments, Art Center is working hard to stay in touch with the industry as it changes. This is crucial to remaining relevant to students and industry."
This seriously concerns me.... I am paying $15K a term, which is top dollar right now, for something that isn't even up to date???
This is completely unacceptable.
That list of questions was a bunch of softballs. Essentially a "canned" list of questions that could not fluster anyone.
Quite pretending to matter, ACSG.
To 7/2/08 11:40 AM
The ACSG has been at the forefront and represented the student body to the Board and to the administration.
The problems at ACCD have been brewing for a few years now, and it was only the convergence of Nathan's blog, Richard Koshalek's contract, Nate Young's resignation and the beauty of the internet it has come to a head, and it had to be dealt with or implode the college.
The ACSG stepped up and managed a crisis no one expected to deal with when they chose to run for the council.
Richard Koshalek has shown that he can respond to the students' demands. We are all making steps forward. This is a very large organism that does not move as quickly as most would want, but it does move.
I would suggest that if you have questions, to stop by Richard Koshalek's office and ask or leave a note, he has shown that he wants to listen. Speak up if you feel no one speaks for you.
Ophelia
Richard can read right here that the official Art Center Forum discussion area is only publishing "certain" questions, and leaving "tough' ones to go not only unanswered, but unposted.
Anonymous 7/2/08 6:56 AM
I think that you are assuming that I am clueless. I see the effects of overpopulation in the school firsthand. I hardly think it is a case of paranoia. Adding 400 more students even as an option is not the way to go. Quite frankly it requires even more drastic and faster solutions to expand which inevitably come out of our pockets, the students( I am not going to argue about this).
Ophelia has it correct we cannot support an even further increase in the student body because we are barely working right now.
Not to mention that illustration gets most of that influx. There have been no decisive solutions to face the problem of overcrowding in the short term and it is impacting education of me and my fellow students negatively.
Leaks Are To Be Forgiven
Architects are not plumbers.
While MIT is busily suing Frank Gehry for issues regarding the nearby Stata Center, it gave me an opportunity to examine our own building here at the Media Lab. Indeed it's now an old building (20+ years), but in its time it was a true representation of Modern as a perfect white cube.
I was an undergrad when the Media Lab's building had just come up and was then nicknamed "the bathroom building" due to the large square white tiles that cover the exterior (and interior) of the building. Today, everytime I walk into the building, deep down inside I have a desire to hose down the entire exterior as the white tiles are now somewhat dingy like a questionable shower stall. And although the lawsuit wrt the Stata Center lists one of the issues as leaking due to inherent design flaws ... I have to say that my own office leaks every time it rains. Let's not forget that I'm in a perfectly cubic building and not within the swoopy and crumpled confines of Stata. You do the math.
So, as my alma mater and employer MIT engages in suing an architectural legend and icon, I can't help but feel it's sort of like suing Picasso for a bad painting or else like suing Paul Rand for a bad logo design. It's sort of embarrassing from my perspective as a creative really. Sure I get the whole business perspective and all ... but there isn't a single day when I see people photographing the Stata Center due to its incredibly interesting and innovative forms/moments. Innovation is by nature a risky business -- it's something I learned from MIT.
I recall the famous story of how Frank Lloyd Wright was telephoned by an angry client regarding his complaint that the home Wright had designed would leak when it rains. Wright replied to the effect, "Well then just step out of the way of the leak and you won't get wet."
Regarding the leak in my own office, I've learned how to move the electrical items away from the downpour and have managed to do just fine. IM Pei doesn't have to call his lawyer, yet (smile).
Posted by maeda at November 11, 2007 04:57 PM
Thoughts On Simplicity By John Maeda
Ophelia said:
Richard Koshalek has shown that he can respond to the students' demands. We are all making steps forward ... I would suggest that if you have questions, to stop by Richard Koshalek's office and ask or leave a note, he has shown that he wants to listen.
Sorry to be the cynic -- because you are right, Ophelia, we have made great strides over the last several difficult weeks.
However, Richard Koshalek has a couple of future options he can decide to play as events unfold. And he has nothing to lose for either, by playing the contrite and reformed education-first president.
First option, by playing nice he keeps the trustees at bay, and they don't rush in to buy out his contract and force him to leave early -- thus giving him a full 18 months to enjoy the expense account and campaign for his next gig.
Second option, by playing nice he de-escalates the local criticism of his earlier priorities, and slowly rehabilitates his reputation. (I can hear it now..."He's not such a bad guy after all, in fact he's always been about education, just misunderstood. And -- now, what was it we didn't like about a Gehry building...?") Six months down the road, maybe the search for a new president isn't going so well -- and since all is forgiven and the critics disarmed, maybe a few trustees have voter-regret and decide to change their minds. He really did deserve a few more years, after all. What has been done, can be un-done.
So, yes -- let's move forward. But let's also not forget. We need to hold the trustees accountable for moving the search process forward post-haste. I think an issue-category on the Future of Art Center website, with accompanying discussion, should be about the trustees' new obligation to the presidential search, and hold them accountable for making tangible progress starting immediately.
Meanwhile, the importance of respecting our need to work productively together notwithstanding, I would regard the current president's "conversion" with a dose of healthy skepticism.
Cross post with Nathan's blog:
FOAC, Ophelia and others,
I appreciate all the work that has gone into making the blog at http://futureofartcenter.blogspot.com/.
But, I want you to be aware that you have lost contact and continuity with many activist alumni, staff, and students.
On the FOAC blog The segmentation of the conversation into many topics , split from Nathan's original post has dropped a large portion of the audience. What used to take 2-3 minutes to check for updates now takes 15-20. My own informal survey indicates that about 3/4 of the people that were participating or at least reading either don't visit FOAC or don't know what threads to review when they get here.
We have divided ourselves across Nathan’s blog, the petition (which now has 1500 signatures), The Art Center Forum, and FOAC. FOAC is designed for advanced users not casual participants. Where would you suggest we focus our attention? Perhaps a top line general conversation topic on FOAC could help. Or lets return to making Nathan’s blog the central communication point.
From my perspective the Education First movement is losing ground VERY quickly. The hardest part of this movement is still coming. We need to keep the activist community connected.
I believe that we should all be less concerned about maintaining an activist comunity with a singular mindset. Now is the time for a deep dialogue about the full range of issues. We need a place where all voices feel comfortable participating. We need to get away from overly simplistic us v. them argumentation. These things are complicated!
