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
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71 comments:
We should wish Marty well for his years of service.
It's a shame that the timing turned out to be the way it was.
I wonder how many more resignations are coming?
Maybe Nik, Tim and RK can hire a architect to replace the product design chair.
"Changes. More Coming" ???
What's going on here is someone took a better job. This title implies that somehow the concerns of the ACCD community are being addressed.
I couldn't disagree more!
You mean:
"Resignations. More coming."
to 6:49 pm:
Since when did "changes" mean anymore than "changes"?
Marty and Peter saw opportunities elsewhere and took them.
Institutional strife and an immediate future of timid leadership does not bode well for opportunities here.
Changes ARE coming. For all of you that spend far more than your bring in, start packing your bags. The next interim president is just around the corner.
How is it that these people are not bound by CNC agreements... Is the Board really going to sit back and allow these people compete on the world stage with ACCD? Looks like it's time for a new Board.
Question is why is the board allowing the "business as usual" spending?
And really, how could a conference like Serious Play come out ahead $80,000? By moving numbers around. By not counting in manpower, by not counting in travel before and after the conference. By shifting a few dollars over to another column.
Seriously, no one believes that ACCD came out ahead on Serious Play.
If the last two lost money, how could this one make money? With inflation, it's almost impossible.
Nice PR, but once you get out into the world, you will have to prove with your next conference that you will come out ahead, because now that Press Release is forever online in some shape or form.
Seriously.
Trust is like toothpaste.
One it leaves the tube, it isn't going back in.
ACCD is almost out of toothpaste.
8/22/08 7:14 AM
LOL. :O)
The contracts for senior staff at ACCD are coming up for renewal in September. I've heard that some of the trustees feel that their contracts should be extended for 2 more years so that there is stability in the day to day operations of the college. Is it possible that the Board still doesn't understand that this administration is problematic?
If we are getting an interim president, why saddle that person with this group? Shouldn't the interim person be free to determine who should stay and who should go?
Budget will determine who stays and who goes. At least I hope that will be the case.
What are the departments that run the leanest?
Which departments runs overbudget annually without any concern?
Which department is now redundant?
Which department best serves the students?
Which department heads are out of the college more work days than others?
Who can we NOT afford anymore?
Run the numbers on what was spent on the failed conference in Barcelona, and see how the school will be saddled with that debt, along with all the biannual conferences. No one believes that any of those conference made money. The second conference lost in the neighborhood of $800,000.
How many man hours went into Barcelona? Are you counting the trips back and forth? The per diems? The hotel bills? Hosting Dinners?
Look at the numbers and see which departments are adding to the growing pile of debt the college is carrying.
jamie
The interim group already knows who is going. The college is a business, and when a company has to cut back, you cut back on the departments that no longer serve a purpose, or have run over budget and with no oversight.
For instance the trip to Paris for the NGO this coming Sept. 3-5.
1. How many are going?
2. How are they flying?
3. What is their per diem?
4. Where are they staying?
5. How many days?
6. Misc. costs - car pick ups, phone, messenger services, food, gifts etc
What is that costing the college? And at what benefit is it?
About 1,500 NGOs with strong information programmes on issues of concern to the UN are associated with the Department of Public Information (DPI), giving the UN valuable links to people around the world. ACCD is one of them.
A good cause, but at what benefit is it to send an entourage to Paris?
Could we have used some of that money to sponsor an NGO project?
Or is this a last hurrah and we will see the bill long after they have left?
For information on DPI/NGO:
http://www.un.org/dpi/ngosection/brochure.htm
ACCD meet the United Nations Association (UNA) Pasadena/Foothills Chapter
Our Mission
United Nations Association (UNA) Pasadena/Foothills Chapter...
A Better World Starts Here
The mission of the United Nations Association (UNA) Pasadena/Foothills Chapter is to generate local awareness and support of the United Nations and its commitment to achieving global peace, justice and freedom.
