Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Randomly Noted SCAD has lousy "climate for academic freedom," says profs' group
Posted by Scott Henry @ScottTheHenry on Tue, Nov 1, 2011 at 12:58 PM
The Savannah College of Art and Design, although perhaps the country's largest arts college, has always been an odd outlier in the world of academia. It isn't a member of the prestigious Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design, along with such peers as Parsons, the Rhode Island School of Design and NYC's School of Visual Arts. Nor is it accredited by the industry-standard National Association of Schools of Art and Design. And the private, intensely for-profit school has fostered a reputation of secrecy and top-down totalitarianism that occasionally surfaces in complaints over suppression of student and/or instructor expression.
Now comes the American Association of University Professors, which issued a report this past month censuring — or rather, re-censuring — the school for its Soviet-style repression of academic freedom.
The irony is that SCAD brought the new criticism on itself by inviting AAUP's scrutiny. The group had censured the college back in 1993 — long before it came to Atlanta — when SCAD had sacked a couple of teachers it suspected of encouraging student demonstrations. Apparently, last year the school asked AAUP to consider removing its censure and, in return, agreed to implement a handful of progressive policy changes and to offer settlement packages to former staffers it had terminated under dubious circumstances. All that was left was a brief, on-campus visit from an association representative.
Then things went south. According to the new censure report (PDF), after the college agreed on a date for the visit, SCAD President (and owner) Paula Wallace canceled the appointment and then issued a set of outrageous conditions, including the demand that the AAUP inspector could only see what the school wanted him to see.
For a visit with the stated purpose of gaining an impression of the climate for academic freedom, the AAUP (and indeed the visitor himself, through the execution of a separate confidentiality and nondisclosure agreement) needed to acknowledge that SCAD had “sole discretion in determining the itinerary” for the visitor: where on campus he may go, whom he could interview, and what topics he could discuss. SCAD was to receive a copy of the visitor’s report, and anything in it that went beyond the SCAD-approved topics to be discussed was to have no effect on removing the censure.
Then, the AAUP report says, it discovered SCAD hadn't even contacted the ex-employees who were supposed to receive settlements. The association decided it had seen enough and issued the following conclusion:
By setting extremely restrictive conditions for allowing a visit to occur, the administration itself placed massive limitations on freedom at SCAD to seek truth. The administration’s apparent zeal to control the content of a visitor’s report about academic freedom ironically provided abundant evidence that the current climate at SCAD for academic freedom is sorely deficient.
Here's what I don't get about SCAD. The school is obviously effective at attracting students — it has more than 10,500 of them at four campuses, including a new branch in Hong Kong — and giving them access to the newest, cutting-edge equipment to help them learn their chosen craft. I know current and former teachers and students at SCAD, none of whom complain about inadequate instruction or crummy facilities. No, they all complain (if they're not too scared) about the Big Brother-like mentality and infectious paranoia of the school administration.
School founder Wallace makes a reported $2 million a year — more than the presidents of Columbia, Harvard or Yale — while various family members on the payroll bring home another 800 large or so. Wallace also enjoys such perks as a private plane and a lushly furnished historic townhouse in Savannah. You'd think that all that compensation would buy a thicker skin and more generosity of spirit.
The school is teaching art and design, for God's sake, not offering mail-order degrees in criminal justice or automotive technology. Let the kids have their own student government. Make an effort to get accredited. Play nicely with others and maybe people will stop talking about SCAD as if it's a cult.
Comments (36)
Showing 1-36 of 36
"School founder Wallace makes a reported $2 million a year — more than the presidents of Columbia, Harvard or Yale — while various family members on the payroll bring home another 800 large or so. Wallace also enjoys such perks as a private plane and a lushly furnished historic townhouse in Savannah.
^This
"You'd think that all that compensation would buy a thicker skin and more generosity of spirit."
^NOT THIS
You identified the relevant facts, but may have come up with the wrong conclusion. The fact that the president's compensation is far higher than the salaries that should result in a competitive market should ring some alarm bells. Couldn't their controlling nature have something to do with the fact that they are trying to protect their profits???