I think it's a waste of time trying to strongarm Koshalek into ... I don't know what? Massive change? In 18 months? Let's get pragmatic here and focus on the things we can really impact, like the future of the school.
Thank you, FOAC, for trying to raise the discussion to a more productive level.
Alas, the wallshaveyes has written:
the Education First movement is losing ground VERY quickly
What does this tell us? Now IS the time for the hard and complicated work. Now IS the time for doing more than hitting the "publish" or "submit" button from afar.
Now is the time to support your faculty and dept. chairs. They are the ones who (continue to) work overtime to guarantee a future of art center that puts education first! Students and alumni--if you want to continue the hard work, contact your department chairs or talk to your favorite faculty member to see if there are committees you can join or research you can do or events you can organize to help work with the educational leadership of the school to create a future of creative diversity and global leadership for the school (not to mention a darn good education in well-maintained facilities!). Alternatively, get involved with the ACSG to see what they are up to.
Now is the time for work in the real world--face-to-face with real people.
We are not losing ground. I and others are still there face to face with students, alumni, faculty and the Linda Vista Homeowners.
Now it is time to start writing letters, phone calls, have small meetings.
The DRC is on hold. Fundraising will be focused on Endowment, Scholarships and the Annual Fund. Upgrades to the Elwood will now get the attention it needs. Railings on the bridge are weak, and one broke last week under a student when they were leaning on it to do the Egg Drop.
7/3/08 7:32 AM you are right, now is the time to get past "commenting", now is the time for action.
Ophelia
Hey, since Haluschak has now admitted that 2/3 of all Art Center scholarships are funded with TUITION money, how about concentrating on the true "cost" of attending Art Center. Clearly a tuition roll-back is possible.
What Haluschak failed to comment on is just how many students are on scholarships. I think most of you would be astounded at the high number. With that many students on scholarship, it demonstrates that Art Center doesn't dole them out to reward academic achievement, but rather to keep everyone in-line.
When you hand a steep discount coupon to the patrons of a restaurant, and they are all sitting in the dining room, they are more hesitant to complain about the slow service.
Make Art Center cost what it is supposed to cost. Lower the tuition.
Mark it up to mark it down.
Simple concept. Department stores do this all the time. It's called "Manufacturer's Suggestes Retail Price".
MSRP at Art Center $15,110 for 2009.
The wallshaveeyes has good point there is not a umbrella statement of purpose which the petition had served.
I can say with some certainty that it is not clear what the next goal is from the students point of view. Some of the concerns brought to the board by the student government have been addressed. I have been told from several sources that the the DRC is at a 100% stand still and all fund raising efforts are directed at current scholarships and the endowment.
I think we need a common goal to focus on again. By reading through the posts and petition we can find what people care about the most. I think that work is almost already done but a summary and quantitative display of most relevant issues information would make persuasion for change stronger.
I would suggest pushing for greater alumni representation on the board. If the board actions in the past has been to primarily to vote to raise tuition as Richard stated then they are severely disconnected from the needs todays students.
Second is the proportion of administrative staff to students issue which is a problem at the root. I think this is why a decrease in enrollment of 5% has become such a severe issue.
Just throwing ideas out the perhaps we can setup a online survey to go out to the alumni to determine which issues should will have the most impact
There are many issues that are important so this will be difficult to focus on a few.
Thanks for reading,
Jason Nicholas Hill
P.S. I've heard that Jason C. Hill the faculty has been getting phone calls regarding his posts on the blog. I would just like to mention that I am a current student and I apologize for the confusion.
What I want to know is why ACCD spent $2,345,562. on fundraising in 2006, and how much did they raise?
What I want to know is why ACCD spent $1,025,459. on an outside Graphic Design service when we are a design college? This is the same year Radical Craft was produced. If ACCD wanted the world to come and see the college, why are are not using student work? Or alumni?
I know there must be some explanation, and I am willing to hear it.
Ophelia
ophelia,
What do you mean with your reference to Linda Vista homeowners?
RISD catalog: inhouse collaboration
What I want to know is why ACCD spent $1,025,459. on an outside Graphic Design service when we are a design college? This is the same year Radical Craft was produced. If ACCD wanted the world to come and see the college, why are are not using student work? Or alumni?
This is incredibly puzzling. Do Art Center admins and board members not believe in products produced by their own their own students?
If that number involves the printing costs, then that is different but those are not $1m+ catalogs...
2006 Printing costs:
Typecraft $391,325
So that leaves about $600K that could have been done by the students, faculty and Alums for almost FREE and that money could be used to fix broken railings (safety issue) and new equipment or other improvments? Plus, showcasing STUDENT work and showing what this school is all about??
Is Art Center embarrassed by its own product?
There is some really wacky money management going here....
no, the printing costs is not part of the $1,025,459 design fee.
the printing cost is separate.
so it is on top of the design fee.
Oh you just wait. Wait until you start asking questions about the specifics of travel.
Ask them what hotels they stay at, and what class levels they fly at when traveling to these conferences.
I'd be willing to give up almost every other point of contention I have with Art Center if I could just see them re-invent the methodology by which they spend money.
Art Center spends money recklessly. They have for decades. Your money is squandered on a whole bunch of stuff that you'd be aghast at.
Art Center censors their blog's discussion forum. Here is an example of a question submitted last Friday:
"#6
Joseph:
Your comment is awaiting moderation. June 27th, 2008 at 8:17 am
What checks and balances are in place to ensure that scholarship money is allocated in a fair manner? How come there is no transparency in regards to the awarding process? How come certain “favorites” within departments seem to “rack-up” scholarship awards, despite lower academic performance than others who might be just as needy?
How do you ensure fairness?"
Obviously, other questions have been posted (and answered) since the 27th.
I would like to ask everyone to go back and copy the questions you may have posted and show us here how they have been purposely ignored. I suspect this has happened plenty of times.
Softballs are being thrown and passed off as the "tough" questions. The real tough questions have yet to be publicly acknowledged.
To What do you mean with your reference to Linda Vista homeowners?