A high priority for the Chapter is to raise awareness and encourage action on the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which are:
1) Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
2) Achieve universal primary education
3) Promote gender equality and empower women
4) Reduce child mortality
5) Improve maternal health
6) Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
7) Ensure environmental sustainability
8) Develop a global partnership for development.
"Our most active arena is in education. This year the Chapter is sponsoring a Great Decisions course at Pasadena City College, taught by one of our own distinguished board members. "
http://www.unapasadena.org/index.asp
Thanks Ophelia. I hope you're right. It just seems that our Board is so isolated they might fall for the hype from senior staff that they are fully committed to education when in fact they're scrambling to survive in their current comfortable positions. One of them is even telling everyone that he was pressured by RK into signing the Honesty First petition!
Jamie.
the Board of Trustees are responsible for the College, if they make a decision that would put ACCD into financial jeopardy, then it will be their legacy to the students, faculty, administration and alumni.
In non-profit organizations, the Board of Trustees often provides a means for members or associates of the organization to elect or appoint individuals that will oversee the function of the organization, ensuring that the core values and purposes of the organization are reflected in the operation process.
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Art_Center_College_of_Design&oldid=233183979
On the Wikipedia ACCD promo website somebody typed in under Notable teachers past and present (if not listed above)the name:
FERMINTATION Art Director/Designer
There's some anger out there man.
You'd think somebody would pay attention?
to Aug 24 8:09am
Why? on the artcenter.edu the last "news" was:
05.31.2008
INTERIOR MOTIVES: System Building for a Sustainable Future
And it took them almost two weeks to put up the BusinessWeek design awards.
On Businessweek : July 12th
On Nathan's blog: July 22nd
On artcenter.edu : July 29th
It looks like a certain someone and his cronies are still pulling many key strings. Hopefully sooner than later all key decisions and priorities at the school are out in the open. Educational related decisions should come from people in education, the true owners of the future of Art Center, not someone worrying about his next powerplay job. Lets hope he gets a great job and can afford to take all his financially draining baggage with him.
Thanks Ophelia for paying attention to all this. It is not easy for everyone to follow all these developments. The students and schools Alumni rose up and made the board aware that the schools future was in jeopardy. The presidents big ideas and what the school and students really needed today, was apparently(and now obviously) way off. It is important that the students and Alumni stay vocal until a new plan gets announced. The pressure needs to remain until the old mis-guided ways, and those that put them in place, get replaced with a new well balanced vision and plan.
"The contracts for senior staff at ACCD are coming up for renewal in September. I've heard that some of the trustees feel that their contracts should be extended for 2 more years so that there is stability in the day to day operations of the college. Is it possible that the Board still doesn't understand that this administration is problematic?"
Some of the senior staff may be able to work well with the new president; that is, they can do things differently than what Koshalek directed. Some senior staff are very good at understanding which way the wind blows and will make changes.
"How is it that these people are not bound by CNC agreements... Is the Board really going to sit back and allow these people compete on the world stage with ACCD? Looks like it's time for a new Board."
What's a CNC agreement? Is that the same thing as a non-compete agreement? If so, they don't hold up in California courts unless the organization can show that the individual had access to trade secrets, etc. Probably not likely with ACCD.
This is also an excellent oppotunity to root-out the sour taste of the past. Let's give them a grand dose of having to survive in Los Angeles armed only with one's actual capabilities.
"And really, how could a conference like Serious Play come out ahead $80,000? By moving numbers around. By not counting in manpower, by not counting in travel before and after the conference. By shifting a few dollars over to another column."
Ophelia, I agree with you that it's doubtful that Serious Play made money. ACCD does not have a history of candid accounting. However, manpower should not be included for those on staff; that is, among any workers who would be on staff if there were no Serious Play conference (they'd be at ACCD but working on something else). There are several consultants who do work on the conference for well over a year out and their costs should be included.