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MK, clearly the Wallace clan's salaries are out of whack, but SCAD is a family-controlled, for-profit business, meaning they can pay themselves what they like. I just think it's counter-productive for the administration to also be so paranoid, secretive and repressive. It might be a great school, but all the skulduggery is off-putting.
SCAD is technically non-profit, they have just found loopholes to make tons of money, namely by creating a for-profit entity called SCAD Group Inc.
Wow, I would like the money back that I've invested in my daughter's education at this place. I'm more concerned about the following statements than I am about the infighting. "It isn't a member of the prestigious Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design, along with such peers as Parsons, the Rhode Island School of Design and NYC's School of Visual Arts. Nor is it accredited by the industry-standard National Association of Schools of Art and Design."
Thanks, scadsenior, for reminding me that the school is, very technically, "non-profit." I should have clarified that there's a shell corporation involved through which money is funneled. I'm sure it's all legal. But the long and short of it is that Wallace exerts absolute control over the school, profits greatly from it and whose own professional neuroses are reflected in its administration.
Please note that SCAD is accredited by SACS, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (http://www.sacs.org/). This is the same organization that accredits Emory, Georgia Tech, Agnes Scott, Vanderbilt University, University of Virginia, Richmond University and fellow art school Ringling School of Art and Design among many others.
I think this is outrageous and ridiculous. As to Mother, you didn't check our child's schools accreditation before signing the check? and yes SCAD is SACS accredited so just because it does not fall in line with all the above mentioned schools it still is accredited. As for the payment of President Wallace and her family members, No one seems to think of all the money that the Wallace's and Rowan put back into the school. For example they donated hundreds of thousands to the New SCAD Museum of Art, they donate money all the time and give back to their school, so what is the problem with having the money to give back to something you are the Co-Founder of. And when it comes to Harvard and Yale and parsons, is the President also the Co-Founder? I don't think so, so there in fact goes another point. If you are the Co-founder of the school and the President I would hope you are just making more than just a President of a School. These accusations really make my blood boil. SCAD has been a part of my life for 21 years since I moved to Savannah and I can't imagine it not being here.
SCAD4EVER, if you followed the link you would have read this:
"In 2008 her total compensation as president was $1,946,730, according to newly released tax documents."
So the $2 million was her salary for the position of president. There goes your counter-point.
Also, people aren't attacking SCAD as a whole, just certain facets of how it is run. Besides that, care to comment about the AAUP report that was the point of the article in the first place?
Wow, @mother, that's a ton of cash to spend before doing all your research. Your fault!
I go to SCAD and agree that while the facilities and instructors are great the administration (mainly just Paula Wallace and her Kids) are horrible. I have been incredibly happy with the way SCAD has helped me pursue my own art, but am also constantly irritated by their attempts to put their commercial image ahead of academic freedom. For example, all the student work on the walls has to be approved by the administration in order to impress visitors. Also members of the Wallace family get jobs they are not qualified for. The person who "wants her money back" is a moron, if her daughter is motivated and talented SCAD will provide all the resources for her to succeed. I have attended three colleges, two for undergrad and now SCAD for my MFA. SCAD has better facilities and instructors than the other two, which were public state universities. On the other hand those universities were definitely better in terms of "academic freedom." I put academic freedom in quotes because SCAD is actually very open to students pursuing whatever art they choose. My only complaint is really just the top down force exerted by the Wallace family. Every university has its pros and cons.
I can't help but wonder if SCAD gets picked on by these struggling academic establishments because of its spectacular success. It seems not even AAUP's toothless "censure" has affected the college's (and students') achievements. Not only students, but apparently faculty as well flock to this institution that's grown by leaps and bounds while the tired tenured keep piling on. Heck, if I was Paula Wallace, I'd ignore the wailings of old-line professors and keep doing what works.
As the Chief Academic Office of the Savannah College of Art and Design, I approached the AAUP in good faith, hoping to put to rest decades-old allegations from AAUP against our non-profit and accredited university. I am disappointed by AAUP’s false representation of our conversations, and by its unfounded conclusions about the academic climate at SCAD. In fact, the academic climate at SCAD promotes scholastic and artistic innovation and nurtures a high-quality, student-centered educational model. In spirit and in substance, the AAUP’s one-sided characterization of our conversations lacks integrity and aims to mislead.