7/3/08 8:30 AM
you can email me for more information
opheliac@mac.com
The statement that used to say "full speed ahead" has been revised to more appropriate language. Thanks to the college for correcting this and recognizing the community's concern over this issue:
http://www.artcenter.edu/forum/announcements.php
*** REVISED 7/2/08 ***
Art Center College of Design Confirms Commitment to College’s Hilllside Master Plan Zoning Application
Design and Construction of Specific Buildings Will Require
Further Board and City Approvals
Pasadena, California, July 2, 2008 – Art Center College of Design’s Board of Trustees today confirmed its commitment to going forward with its pending application to obtain zoning in Pasadena for its Hillside Campus Master Plan.
The Master Plan represents Art Center’s long range vision over the next 25 years. Zoning approval will allow Art Center to plan for upgrading existing facilities, incorporating new technologies, and accommodating new approaches to design education that are essential to ensuring its competitive edge as a leading educational institution.
The Master Plan application is one step in a long term process that will provide the parameters for the future design of proposed new development on the campus.
Art Center College of Design (www.artcenter.edu) is a global leader in art and design education. Since its founding in 1930, Art Center’s alumni continue to have a profound impact on culture, lifestyle, and important issues in society. Art Center offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in a wide variety of art and design disciplines, as well as public programs for all ages and levels of experience.
Ophelia Chong said..."no, the printing costs is not part of the $1,025,459 design fee.
the printing cost is separate.
so it is on top of the design fee."
Pay me $1,000,000 and I will design them some really cool shit. Pay me half that I and I will still come up with some neat stuff...
Hell, I am willing to PAY $100,000 to go there to learn how to design cool stuff!
Looks like the internet is holding Art Center's feet to the fire...
I am sure I am jeopardizing any scholarships or whatnot by speaking out here....and I have not even set foot in my first class yet! What do I have to lose at this point besides something that is not what I thought it was?
-Dylan
Regarding the issues wallshaveeyes, Jason, and Ophelia have brought up, I agree that some momentum among students has been lost. After all, it is week 8, and many goals have been achieved or are in the process of being achieved. A few points:
* The DRC seems to be dead. The college just announced a Zero Waste Plan. There is a new focus on scholarships. There is a very strong movement to enhance education, driven by education. The faculty council is becoming more active. And the entire leadership of the college is being replaced.
* There is much work still to be accomplished, and much of it requires much more detailed action and thinking that may not work as well in an online format.
* How about if we create a new post that is something like: The top 5 issues that still need to change at Art Center? Maybe ask that people state their 5 issues in terms of their position - i.e. from a student perspective, from a faculty perspective, etc. This way there will be more specificity. Let us know what you think.
One other point. In addition to alumni being represented on the board, how about faculty? The issue of faculty representation and stability is critical for the future.
Also, even though not as many people are posting, this site is getting around 250 unique visitors every day, and yesterday 150 of those were first time visitors. So people are checking in to see what's going on.
FOAC, Ophelia and others,
When I mentioned that we have lost some connection with the community I did not mean to sound unappreciative or disrespectful of the work you are doing. The FOAC site is serving an important purpose and Ophelia I am well aware of the time you are putting in. But I have encountered what I consider to be important activists and contributors who are disoriented by the current information architecture
I agree that we have many different perspectives and issues to serve. We also have 1500 people that signed a petition for a limited and focused set of issues. From my position on the ground we have less success than it appears. We will need an integrated activist community again soon.
Part of the $1M+ in graphic design fees could be going to Matsumoto, Inc, headed by Art Center alum Takaaki Matsumoto. They design the catalog and other major works for Art Center.
Current ACCD students would be an incredible talent pool to tap into. Remember, however, that students are pretty busy being, well, students. Their schedules revolve around class assignments. When push comes to shove, they may need to give priority to their class assignments, not an ACCD project.
Does anyone know many board members have resigned during Richard's time and particularly since the recent press.
Mr. Kobe is leading the education task force has been a strong supporter of Dr. Koshalek from the very begining. Correct? Is there anyone n the education task force who signed the Education First Petition? Has he displayed objectivity in the past? According to Richard Koshalek's statement Tuesday if he is a trustee he only voted to raise tuition over the years.
My vote is for a Student, Faculty and Alumni Bill of Rights and hire an outside Consultant to come in and examine the ledger over the last nine years.
Regarding Art Center's budgeting process: it's inefficient. They use a government-style budgeting process. That is, it's use it or lose it. There's little incentive to save money because next year's budget is affected by this year's spending. If the full budget isn't spent, then it's assumed that that money won't be needed next year. So departments have an incentive to spend their budget, even if it might not make sense, so as to preserve their budget for next year. Using a zero-based budgeting process would mean that departments would have to justify the right amount of budget each year, depending on what they expected to accomplish. As it is, they rationalize what they spent this year as an expectation for next year, which may not make sense.
to 7/3/08 10:54 PM
You are right, students would be hard pressed for time to design, but an inhouse design dept. with a bigger budget and with the access to students could collaborate. And Mr. Matsumoto did attend ACCD. And the entire $1,025,459 went to his firm.
Ophelia
The next few weeks....
ACCD is like a dysfunctional family. Eventually through a lot of open communication, we will be able to sit down and have a turkey without reaching for the butter knife and lunging at each other.
We all carry our own agendas which are shaded by our own experiences and those agendas never match up to anyone else's. How we make our way through this will be through talking and letting down that guard just a tiny bit. With each small step, we will be further ahead.
Ophelia
If designing the schools literature and press pieces, then it can be a part of the school as much as anything else.
This can involve every single department in Art Center and can foster a collective project that embodies the spirit of the people that are attending.
Who is better to understand, 6,7,and 8th term students or an outside agency??
Kinda like a University that researches as well as teaches. Some of the best discoveries are made by students with fresh eyes and ideas. Make this a PART of the design education, not another ridiculous expense.
An outside agency headed by an alum could do a fine job.
click on Link
Art Center plan for expansion stirs confusion
My impression is that our planning office is obsessed with architecture disguised as facilities. All of their projects have and will increase maintenance costs and only generate revenue from digging in students pockets.
What I don't get is that no one is questioning their reasons for building the student housing. They have yet to prove that they understands students needs with their building projects. The school is on the verge of turning over their second most valuable piece of terrain after the hillside campus to a developer to build new loft style apts. The developer handles all the maintenance cost for the first 20+ years and during that time the students will be borrowing money to pay for that too.
The students who really need student housing do not rent newly constructed loft style apts. This is essentially subsidizing students with their own money.