2005 990
Chee Pearlman Co. $75,854.00
Matsumoto Inc. $384,654.00
2006 990 - conference year
Matsumoto Inc. $1,025,459.00
What could the employees at ACCD be doing other than work on the conferences? Help students?
Matsumoto's design firm is tiny. For him to get work worth $1MM must mean that it was awarded with no competitive bidding process whatsoever. And for a non-profit school, that's sick.
If there is one single thing I'd like to see an accounting of (in detail) is that tidbit. Let's see the invoices. What is the hourly rate? What value did Art Center get for $1.025MM?
Cronyism is my suspicion.
"Matsumoto's design firm is tiny. For him to get work worth $1MM must mean that it was awarded with no competitive bidding process whatsoever. And for a non-profit school, that's sick."
Matsumoto was Koshalek's pick. There was no bidding process. Koshalek insists on the Design Office working with Matsumoto.
Matsumoto's bills are probably larger in years that the catalog is being produced. It's a huge project.
Chee Pearlman is a consultant on the conference. There are at least two other outside consultants who worked on the conference.
Yes, the invoices are higher during the conference years, so that also counts into the budgets of the conferences.
We are a design college. Why are we paying an outside firm? Can we not represent our own college?
Michelle Obama says "there is a new tide of hope", lets bring this to ACCD. We need to bring hope back to the college. We cannot allow this spending to cripple our college. Nor can we allow the present administration use ACCD as a platform for their next gig.
Also look into who does the printing in Japan for Matsumoto's designs.
The apple does not fall far from the tree.
"We are a design college. Why are we paying an outside firm? Can we not represent our own college?"
The Design Office used to produce all of ACCD's materials. Koshalek wanted someone with more experience, greater vision, etc for design oversight. He chose Takaaki Matsumoto, an ACCD alum, to oversee creative of major materials.
We have a catalog medium. It's called the Internet. Once uploaded, it's free.
If a college can steer every prospective applicant to the internet to make an application, surely they can upload some PDF files about the various programs too. Printing that catalogue on paper (today) is just an exercise in frivolity.
We're preparing students for a leaner existence. That needs to start with the school itself.
to 8/25/08 8:28 PM
and Rebecca Mendez? she was the best designer ACCD ever had.
And I think we have quite a few alumni that could also design the catalog. Matsumoto's clients are mostly art museums...
And is he an alum? or did he just attend ACCD?
But the real issue is cost. Where does he stay when he is out in Los Angeles? Why are we paying that much?
How far could $350k to $1.02M go internally at ACCD? How many designers could we hire? And does a Matsumoto catalog sell to a prospective student,do they care?
"And I think we have quite a few alumni that could also design the catalog. Matsumoto's clients are mostly art museums...
And is he an alum? or did he just attend ACCD?
But the real issue is cost. Where does he stay when he is out in Los Angeles? Why are we paying that much?
How far could $350k to $1.02M go internally at ACCD? How many designers could we hire? And does a Matsumoto catalog sell to a prospective student,do they care?"
Good philosophical questions. Takaaki is an ACCD alum, graphic design. Most of his clients are museums - perhaps that's why Koshalek was attracted to his work. Takaaki stays at the Langley (former Ritz Carlton Huntington Hotel) when he visits ACCD. Art Center is paying for Takaaki's services because he is Koshalek's pick. The money could be spent to strengthen and staff up the Design Office but Koshalek wants Takaaki's design expertise.
As far as the value of the catalog, at one point, it's likely that prospective students relied heavily on it for at least part of their decision making. Now with the internet, it's becoming less important. However, that puts more pressure on the ACCD website to communicate effectively. Not sure that's happening.
Unfortunately, Art Center views itself as a consumer product to be positioned, packaged and sold, just like anything else.
"Unfortunately, Art Center views itself as a consumer product to be positioned, packaged and sold, just like anything else."