Consider my example, one of many that upends AAUP’s uninformed portrayal of life at SCAD. In 1990, I moved my family across the country to join the SCAD faculty, where I have thrived ever since. To wit, I write to you not from Savannah, but from Paris, where I have travelled with a group of my SCAD students to study the 15th century print collection at the Bibliothèque nationale de France. But perhaps the most poignant proof of academic freedom and fulfillment amongst SCAD faculty is in the numbers: For several years, SCAD has maintained a 96-percent faculty retention rate, rising high above the national average. During a time when higher education fights to retain its relevance, slashing budgets and furloughing faculty, SCAD – the university, students, alumni, and faculty – flourishes.
And it flourishes in spite of AAUP’s long and inexplicable effort to punish SCAD students and faculty. To continue to attempt to penalize an institution for alleged events that occurred nearly two decades ago says more about the AAUP’s obstinate grudge-holding than it does about our university’s ability to evolve and mature. We would also question the efficacy of AAUP’s “punishment;” SCAD has grown exponentially in spite of it, attracting thousands of students and scores of faculty members from around the world.
AAUP has released a false document that mischaracterizes the substance and spirit of our conversations. The degree to which AAUP disregards due process in favor of a foregone conclusion is disappointing for an organization that purports to ascribe to high ethical values.
Thanks, SCADProf, for weighing in. SCAD is spectacularly successful, continually growing and does a number of fine things, from restoring much of Savannah's historic downtown to launching a major film festival that attracts top-notch talent from around the world. But the administration keeps derailing the message by being repressive and weird. I don't want to get bogged down in a he said-she said over the AAUP report — unless the report is substantially untrue — but it's only the latest such tale of paranoia and squirreliness by the SCAD administration.
SCADProf, a high retention rate and academic freedom are not necessarily synonymous. It could very well be that the faculty are just choosing to do work that is less in conflict with the administration's ideals so that they can keep their jobs. That would be the natural adaptation strategy given the particular terms of employment favored by the school. Academic freedom becomes important in situations where exactly such conflicts occur and you would have to give some examples of faculty keeping their jobs year after year despite being severely at odds with the administration
I taught video production and film history at SCAD for two years in the late 90s, so this article really hit home for me. I remember when the school's accreditation was up for review in I think '99, and the administrators held a slew of meetings telling faculty what to say and how to act in front the accreditation officials. It felt like they were putting on a full-on public relations front that bore little resemblance to what the school was like on a day-to-day basis. I think that generally SCAD has done wonderful things for Savannah, and they really do help cultivate the talents of young artists. It's just that the school is run like the worst kind of corporation: secretive, greedy, and oppressive.
I taught video production and film history at SCAD for two years in the late 90s, so this article really hit home for me. I remember when the school's accreditation was up for review in '99, and the administrators held a slew of meetings telling faculty what to say and how to act in front the accreditation officials. It felt like they were putting on a full-on public relations front that bore little resemblance to what the school was like on a day-to-day basis. I think that generally SCAD has done wonderful things for Savannah, and they really do help cultivate the talents of young artists. It's just that the school is run like the worst kind of corporation: secretive, greedy, and oppressive.
"AAUP Blasts Climate for Academic Freedom at Savannah College of Art and Design"
http://chronicle.com/article/AAUP-Blasts-C…
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artsprof2
"I feel sick to my stomach.
As a former student and now as a professor at SCAD finishing up my final year here, I feel that perhaps our ‘plight’ is not accurately portrayed by ether the “Ex-SCAD Profs” or by those who have only “heard” of what goes on here.
I came to SCAD to earn my MFA after 20+ years in the industry. My experience at SCAD as a graduate student was life changing. The attention, creative mentoring, and the arse-kicking I received from my professors empowered me to grow tremendously as an artist and as a scholar.
The experience had such a profound effect on me that i took a two year sabbatical to join the faculty at SCAD and I was welcomed with open arms. In twenty years I have never worked with such a collegial, professional, and talented group of people. They have become family to me.