That land could generate hundreds of millions of dollars for the endowment if utilized correctly over the next fifty years.
I attended the meeting and found the tone to be relatively conciliatory although somewhat condescending regarding the 'alternative' blog sites such as this one.
I think it's very hard to define who we want, because regardless I there is still going to be a certain amount of disagreement on who to choose, because you can't make everybody happy.
I would though also like to see a president with a background in being a designer or artist.
The greatest problem facing us now is communication. We must swap aside the arrows of cynical criticism fired on both sides to
work now towards common goals and grounds.
I doubt seriously that the board will include a faculty or student representative. It takes time to find a replacement as it is, and we must be patient with this process.
http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/ci_9798920?source=rss_viewed
Oh, ok -- Star News article about "confusion." Iris Gelt is contacted, and THAT's why she changed the "full speed ahead" headline -- because she found out the uproar her misleading hype-release had caused was about to go public...
Jason wrote:
"Mr. Kobe is leading the education task force has been a strong supporter of Dr. Koshalek from the very begining. Correct? Is there anyone n the education task force who signed the Education First Petition? Has he displayed objectivity in the past?"
Actually, Jason, Mr. Kobe signed the "honesty first" counter-petition supported by Patricia Oliver and other supporters of the DRC. "Objective" is the last word I'd ever use to describe him.
Isn't it nice how we're all eating turkey together?
W. Lee said:
"I doubt seriously that the board will include a faculty or student representative."
Actually, the board of trustees used to have a faculty member that was essentially a long-standing tradition. And then, one time, that faculty member went against the grain of the board, and the board removed not only the faculty member, but also the future of faculty representation.
Petty board politics.
"And Mr. Matsumoto did attend ACCD. And the entire $1,025,459 went to his firm."
If you have seen the size of Matsumoto's studio (I have), you'd find this dollar amount to be rather high. I'd be willing to bet that it is his biggest dollar client (by a factor of at least 10). Matsumoto is not a big firm.
I think that this is a situation where the invoices should be publicly examined. What work did he do, and what was his hourly billable rate?
Really, I'd like to know.
Back to the Art Center Blog:
Your comment is awaiting moderation. June 27th, 2008 at 8:17 am
Still waiting for Art Center to post the question. But they'll never do it.
"If you have seen the size of Matsumoto's studio (I have), you'd find this dollar amount to be rather high. I'd be willing to bet that it is his biggest dollar client (by a factor of at least 10). Matsumoto is not a big firm.
I think that this is a situation where the invoices should be publicly examined. What work did he do, and what was his hourly billable rate?
Really, I'd like to know."
Note that Matsumoto is Koshalek's pick, as of about 2004, I believe. Matsumoto has designed Art Center's identity (logo and stationery), the catalogs, and all other major publications. Previously, these publications were created by Art Center's inhouse design office. I leave it to the Art Center community to evaluate Matsumoto's work and its worth.
Not the work. The expense.
I leave it to the Art Center community to evaluate the value of what was delivered. A million dollars for a years worth of design work? That's a design fee of $525.00 per hour. And that is assuming 2000 full hours of time was spent. Even an "expensive" design firm in New York utilizes a billing rate closer to $250 per hour.
Really, I'd like this examined.
Rebeca Mendez was one of the best designers at ACCD. Her work was phenomenal.
She was. And Art Center got great value out of her tenure. She also was able to utilize that tenure to give her the credibility to eventually open her own design practice.
But a million bucks? I'd like to see what projects could have added up to a million dollars for a teeny design firm in Manhattan.
This is really hilarious.
Now let's play Attack Each Other! Start with Ophelia, then move to Takaaki Matsumoto, then to Nathan Cook! It's all in the Art Center family. Let everyone eat turkey.
As for "back to our regularly scheduled programming," it seems that more research is needed about what a Board of Trustees does and what the responsibilities of a Trustee are.
Because the primary role is fiduciary, a faculty member mostly likely couldn't cut it. In the past, when there were faculty and student reps. on the board, Art Center didn't act like other institutions. John Puerner, the current chair, brought it up to a more standard level of governance, for what's that worth.
It's unlikely that this blog will change the future make-up of the board. It could greatly influence the selection of the President and the CAO. In IMO, that's where the "discontent" should go and make a positive change.
I think the board will select who they wish to select. But first, they might threw a few hundred thou' out to a "consultant friend" to help them find somebody. All part of being well-connected at that level. It is not their money, and they can spend it with "near" impunity.
They have historicaly discussed and acted in total secrecy, and I have no reason to believe they will behave differently in this case.
"But a million bucks? I'd like to see what projects could have added up to a million dollars for a teeny design firm in Manhattan."
It's possible that the million dollars also includes travel expenses for Takaaki to periodically visit Art Center. Even with the benefits of modern technology, it's a bit ineffecient and expensive for a non-profit to have an outside design firm in NY and an in-house design office in Pasadena. I hope everyone at Art Center loves that new logo.
New logo, what new logo. I think every president has designed a new logo. The one that was designed for the Alumni Council's Outer Circle was donated to the school. The admin didn't like it but after it won awards, they warmed to it.
Dennis
Dennis,
The new logo is the old logo. Does that make sense?
The next time someone wants to go "retro" on the logo, here's how you do it:
1) Red dot.
2) Set type to "Akzidenz Grotesque"
For 80's retro, do a hand modification of Future Extra Bold.
In either case, both (by now) should be in .eps form, so there should be no reason to spend a million bucks again.
This is a great comment "I'm willing to bet that I have given a larger percentage of my net worth to Art Center than any current board member."
This is about money, the students money to be precise. This makes it a ethical issue for a student myself like myself.
This character assassination stuff makes me laugh. The leadership takes the blame on this 100%. They publicly told the lies, silenced the faculty and have no action to back up their vision of a sustainable education initiative.
Personally my education has been good but too expensive.
I shouldn't have to hemorrhage money for the next 20 years to fund starchitect projects.
Projects in which people in the tech facilities and library have not even been asked what is needed. Once again ACCD fails to practice what it preaches.
I can't wait to get out of here and never give another dime to this place.
"I can't wait to get out of here and never give another dime to this place."
Perhaps the most valuable thing the board could do in regards to turning this trend around (and it IS an ongoing trend) is by sitting down and really listening to what upsets students. But that is not what the board is into doing. They have their ideas and they have hired the people who will bring those ideas to fruition. In their mind, Art Center is accountable to Art Center, not students, not alumni and not faculty (who in my opinion ARE Art Center).