That's not really what I've seen. If Art Center did view itself as a consumer product, they never would have neglected the product -- education. The disappointment and concern expressed by alums and students points to a problem with the product. Had Art Center been more consumer product oriented this would not have happened. I'm not saying Art Center should be treated exactly like a consumer product, just that the analogy falls short here.
to 8/26/08 12:04 PM
You are right.
"Had Art Center been more consumer product oriented this would not have happened. "
Right now even the window dressing is a bit ragged. we have a foundation of great faculty, students and hard working administration (we know who you are) that if ignored any longer it will crumble beneath us.
The piggy bank is empty. And if we let them sell the piggy bank for what they can get for it, then it is our fault for not saying "no" loud enough. The Board of Trustees must act quickly, or they will be the last to leave the building, because no one will be left there to carry out their agendas.
I'm not saying that they have not neglected the most important "P" in marketing (product). As a matter of fact, they care about the other P's more (Positioning, placement, promotion, etc).
My criticism had to do with million dollar catalogue design consultation costs and the like. Art Center wants to appear as if they can walk with the wealthiest each and every day, and they'll gladly spend a high pricetag to play in that league.
Unfortunately, as you toil away and struggle to afford a Tommy Burger over in Eagle Rock, your tuition money goes towards overinflated design fees to print fancy catalogues.
"My criticism had to do with million dollar catalogue design consultation costs and the like."
I agree. It's hard to believe that Art Center couldn't come up with a well-designed and effective catalog + web site for a lot less than what they've been paying Matsumoto. Again, Matsumoto is Koshalek's choice.
If ACCD alums, students and faculty were happy with the Art Center educational experience, ACCD wouldn't be in the place it is now. There would be a lot more faith (or at least less criticism) in the benefit of trips to Paris, new buildings, etc. Everything is subject to scrutiny now and should be.
"If ACCD alums, students and faculty were happy with the Art Center educational experience, ACCD wouldn't be in the place it is now. There would be a lot more faith (or at least less criticism) in the benefit of trips to Paris, new buildings, etc. Everything is subject to scrutiny now and should be."
Exactly. Threadbare auditorium seats, chipped tile, rusting railings on the bridge, infighting with the chairs (orchestrated by the executive administration), styrofoam plates, all indicative of an administration that only heard what they wanted to hear, and have only their agendas to forward.
What one trip to Paris could cover?
Maintenance at the college, and it would show immediate results whereas a NGO meeting in Paris would only put them in the spotlight while they pass out their cards looking for their next gig. It benefits them, not the college.
Exactly what has been happening the last nine years.
I don't know the details of this trip to Paris, but once again it sounds excessive and not many are surprised. Please no more. Lets move on from this disconnected self serving strategy. Lets get all of the misguided leadership out the door as soon as possible. Bring in the(any) interim plan as soon as possible. Art Center should start new, NOW! Please no more decisions that help reward the groupies and reward those that don't want to change. Please no sabbatical time(extended paid vacation) where even more money(tuition) is thrown out the window. (I heard that was a way to deal with the previous president. But I do not see any benefit to Art Center or students.) Cut things clean and move on. Students want change and new hope as soon as possible.
A lot of talk here, like the political races, and no action.
To claim to be so sustainable, so aware, so "holier-than-thou"...and then to take unnecessary trips overseas...do you not see the hypocrisy? All that lunchroom green-ness is just a little feel good while the real damage is being done by people (and their jet fuel) who are self-serving. Some "house-cleaning" should happen right away to avoid draining the budget over the next 18 months (and probably longer, since there are always delays). Students should demand better!
Time to sharpen the spear against the trip to Paris. Since they usually fly business class, the tix should be refundable.
Cancel Paris. Now.
to 8/27/08 7:12 AM
There has been more action in the last 4 months than there has in the last nine years. And action only happens when you stand behind your words.
Being "Anonymous" and making that comment says alot about you. Armchair quarterbacking, and riding on the people who are doing something.
Stand up for what you believe in.
