Arts college prepares for accreditation
Since its separation from the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS), the new Caine College of the Arts is aiming to improve the quality and visibility of its offerings, by accrediting the two programs not yet accredited and improving the shared vision among its faculty and staff.
“We’re on for an exciting adventure,” said Craig Jessop, the new college’s dean.
The arts college will be seeking accreditation for the art department and the theatre department, Jessop said.
Senior Associate Dean Nicholas Morrison said this process will take time, likely three to five years for both programs.
The theatre department will seek accreditation from the National Association of Schools of Theatre (NAST), while the art department will seek accreditation from the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD), the main national accrediting body for art schools, Morrison said.
The NASAD sets standards for each part of a student’s education, said Christopher Terry, associate dean and interim art department head.
Terry said he will not know what specific changes the art department will face because they have not yet held the initial review with NASAD.
“If we can arrange for that visit to take place in the coming year, the (NASAD) team will give us a complete list of areas in which they’d like to see improvement,” he said.
Terry said it’s likely the art department will have to hire more faculty and technical staff to begin with as well as hire support staff later in the process.
The college also may offer some “new graduate degree programs that may better serve our student population and some untapped student populations,” Morrison said.
The arts college consists of six units: the music, interior design, art and theatre departments, as well as the art museum and production services, Morrison said.
The production services unit is the staff who sell tickets, take reservations and serve as the stage crew in productions, among other services, Morrison said.
The college currently has about 1,000 majors between the departments and 100 staff members, just over half of which are faculty, he said
In addition to beginning the accreditation process, Jessop said he wants to meet with the faculty and staff of the college this semester.
“We have an incredible brain-trust in our faculty,” Jessop said. “I want to create a shared vision after the quality of education for our students.”
Jessop said that he wants the arts college to have a “grand vision” that includes “everyone, from the CEO, so to speak, to people working on the assembly line.”
When it’s all said and done, it’s a quality product people want, Jessop said, referring to the programs offered through the college, but you cannot separate quality from the people.
Jessop said he has been doing a lot of reading on management, looking at business models and meeting with those he feels can help him best manage the school.
Jessop said the word college comes from the word “colleague,” which means “like-minded friends,” and the word “dean” at one time meant “the leader of ten.”
“I’ve been looking at relationship-based management,” Jessop said.
– keith.burbank@aggiemail.usu.edu