When was the last time a board member met with students? Or attended a grad show?
If you are interested in seeing the work of Graduating Students please attend the next Grad Show. Alumni, if you haven't been back, now is a great time to show your support of the grads, to pick up postcard samples of their work and maybe even offer some sage advice.
Thursday August 14, 2008
5-9pm Preview of Summer Graduating Students' Work
9 - 10:30pm Graduation Preview Reception
Call 626.396.2435 to reserve your place by Monday August 11, 2008
On the subject of building alumni population that wants to give back:
The first ACCD message we encounter as students is that our success depends on the quality of our work, period. So work harder than you've ever worked because there are not tons of opportunities and you need to be the best to succeed. The truth is that both great work and network are important and unfortunately many students look at their peers as competition which builds a rigorous work ethic. Art Center is a very isolating educational experience by design.
I find it a hard sell that socializing and mentoring events would translate into future alumni donations in unless the alumni are treated royally and the students feel as though they are are being given something of value.
What does that mean? If ACCD was smart it would guilt students and alumni into giving back to the school. Art Center has proven to generations of students and alumni it only knows how to take.
Perceptions can be changed without handing out scholarships.
A executive education program in which business professionals can come learn about design would cast a larger net, But would Art Center make them feel as thought they are being ripped off as well.
Sorry to sound so cynical but the more I learn about the way things happen in this school the more cynical I get.
Jason wrote on Nathan's blog:
"The ACCD community forum has ignored important questions and the culture of fear is alive and well among faculty. Even if the administration states that open discussion is possible the trust was lost when they fired Rachael for responding to students concerns about the departure of Nate Young."
What are you prepared to DO about it Jason? That's always the big catch. The issues are clear, but the resolve of people to react is far less clear.
The answer lies in why you are anonymous?
Figure out how you can communicate and be a credible source because the anon. won't cut it. This is your greatest weakness and has wasted several students time.
Why don't you start a petition to get faculty rights like tenure and tenured faculty voting rights. ( I might even do it over the break if I'm encouraged by enough faculty.)
Does the faculty council know that they have limited rights by comparison to other schools?
The students have gone above and beyond their responsibilities.
It's time for the leadership of the school to lead. But until the task forces release their minutes or address the student population we can assume anything or nothing is happening.
I'm active beyond this blog to influence the lines of communication between the board and the school, are you?
Are the anon. people on this blog organized? Have they issued any statements to anyone at the school? What are you doing? It the blog just serving as a place to vent and pour energy into it without tangible results.
Jason,
I myself wrote to numerous board members about these kinds of issues. And guess how many acknowledgements (forget reactions) I received from them? Zero. That's right, not one of them wrote back saying "thanks for stating your opinion". Essentially it was the same as saying "drop dead". The message from the board is quite clear. Leave them alone, for they do not wish to be bothered with the opinions of alumni and students.
I'm too far removed from day-to-day life to have any kind of impact. And I have no financial leverage over the school, but you and your fellow students DO.
You can't expect a faculty uprising because, as much as you'd like to think that they are all successful "working professionals" who happen to also teach (due to philanthropy), most actually need every dollar they earn at Art Center. And unfortunately, you can't help rescuse a dog that does not wish to be rescued. You can only speak for yourself. Why concern yourself with the abuses the faculty endures at the hands of ACCD? As a student, you are subjected to the same kind harassment if you bang the drum too hard. What about YOUR rights?
"The students have gone above and beyond their responsibilities."
They may have raised a few issues on their own, but they have done very little to show that they really mean business. The non-renewal of Richard's contract may have even been coincidental to your protest movement. It probably WAS. The victory you think you won may have been due to timing alone. Probably had more to do with the Nate Young power struggle and finances. Board politics have very strong undercurrents that you are not usually able to see.
"But until the task forces release their minutes or address the student population we can assume anything or nothing is happening."
Every time a student uprising happens, a task force is created. That comes from page one of the "how to handle dissention" playbook. Stall until they all tire or graduate. If anyone makes a fuss, accuse them of being negative people. You'll get no report and you'll get no minutes. If you raise a stink, you'll be accused by some blog owners of being negative forces. Ask this aloud: Have any students ON the task forces reported any "meaningful" involvement or movement?
"I'm active beyond this blog to influence the lines of communication between the board and the school, are you?"
I've done my time, and I support you more than you realize. But if you think you are engaged in some kind of meaningful "dialogue" with the school right now, I can assure you that you are not. They may have shifted a few gears or put a few things on hold, but the plan is still the plan. Once you troublemakers move onward, get ready for a funky new building to get put into the sculpture garden.
Anyone remember the tuition uprising with David Brown? The students flooded his office and the tuition hike was delayed for a term. Look at tuition now. Do you think that uprising led to any meaningful change in how business is conducted at Art Center? Because it was not an uprising. It was just a message.
If you really want to show that you are serious about education at Art Center, you'll all take next semester off. Only then will Art Center truly take you seriously.
Here is an interesting point that is rarely discussed:
At many colleges, alumni giving is so regular and significant that the schools actually come to count on the money they get. They plan for it.
Art Center has come to expect virtually nothing back from its alumni as far as giving. Would they like more? Sure. Do they ask for it? Sure. But have they ever sat down in a conference room and tried to figure out the larger reasons for the lack of alumni gifts? Probably not. Because they already know the answer. Alumni are, for the most part, fully alienated from Art Center.
The task force that is needed above all others is the one titled "How do we de-alienate the alumni"
In answer to 7/30/08 2:17 PM:
Yes we have discussed Alumni giving ad infinitum. And the reasons why they don't give back. For one, don't compare ACCD to Harvard, UCLA, USC. We don't have the same numbers, we are an art college. A small art college. Plus students graduating carry a heavy debt load, and are only beginning to get onto their feet.
The median income for an Ivy league graduate at mid career is $130k.
Are the majority of ACCD grads making that?
Giving has to begin at the student level, not the student giving, but the college giving back to the student. How? Assistance, social networking, better maintained classrooms, an environment where education is the prime objective.
in answer to Anon 7/28/08 1:36 PM :
Many students are taking semesters off, it is not the ACCD of your time (what 1991?) and students are taking off to intern, to learn more about the working world, and to fine tune their portfolios. The college in the old days could look and have a 75% guarantee that the student will attain a BA in 11 terms, now it is down to 50% that the student will go for the BA.