Design Matters and Paris.
They are not going to cancel the Paris trip. But what will happen is that out of the entourage, only one will be gone by the fall. The others will have to justify their jobs.
And why does it take so long for the ACCD website to put up news or fix the bugs on the college website, when the Design Matters site goes up in a matter of weeks?
It went up in June, and coincidentally in time to show what they do after 3 years of not knowing what they do. Their first post in their blog is June 3, 2008.
http://www.accd-dm.org/
"Being "Anonymous" and making that comment says alot about you."
Yes. It says that I wish to remain anonymous in making that comment. Yes, I'd like to see them cancel their trip and make better use of the money they'd spend there.
Actually, I'd like to see US cancel their trip, as I would never expect them to concede anything.
On being anonymous...
Ask Rachael Tiede about how standing up for what she believed in has it's consequences...ask her about how she probably would have preferred to have the chance to say what she said in an anonymous format.
Your mere curiousity about who is posting their honest beliefs here, does not outweigh the risk of everyone posting their names and having consequences served upon them! I'd rather hear some real honesty than to see names posted along with "half truths" in order to save something. Wouldn't you???
Design Doesn't Matter...
The "fluff" group that does not serve the ultimate goals for which students really come to Art Center. It's an unnecessary group and time and energy and money could (should) be spent in many other ways to improve the quality of student's lives at Art Center.
Design matters until one leaves Art Center (or academia. Money takes over from there.
Name the next big design conference:
"Student Loan Payments Matter"
One of Art Center's big goals should be to find every way possible to drive down the cost of attending. Period. If you drive down the cost, you get to select from a better pool of applicants. If you drive down the cost, students will exit the school more able to accept employment that allows them to actually stick to the theories learned in school. 95% of the education at Art Center is what comes out of the instructor's mouths, not in what computer system or computerized mill has been installed. And not in a building. If Art Center's buildings went away, Art Center would not go away. Art Center exists in the mind.
When I finished ACCD, my employment decisions were driven by my loan payments (which were higher than my parents' mortgage payment). I had more job opportunity thanks to the high caliber of my portfolio, but I never got to do what I really wanted to in design. I became part of the garbage factory because the garbage factory paid well. Had I had less of an obligation to pay back, I know I'd have done more sustantive things in this field. Design would have mattered more.
I would post this on the Art Center Website, but the content and discussion there is quite outdated. With the "discourse" happening on this site I ask somewhat naively, what event is happening in Paris with NGOs, and Design Matters? Is there an agenda, as well as outcome and experiences related back towards the Art Center students and instructors upon the group’s return? It is not mentioned at the Design Matters or Art Center websites.
www.artcenter.edu
www.accd-dm.org/
to 8/27/08 12:29 PM
of course i understand the use of "anonymous" but don't give grief to the people who are trying to make a difference.
"A lot of talk here, like the political races, and no action."
At least there is a place to talk. We are trying to accomplish something here.
part deux to 8/27/08 12:29 PM
I have no Curiosity as to who is posting. Some I can tell who it is without the name.
What I take to heart is the comments that nothing is being done or no one is speaking out. Do I have a job at ACCD? no. Do I have a stake in ACCD? yes, as an alumni I care about the college.
Do I use my name? Yes.
And if I had to use Anonymous in any of my communications, then I would think long and hard about who I work for. We are working hard to get them out of ACCD.
"no action"
Tell that to the students who wrote the Education First petition, tell that to Nathan Cooke, to the students protesting outside the Board meeting,to the alumni that cared enough to come to the open Potluck, to the people who presented to the board the real numbers behind the DRC and the red ink at ACCD. They all stood there for you.
There will always be those who take anonymous pot-shots. And not all of them will be from people who hate the administration. I've seen plenty of anonymous bomb-drops come from bridge-workers.
I'd like to see the "drive-by-shootings" get taken down ASAP, but the benefit of anonymity preserved for those who feel they need it (so long as they can still behave like adults).
