The purpose of the Community Forum Discussion is to facilitate constructive dialogue on the health and future of Art Center.
Due to the fact that we have received numerous comments from anonymous individuals that lack integrity and contain personal attacks, from this point forward we will only post and respond to comments from individuals who use their real names. Many members of the Art Center community—including the education leaders, senior staff, students and alumni—are participating this way in the spirit of open and honest engagement, and we encourage everyone to do so as well.
Sustainability at Art Center
In our ongoing efforts toward creating a sustainable campus, Art Center College of Design is implementing a zero waste plan that will encompass composting, source reduction, recycling, reuse, and environmental preferred purchasing. Zero waste is a design principle that goes beyond recycling by taking a “whole system” approach to the vast flow of resources and waste.
3 Comments »Career Development
Jean Mitsunaga, Director of Career Development at Art Center, reviews on-campus recruiting, employment rates and Art Center’s Annual Graduate Employment Survey.The Career Development Office is dedicated to empowering Art Center students and alumni to pursue careers as professional artists and designers by providing resources and services that encourage leadership and social responsibility while influencing a global economy.Programs and services include:
- Career planning and counseling
- Career and specialty workshops
- Internship Program
- The Dot Exchange (Mentor Program)
- Business Dialogue Series
- On-Campus Recruitment Program
- dotJOBS
- Annual Graduate Employment Survey Read the rest of this entry »
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Endowment
June 27th, 2008 Community Forum ModeratorMany of you have asked questions about Art Center’s endowment. Wayne Herron, Senior Director of Development, offers some insight on the College’s endowment below: An endowment program allocates certain gifts to an investment fund. This fund is invested to earn income each year, and as the principal grows, so does the interest on that income—a portion of which is paid out each year to fund key areas vital to Art Center’s mission. These areas vary according to the wishes of donors in agreement with the College. Art Center’s endowment funds scholarships, professorships, endowed chairs and academic programs like Designmatters. Read the rest of this entry »
3 Comments »Announcements
June 24th, 2008 Community Forum Moderator
5 Comments »Admissions Standards
June 23rd, 2008 Community Forum ModeratorMany of you have asked questions about the standards for admission to Art Center. Below is a response from Kit Baron, Vice President of Admissions, which should address many of your concerns, including quality of applicants, the admissions process and acceptance rates.
1. Quality of our Applicants
First, Art Center’s applicant pool cannot be compared to RISD’s, Otis’s, Pratt’s or any other art school applicant pool. We require that students apply directly to one of our majors, and therefore, applicants must already have developed a specialized portfolio for one of our majors. This is not easy. The other major design schools accept generic portfolios because students enter a general foundation program. This means that every high school student who has done a bit of drawing can apply. I was previously Director of Admissions at Parsons in NY, where we had thousands of these generic applications and therefore, declined a good number of them. We attend National Portfolio Days at which every major art school is in attendance, and other schools accept the type of beginning student who is not in the running at Art Center. Admissions staff at the major art schools acknowledge that our applicants are in another league, and that our “freshmen” here are like junior level students at their schools. Read the rest of this entry »
8 Comments »Office of Development
June 19th, 2008 Community Forum ModeratorWayne Herron, Senior Director of Development, writes:
The Office of Development raises funds and creates meaningful ways for donors to support leaders in art and design at Art Center College of Design. The office is guided by a set of core values that provide the behavioral standards for the program: professional, honest, collaborative, ambassadors, service, thankful, relationships and excellence.
The Office of Development is comprised of annual, major, corporate, foundation and planned giving, all of which are supported by professionals in data management and prospect research.
2 Comments »Administrative Mission Statements
June 18th, 2008 Community Forum ModeratorMany of you have asked about the purpose of various departments at Art Center. Below are the mission statements from key administrative departments.
Development
The members of the Office of Development work together to raise funds and create meaningful ways for donors to support leaders in art and design at Art Center College of Design.Educational Planning and Architecture
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To ensure that Art Center realizes the spaces that are planned for both campuses through tenant improvements and planning, programming and pre-construction of major projects.
Read the rest of this entry »The Financial Aid Office Responds
June 17th, 2008 Community Forum ModeratorThe following is a question submitted at the Community Forum on June 10th. Tracy Tambascia, Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Students, answers.
Question: “You’re sending some students out into the world with close to $200,000 in debt. Lots of students have no help from their families. It seems an institution like Art Center should have a stellar financial aid office and services. What are your thoughts on this?”
7 Comments »Student Housing
June 17th, 2008 Community Forum ModeratorRichard Koshalek writes:
“The lack of appropriate student housing has been one of Art Center’s longest-standing drawbacks, and with prices in the Pasadena area increasingly unaffordable for students, this need is now greater than ever. The availability of on-campus housing for the first time in Art Center’s history will be an immensely important factor in recruiting and retaining top students, including international students, and will greatly boost our ability to compete with other schools in this respect. Students living at this new facility will be selected based on a combination of factors, including need, merit and maturity. It is also essential to remember that in a landmark agreement, the dormitories will be built by the developer at absolutely no cost to the College – and a portion of the rental fees will be returned to the College as scholarship monies.”