And what does that mean? We are headed for a financial crisis.
So if Jason takes off a term, it will make no difference to the college, it is already struggling with a whole slew of students doing that now.
And Jason can benefit from taking off a term to intern. And save 20K (that includes expenses).
The students see the 6% increase yearly on their tuition, and do they see the benefits? No, only the upper executive level that uses that money to fund conferences and travel to promote their pet projects.
How much did this cost the Education Fund? And if a sponsor covered it, who and how much?
A review of the Barcelona Conference by www.experientia.com
"In short
The event as it happened was not ideal: some of the presenters were not leading their sessions very well, not everyone had valuable ideas to contribute, the match between the theme of disruptive thinking and what was actually being discussed was absent by times, and there was not always a clear sense of direction.
It was clear that the sessions were underrehearsed, if rehearsed at all. Too often people went off on their own tangent, with a presenter unable or unwilling to pull them back on a clear path.
I also wondered afterwards to what extent I actually had heard new things, or whether the things I had heard I couldn’t just as easily have picked up in a book or a good magazine.
The answer is probably yes. But books and magazines are monologues by their nature. This was in concept and execution a series of dialogues. In the beginning of this article I described how this Barcelona event fits into a wider strategy of open collaboration, open communications and social engagement. This is not just a valuable and laudable approach, but also one which is highly relevant and timely in contemporary society. We need more of these initiatives, not less. They have to be fine-tuned and improved, no doubt, but in essence we need dialogues and collaboration between disciplines, between different parts of society, between different regions in the world. The world has become too complex for each of us to figure things out by themselves.
And that is what to me these Global Dialogues are really about.
I also hope that Art Center will deliver on its commitment to continue the conversation online, to have a continuous dialogue. The event blog is now basically dead, and there have been no comments whatsoever on any of the posts that I could find. So probably this is not the right tool - a new one needs to be developed. "
http://www.experientia.com/blog/category/creativity/
I think this is a perfect example of how the school is trying to do more than it can handle.
The school should not have to build a even larger staff to handle such ambitious projects with no direct return on investment unless they have proven that they can build the endowment and stop spending the majority of the interest.
(ART CENTER IS LIKE THAT RELATIVE WHO ALWAYS NEEDS TO BORROW MONEY, ALWAYS PROMISING THEIR SHIP IS COMING IN.)
I can tell you with certainty that the students didn't benefit directly from this Barcelona event and many were not even aware of the 3 design conferences Art Center has hosted.
Please be aware.
Terms off are expensive for people who don't live with their parents and pay their own way.
If you are paying your child's tuition you want them to get out of school asap because the tuition is escalating way beyond the rate of inflation. (6% compounded the past 8 years)
Right now you will not find more than 150 students willing to take a term off or two for this cause. If Richard Koshalek's would have been renewed then this would be different.
The details that drive the decisions are:
More than two terms you lose your pathetic couple thousand dollar scholarship (which over 50% have) and your student loan bills start showing up in your mail box.
Note: Your are allowed 6 months forbearance on a private loan one time only.
Take off more than three terms and you have to re-enroll.
I get the impression that the alumni and faculty feel like the students have a lot of power. They should consider that the risk to exercise this "so called" power is fairly large in the mind of a student.
It would take 400 student to file three consecutive terms off to to reduce the income by 16 million. which is 25% of total tuition revenue. This is conservative because the school get's your money in a number of other ways.
That is a dangerous game though and we can guarantee that Education budget will be the first budget cuts if history proves true.
ahhhhh
back to reality.
no one cares anymore.
too bad the faculty resignations have begun...
Ophelia,
I'm still not sure I understand why ACCD alums don't support the school like alums of other colleges, art or not, do. Even though Harvard, UCLA, etc have more graduates, why isn't the giving proportional? Many graduates of Harvard, UCLA, etc do not have high-paying jobs when they graduate and may also have student loans to contend with. It may take time for a graduate of any college to be in a financially comfortable position to give. So what's different about ACCD alums vs alums of other art/design or other colleges? I'm curious....
I guess I was most resentful of their lack of respect for students in general. I had classmates who were sexually harassed, but could do nothing about it (even though harassment was already long since unacceptable in society). "Star" instructors could get away with murder. "Star students" could take literally whatever courses they wished while the rest were forced to stay within a mercilessly rigid curriculum. Art Center never treated anything with equality, except for one thing:
Money. They hammered you for literally every dime you had. Parking fees, copying fees, printing fees, library fines, you name it. Need to unload a big project for class? Fine, but that parking ticket for parking in the faculty lot for 5 minutes will cost you. Late on your last tuition installment? The yellow slip of paper showed up and you got yanked out of class on the spot. Want to take two terms off in a row? Fine, but we'll be taking that scholarship back from you. Need to take a year off to work or travel? Fine, but you'll need to re-apply (with a portfolio) and who knows, we just might not put you back where you left off.
Want credit for that English class you already took at the University? We'll have to see about that (you know we're known for our writing programs). If you had any ideas about getting out of there in less than 8 full terms, think again. We want our money. All of it.
to 8/8/08 5:12 PM
There are many reasons, the one I see the most is that while at the college you are not given a reason to give back. Why give to a college that only involves you on an individual basis?
ACCD needs to learn to give to the students while they are there.And it would be nice if Student Affairs had the budget to do more for the students. If they cut the travel budget for Erica Clarke by half, they could.
Simply put, if you pet a dog every day, the dog will be by your side every day. If you never pet that dog, once that gate is open, it's gone.
(excuse the dog analogy for students, but it's the best I can come up with on only two cups of coffee)
to 8/11/08 5:26 PM
I have always taken issue with the credit system. If you took English at a college then get a credit. If you have Art History credits from another college than get a pass at ACCD.
We will see soon a system where experience and past degrees will be credited. ACCD cannot afford to have potential students turn away at the cost of having to take classes over again.
Sexual Harassment: Talk to the office of Student Affairs. Action can be taken, you are not powerless.
And as I written earlier, if we could cut travel budgets for executive travel, we could actually fund more student programs.
"I guess I was most resentful of their lack of respect for students in general."
You're dam right!