Different people have different reasons for anonymity. Art Center has been quite clear that they only want kool-aid drinkers to be on the payroll, and will retaliate if anyone crosses that line. Same goes for students and faculty.
to 8/28/08 9:45 AM
You are right. I am just on the sensitive side when it comes to people saying nothing is being done.
I don't know who they are, or if they are on the front lines, or if they are only lobbing stuff from way back behind the hedges. So I am at a disadvantage where they have the advantage of knowing who I am. I could be standing next to them and completely unawares. Not the most comforting position.
The next term will be starting soon and we will be confronted with changes in the administration. And a decreasing enrollment. That is the most important issue right now.
And my time debating non-contributing "anonymous"commenters, is going to come to an end, because I don't have the time nor do I have the patience.
"If Art Center's buildings went away, Art Center would not go away. Art Center exists in the mind."
Isn't it great to be stoned? Seriously, doesn't anyone think Art Center deserves to exist as a living, breathing entity, open to change and growth? We're all not yet able to function without a physical location. But if we could, I vote too for an Art Center of the mind. It would be a great alternative to the Art Center of recent months.
But enough of that, I got to go back to my cloud.
At some point we need to decide that the war is over and salvage what remains. Now is the time to stop bickering and come off the benches of discontent. We need to be gracious- all of us- faculty, student and administration alike, and bridge the gap of our discourse, tempering our frustration, and unify as one body.
To give of ourselves back to the school, and forgive is a tough thing for everybody here. - Yes, it is a great risk. Thank you to everybody who has contributed to the cause. We all have felt betrayed, hurt, angry, but we all had a common goal in mind for this school- what we thought was best- and we should come together again on this issue, regardless of 'faction', 'side' or 'alliance'.
I encourage you, anonymous posters to seek us out. I speak to many in the faculty already openly- (maybe even brazenly,) -about what changes we see that need to be done, what your opinion is, and how we can help and mend the school.
I had lunch with the president a few weeks ago. We discussed many still pending issues and items of discourse. I gave him a point by point notation of what needs to change that I could think of so far.
I want people to seriously understand that communication is the major problem here. There is a level at which everybody has decided to stop communicating, because it is easier to flame on the web statically or speak behind closed doors about one another. We have no newspapers and up until the websites organized,- nothing that would constitute a real online community in a 'unified front'.
We talked about making the community forum more open to students, faculty, alumni and administration to comment without reprimand or hostility. We also discussed options for enabling instant posting without moderation.
We discussed how we got to this point, and how the continual arrow-slinging is damaging everybody, and how even the anonymous posters need to be respected because of the climate that was created at the school. (I understand mr. and ms. anonymous and strange handled name how sensitive you are to all that's happened here. - It's very frustrating to scream and have nobody hear you, and this only intensifies our frustration and anexiety about the current situation when somebody insults you.)
We discussed what time management and placing proper time expectations on things, especially when dealing with a demanding, angry body of people is important.
I walked away from our meeting with a great deal of insight and as cliched as this sounds, there ARE big changes coming.
So your next questions are what changes and then to flame the messenger for not telling you. "Aw political poppycock you say. Blah. Blah." It won't matter what I tell many of you.
At this point, the war is over. It's time to shift gears and come to the table with solutions and ideas, not continue to tear each other to shreds in blogger's diatribe.
Let's bridge the gap.
No slamming. I'm just interested to hear what Koshalek said about the nay-sayers need to be protected from reprimand or reprisal.
What did he say about that?
I submitted a question (long ago) on the Art Center blog about what steps Art Center would take to protect those who spoke out (employees and students), and the question was universally ignored while others were answered.
Lee,
I've admired your outspoken behavior throughout all of this. Although, right now I'm not sure I've heard of ideas of change coming from the right places. Nik and Richard have hardly expressed a real grasp of our concerns.
I'm sure that a lunch with Koshalek in words sounded promising he's great at talking.