6 Comments »Educational Task Forces
June 17th, 2008 Community Forum ModeratorMany of you have asked about the Educational Task Forces. We’ve asked Richard to explain his thinking behind the Task Forces and how they function.
Richard Koshalek writes:
“I selected the heads of the five Task Forces as a transitional leadership strategy based on their proven expertise, creative capacities, inclusive and collaborative records, and demonstrated leadership to date. Each Task Force head has then selected their membership to reflect intellectual diversity, representation from various campus constituencies (faculty, students, staff, and alumni), and extensive engagement with Art Center to date. Each Task Force head and membership will also be subject to periodic rotation. Each Task Force will also function as an “executive committee” that will consult with the larger educational community at Art Center (deans, chairs, senior staff, students, alumni, and trustees) in order to make appropriate decisions.
5 Comments »Forum Etiquette
June 17th, 2008 Community Forum ModeratorWe’d like to ask the Art Center community to help us preserve the integrity of this site as a source of real and accurate information about the College. In that light, we ask that you please use your real name when commenting in order to foster a spirit of open and honest engagement. Please also refrain from posting comments that contain misinformation or personal attacks. We always appreciate your thoughts and comments and we want to keep the tone of the conversation respectful.Answers to questions and comments will be answered during the week. Please understand that we won’t be posting late at night or on weekends.In addition, we’ve noticed that a lot of you are posting the same questions in different ways. If you don’t see a post in response to your question, it’s probably been answered someplace else, whether it’s in a chart, an FAQ, or a post. Wherever we can, we’ll direct you to the answers you’re looking for.Thank you again for your participation. We hope that this forum sheds light on many of the issues facing the Art Center community.
7 Comments »South Campus
June 16th, 2008 Community Forum ModeratorWe’ve directed some of your questions about the impact of South Campus on Art Center to Patricia Oliver, the Vice President of Architecture and Planning.
Patricia writes:
“I consider the South Campus to be a success. We were given a collection of six buildings, all constructed at different times, with three separate structural systems. There are no two floor plates that line up with one another. Tackling this collective of buildings with the program that was needed and also making it a sustainable building was a very difficult task and working closely with our architects and contractors, we were able to get it completed at a reasonable cost.
We are currently working on Phase 2 of that project. The second phase includes building out the basement level, adding showers and locker rooms to support a commuter population, building out the Wind Tunnel space for use by the graduate students, and acoustical mitigation where we were unable to in Phase 1.
The building was the first LEED rated institutional building in Pasadena. It has won several awards for its architecture and for sustainability.The South Campus anticipates growth in some of the graduate programs which are currently modest in size. There has long been a high demand for graduate study at Art Center. The graduate programs will have an opportunity to grow at the Wind Tunnel and basement levels of Raymond and from there we anticipate being able to expand onto the Power Plant site. That expansion will not occur until there is a large enough population to justify the move.”
2 Comments »Tuition
June 16th, 2008 Community Forum ModeratorTuition monies are applied directly to the College’s strategic objectives, including recruitment and retention of top students and faculty, increases in institutional aid and scholarships, classroom improvements and upgrades in technology. Campus development, including the proposed Design Research Center and the Raymond Building, Student Housing and Power Plant at South Campus are built without tuition dollars.
6 Comments »Personnel Issues
June 16th, 2008 Community Forum ModeratorMany of you have asked about the circumstances surrounding Rachel Tiede’s and Nate Young’s departures. We realize that this is a very sensitive issue and would like to respect the privacy of all parties involved. In the interest of maintaining a respectful environment, we are unable to comment on individual personnel matters.
Also out of respect to the staff at Art Center, employee salaries are considered a private matter to be discussed at the discretion of each individual.
1 Comment »Blog vs. Message Board
June 16th, 2008 Community Forum ModeratorThanks for everyone’s suggestions about the format we’re using to communicate with you. We are working to create a more appropriate format for this conversation. We’ve heard - and appreciated! - your suggestions for various message boards and we’re looking into them. We hope to have a new format up and running soon.
5 Comments »Welcome
June 10th, 2008 Community Forum ModeratorWe want to hear from you, and welcome your questions, comments and concerns. If you have a question about a topic not answered in the FAQ, feel free to post a question below and we’ll research important issues and provide answers as thoroughly and timely as possible. Please be assured that if you choose to post anonymously, it will remain so.
Comments are moderated, so your comment may not appear instantly. Please be respectful, and refrain from using inflammatory, obscene or offensive language or spam. Help this site remain an open forum for community discussion, brainstorming and inspiration.
The Art Center Community Forum reflects a new spirit of engagement at Art Center, and we thank you for participating. Your feedback and ideas are much appreciated.
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