I just remember being treated like a poorly behaved child during most of my dealings with the school. The staff always seemed to have a slight mood of hostility towards us, be it the photo check-out room, the front office, the accounting office, you name it.
Remember the process for trying to get our schedules changed? They never asked what teacher we wanted for a certain class. They just told us our schedule. Oh fun, three semesters of Saturday class in a row, thanks! I realize that the school is small, and that often there are only 2-3 sections offered for a certain course, but still, we should not have been treated like children.
The marketing material in the catalogue never makes mention of the fact that you will always be treated like you are a captive audience. The school's administrative staff rarely took opportunities to make themselves a friendly force in our lives.
Anytime that I seemed to need something from them, I always had to brace myself in advance for the BS that went with the request. What form will I not have filled out 100% properly and be sent to the back of the line? Do they only deal with these requests on even days? I'm up here on the hill and available now, but for some weird reason, the accounting office does not maintain hours for students on that afternoon. Oh, it's Friday at 3PM? You know better than to ask for anything on the bridge on a Friday. Want to change your schedule? Line up at 6AM (instead of getting an appointment). Dealing with Art Center was an exercise in frustration.
After 2-3 semesters of this, some students start getting the idea that "Hey, things don't really have to be this way" and they start making suggestions to people like the student government, or perhaps they write a letter to the president. And then you learn that the relationship between the Art Center administration and the students is not particularly cordial. The administration views itself as the authority on design education, and simply wants to know if you're serious about studying with them or not. Nothing more. No criticism needed (thanks anyway). If you want a friend, go buy a dog.
to 8/13/08 11:19 AM
How does ACCD fix this? It comes from the top. If we could get the administration to consider that the student is the client and treat them as so, it would be a great start.
BTW i have 3 dogs, all rescue mutts. So far they haven't asked to go to art school. ;O)
Good move for RISD -- why can't ACCD get it?
A fitting addition to RISD's world
By Robert Campbell, Globe Correspondent | September 27, 2008
PROVIDENCE - The Rhode Island School of Design is one of my favorite institutions. Churning with youth and life, it's a place where a student can learn just about any art.
Diversity is the name of the game at RISD (or, as everyone calls it, Riz-D). The 1,900 undergrads, from 50 countries, major in at least 16 different visual arts, and there are graduate programs in most of those. Of course there are painting and sculpture and film/video. But students can also learn the design of clothing, architecture, ceramics, film, furniture, glass, illustration, jewelry, photography, textiles, and more.
Today RISD is celebrating the opening of a new building. This is the Chace Center. Diversity? Chase is a kind of dump-in-everything building, with a zillion different functions. And it stands in the middle of another kind of diversity, a crowd of older RISD buildings of many eras. RISD doesn't really have a campus; what it has is a steep hillside crowded with architecture.
Chace's designer is the noted Spanish architect Jose Rafael Moneo. Moneo practices out of Madrid but still teaches at Harvard, where he once chaired the department of architecture. In 1996, he won the Pritzker Prize, architecture's equivalent of a Nobel. He's also the architect of the Davis Museum at Wellesley.
By hiring so notable an architect, RISD swung for the fences. It's a gamble they've won. Chace is as good as it is unpretentious.
Moneo sees RISD's architectural diversity as a metaphor for human diversity. "RISD's architecture represents the school as a rich collection of individual activities," he says. For a new building to fit in, therefore, it has to be different.
Some buildings are meant to be looked at and others are intended to work for the people who will use them. Chace falls into the second category. But that's not to say it isn't handsome. With its facades of crisp glass, aluminum trim, and smooth red brick, it adds a new note of unabashed modernism to the pleasing architectural cacophony that is RISD.
Chace's industrial-looking glass-and-brick appearance reminds me of an icon of late modernism, the Leicester University engineering building in England by the late James Stirling. Chace is subtler than it looks: the glass wall is a sandwich, made up of two layers of glass, the outer one etched so as to be translucent and the inner one mirror-surfaced. The wall glows softly when illuminated at night.
Good-looking as the outside is, the real success of Chace is the way it pulls the campus together. This is a building that contains so many different functions you'd think it might dissolve into chaos. It's a group of galleries of different sizes and purposes, but it also includes a lecture hall, a shop, a major drawing and photo center, a collection of offices, and a set of teaching and social areas. You get the impression that every branch of RISD grabbed a bite out of Chace. Chace becomes the common ground of a multifarious campus. It builds physical connections with everything around it.
One example: The RISD art museum, itself a cluster of four old buildings, is now connected to Chace by a glass bridge. The axis of the bridge extends into the museum as the axis of a newly redesigned interior. Thus the two interiors become one.
Another kind of connection: Moneo places windows - often at corners - in such a manner that, he says, "Students will always be in visual contact with the surroundings. They will always be aware of being in Providence and being in RISD."
RISD has chosen to open Chace with a huge exhibition of the work of glassmaker Dale Chihuly, whose work always looks to me like sugary spun candy. But you're not stuck with him. One gallery is devoted to current student work, another to that of alumni. And many of Chace's furnishings and other incidentals were designed by current students.
Chace cost about $32 million for 43,000 square feet on a tricky site. The Boston firm of Perry Dean Rogers served as the local managing architect. Principal donors were the children of the late Malcolm and Happy Chace. Mrs. Chace was a preservationist who bought and restored dozens of houses in Providence's Benefit Street neighborhood, just above RISD.
Chace and RISD are players in a larger game. The city of Providence, once a port but long an economic backwater, today contends that it is home to more working artists per capita than any other American city. As Boston once did, Providence is successfully converting itself from an industrial city to a 21st-century city of arts and ideas. Chace Center is a thoughtful step in that evolution.
Globe architecture critic Robert Campbell can be reached at camglobe@aol.com.
RISD is joined at the hip to Brown University (An Ivy-League school), and is also in a much different position as far as having a healthy endowment goes.
If you think award-winning architecture will give us a sustainable "boost" and put us at RISD's level, you are sorely mistaken. RISD and their alumni have a healthy history with one another. Treat your kids nice and perhaps they'll come back and visit you (or donate) after they leave home.
What's the matter, slow day in the architecture office?
What's wrong with asking why can't ACCD compete with RISD? People are so touchy.
Do you think anyone cares about design outside of the Design Office? Yes we can.
And we do.
I have heard that some faculty and many staff have resigned or been asked to resign. Where can we find out who is leaving or has left?