You could not be more correct on a unified front.
I think a revision of the bylaws should be put in place so there is a better checks and balances.
This recent turmoil has affected my education severely and I'm not about to settle down without witnessing "real change". Until then I'm out and I'm encouraging many to follow.
The only "real change" we've seen is the fund raising objectives, as for Koshalek he is not the problem he just used the system to his advantage which is what the next president will do with out "real change"
The system needs a overhaul.
Remember everyone, you don't have to spend a dime on tuition before classes begin.
Right now, Art Center has decided to stop communicating. The board has only communicated ONE TIME.
I would highly advocate sending a message to Art Center by witholding the financial support they so desperately need to continue with these stupid European and Asian vacations. Vote with your checkbook. Encourage them to take this seriously. Right now, they are sitting around waiting for you all to graduate and go away.
I'm sure I'll get flamed for this, so go ahead, flame away.
to lee, anon and anon,
A unified community is what we need now.Faculty, students, administration and alumni.
So how do we do this? Gather the ones who were there at the beginning and begin a new campaign to alert the Board?
I am ready.
Great. So join me in advocating a "take the semester off". Very few probably will, but what if just 20 people did it? Show them that these issues are important and not to be ignored.
I agree with the anon who says the system is the problem.
How do we examine the system over many years to see what has worked?
What are the existing bylaws?
Who are the powerful stake holders?
City of Pasadena, LVHA it's clearly not the alumni and faculty.
Should we demand another statement from the board or a vote of no confidence in the board.
I think if we added up the tone of comments here, you'd have that vote of NC already. The bigger question is "what next?"
On the idea of applying pressure by not enrolling and/or withholding funds, there pluses and minuses to this. On the downside, it may create more panic and potentially bad decisions to bring enrollment back up - like lowering standards.
On the up side, it is a direct way to send a message - but only if you make the administration and board AWARE OF WHAT YOU ARE DOING. Please, if you are taking an action like this, you must send a letter to RK, Enrollment services, and the Board to let them know. Otherwise, they will simply assume it is because of the economy or whatever external cause.
In terms of next steps of action, my thinking has been that at the beginning of the term open letters should be sent to the Board and Nik Hafermaas stating what we expect from them. Seems like week 2 would be a good time for this since week 1 would be the obvious time for some announcements from the Board and/or Nik. At least one would hope they would.
The silence from the Board and administration at this point is shameful. They seem to have no clue about the community they serve or how to communicate with them. From what I can tell, there are some things going on in the background - it would be nice if they had the courtesy to update us on whatever is in progress.
So, what do we want from the Board, and what do we want from Hafermaas?
Before you start on what to do next, make sure you have a solid new basis to work from. The school appears no where near that yet. Far from it in fact. Think about it. The board is still the same. The President is still here and pulling strings. His 'friend' is now running education. Many of his hand coddled chairs are still there. All of the administration is the same and traveling here and there and spending tuition monies nicely while doing so. So what has changed? Before you start down a new path, make sure more than just a vote has taken place. Ask for significant change and a clean unbiased platform to start from. Seriously, the school has only taken superficial steps forward. There is still way too much un-needed cholesterol clogging the system. Use this chance to save Art Center. Not prolong its death. Make it exciting enough to draw back in alumni, make graduates proud again and re-motivate faculty and administration to work for the good of the school and not their own little worlds.
I heard many changes are coming this month? The President rides off into the sunset with a nice huge tuition funded package and someone new comes in? Lets hope the new person is full of honesty, integrity, openness and a desire to make Art Center THE priority once again.
My checkbook voted. ;)
Dylan Diomede
Good luck with that. I know far too many have been voting with their 'ego wallets.' Hopefully this will change.
Make a few more of THESE:
http://artcenter.edu/insite/bruna5.htm
and Art Center enrollment will do just fine.
O-le, ol-le, o-le, o-le! Brasil! Brasil!
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