Define "compete with RISD". What would need to take place for you to think we're "keeping-up"?
Good that you think about design. Think about the design you've already got. Don't make everyone pay to satisfy your own boredom. Art Center does not owe you a new building to gawk at. You'll tire of it five minutes after you're done criticizing it to death anyway.
Who would be asking certain staff to resign? Tell them to stick it.
sorry to be late to the party here.
to 10/3/08 11:35 AM
Why can't ACCD get it? well lets see..
Economy.
Now tell where you can dig up cash considering the dow is below 9,000 and GM's stock is the lowest since 1950.Unemployment at 7%. California will be the first to bankrupt.
I know you wrote that comment waaaaaay before the stock market fall, but it was in the air for over a year (2 actually).
We cannot even afford to fix the South Campus. Now where is the Architectural office? Are they working on the south campus?
RISD may have gotten a new building, but can we at least finish one of ours before building more?
"Different But Complementary Strengths"
It turns out that RISD and Brown are indeed separate institutions, but do collaborate.
Why not something like this for Art Center? USC/Art Center? UCLA/Art Center?
July 24, 2007
Brown and RISD Announce Dual Degree Program
Brown University and Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) announce the establishment of a dual-degree program, a five-year program that offers students the opportunity to be awarded a Bachelor of Arts (A.B.) from Brown and a Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) degree from RISD. The program will enable students to explore the integration of a wide range of disciplines by combining the rigorous degree requirements of both institutions.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — The governing boards and trustees from both Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), today announce the establishment of a dual degree program, creating a new partnership between the two institutions. Students are invited to apply for entrance for the 2008-2009 academic year. This historic moment acknowledges and reinforces the collaborative and multidisciplinary educational efforts of these two world-class institutions, by forming a program to offer students enhanced opportunities for creative work that integrates, relates and develops diverse spheres of academic and artistic work.
The Brown/RISD dual degree program is five years in length and offers students the opportunity to be awarded a Bachelor of Arts (A.B.) from Brown and a Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) degree from RISD. The dual degree program requires that students complete the existing degree requirements for both institutions by being actively enrolled in both institutions while earning two simultaneous degrees.
Currently, students from Brown or RISD can cross-register for classes, proving the viability and creative value of a dual degree program that draws extensively on the strengths of both institutions. In the fall of 2006, the exploration of formal cross-institutional programs and curricula was determined a priority by President Ruth Simmons of Brown and President Roger Mandle of RISD.
With this mandate a working group was formed with administration and faculty representation from both Brown and RISD. This group continued the work of the Committee on Institutional Collaboration, formed in 2003, in which the idea of the dual degree was conceived. The joint Brown/RISD working group was appointed by the Provosts to further research and develop the dual-degree proposal. Formally endorsed by the faculty of both institutions in the spring of 2007, the proposal received final approval by the governing boards and trustees respectively from both Brown and RISD.
“By combining Brown’s strengths in science and engineering, humanities and arts, and social sciences with RISD’s renowned programs in art and design studies and the liberal arts, we are offering students an extraordinary opportunity to draw on the offerings of two outstanding institutions,” said Simmons. “Formalizing the dual degree program affirms the close relationship between Brown and RISD and represents a commitment to providing students with innovative, multidisciplinary experiences.”
“The creation of this dual degree program,” states Roger Mandle, president of RISD, “allows our institutions to develop a consilient approach, merging the strengths and educational rigor of each institution to form a true model of interdisciplinary education.”
Applicants to the dual degree program will be required to apply to both Brown and RISD and be accepted by both institutions. A Brown/RISD admissions committee comprised of admissions and faculty representatives will determine final admission to the program from among those students admitted to both institutions. For the initial five years of the program–during its pilot phase–it has been determined that applications will only come from first year applicants and not from transfer or currently enrolled students. Once enrolled in the program, the dual degree students will acquire a dual identity and as such will see themselves as both RISD and Brown students.
RISD and Brown offer different but complementary strengths; RISD offers intensive, specialized education leading to the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in extensive categories of visual art, architecture, design and the liberal arts; Brown offers comprehensive concentrations (academic majors) leading to the Bachelor of Arts (A.B.) or Bachelor of Science (Sc.B.) degree in the physical and biological sciences, social sciences, mathematics, arts and the humanities.
Upon acceptance, students will undertake a first year of Foundation Studies at RISD. A minimum of two years in residence at each school will be expected of students in the program. It is expected that with prior approval students in the program would have the opportunity to spend a semester or a year studying abroad.
For more information on the Brown/RISD dual degree program, visit http://risd.brown.edu.
Brown University
Brown University is an internationally known Ivy League institution with a distinctive undergraduate academic curriculum, outstanding faculty, state-of-the-art research facilities, and a tradition of innovative and rigorous multidisciplinary study. Brown offers nearly 100 programs of study to its approximately 7,190 undergraduate, graduate, and medical students and has a firm commitment to academic excellence and diversity in its student population. The University adheres to a collaborative university-college model in which faculty are as committed to teaching as they are to research, embracing a curriculum that requires students to be architects of their education. In 2004, Brown publicly launched its Plan for Academic Enrichment, which is designed to strengthen educational opportunities and significantly increase the number of faculty, add more courses and research opportunities for undergraduates, improve support for graduate and medical education, and invest in libraries, information technology and new academic space. For more information, visit http://www.brown.edu.
Rhode Island School of Design
Rhode Island School of Design has earned a worldwide reputation as the preeminent art and design college in the country. Today, with more than 20,000 alumni and alumnae, the college enrolls roughly 1,900 undergraduates and 400 graduate students from the United States and almost 50 countries, offering degree programs in the fine arts, architecture, and design disciplines, and art education. Academic programs include research and design initiatives, the exploration of art criticism and contemporary cultural concerns, as well as international exchange programs. Each year, RISD hosts prominent and accomplished artists, critics, and authors to its campus. Included within the college is The RISD Museum of Art, which houses a world-class collection of art—objects from Ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome and art of all periods from Asia, Europe, and the Americas, as well as the latest in contemporary art. For more information, go to www.risd.edu.
I'm not sure about this. Why would I want a design degree from one of the best design schools in the world AND a bachelors degree from an Ivy League university? I mean, how on earth can that top being at Art Center? I'll bet Brown doesn't have that awesome clay smell when you walk in their doors.
I'm just not seeing the benefit here.
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