My success at SCAD as a scholar, an artist and as a professor exceeded all of my expectations. The sheer number of dedicated, passionate, student-centered professors and professionals I have met and worked with at SCAD has shown me what a truly magical place this university is.
One short, but telling event occurred during my first week as a professor. I ran into a SCAD professor standing in line at the coffee house. After exchanging pleasantries, she excused herself because she was “Going to help the freshmen move into their dorms.” I was shocked— why would a professor give up her saturday to help move freshmen into dorms? “Because,” she said, “It helps make the new students feel a little less scared, and a little more connected to our community when a professor takes the time to help them out on their first week, its scary being away from home.”
I have observed many of these ‘going the extra mile’ - acts of kindness from SCAD professors. The great majority of us Profs, love our jobs and our students and we would not think twice about doing what we could to ensure our students have the upper hand in the job market. I believe that this attitude and belief is what sets SCAD professors apart from their colleagues at other universities.
And yet, it has been my observation that there is a cancer that eats away at the very soul of SCAD. I believe that the source of the cancer is the administration’s unwillingness to believe in the product they sell.
And that cancer takes the form of “a culture of fear” among all faculty members at SCAD.
The culture of fear is maintained by an administration that infantilizes its faculty, making them dependent on the administration for their livelihoods. Reminding them that they have a contract renewal coming up— “now… can you volunteer for one more weekend of marketing for the university?”
The administration infantilizes its faculty by keeping a tight grip on what we say about the institute publicly (they have been known not to renew your contract if you are critical of them).
They infantilize the faculty by telling them what they can and cannot have on the walls of their office, what they can and can’t wear to work.
They infantilize the faculty by taking attendance taken at quarterly “Ra ra go SCAD” meetings.
They infantilize the faculty by summarily dismissing faculty when the faculty expresses political views in the classroom.
They infantilize the faculty (and students) through controlling access to websites critical of SCAD.
They infantilize the faculty through the monitoring of personal email.
They infantilize the faculty by ‘observing faculty’ that are not getting the ‘message.’
These infantilizing acts slowly break down new faculty. What I could not put my finger on as a student, I see clearly as a professor.
The administration attitude toward the faculty is: “We don’t respect you, we do not respect what you do, and we certainly do not trust you— shut up and do your job.”
Why might this be? It is my opinion that that administration does not believe in the product they are selling. How can one believe in the product if they do not respect those who make the product? Those who design and oversee the day to day delivery of the product? SCAD is more than pretty buildings—honeytraps for new students and their parents.
SCAD is a magical place. SCAD is a magical place with a diverse, talented passionate faculty that are dedicated to their profession, the art of teaching, and to ultimately to their students’ success.
When I leave SCAD this spring it will be a very sad day for me. I have grown to love this place as a student, and as a professor. I truly believe in ‘the product.’ I will miss the 25 classroom contact hours per week, the weekend extra help sessions. I will miss the emails of thanks from my students when a job prospect I sent turns into a job. Most of all I will miss the talented, inspired and passionate faculty that I have been blessed to teach beside. "
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9367168
"It is very sad indeed. SCAD gets a bad rap because it truly is a wonderful place for students to study. Aside from the absolute commitment of the faculty to the students' education and careers, there is an atmosphere of student-centered education that I dare any other institution to match. As professors, we work way beyond to insure that our students get the very best of us.
What, then, is so tragic, as artprof1 so eloquently pointed out, is that the upper administration, people like Mr. Osayzin and the President are so distrustful of us, and operate under the assumption that, if they don't treat us like children they don't really seem to like, then we will surely misbehave.
I don't know what they are afraid of. Despite their utter disrespect and indifference to all we do, we still produce an amazing product for them because we care about our students. What a place SCAD could be if the President (it all comes from her) just trusted us and strove to create an atmosphere of positivity that our mission so proudly trumpets.
consider this:
They will lay off dozens of staff for a few weeks in December to save money as their location in Hong Kong drains the coffers, a new museum opens and other expenses are disbursed that are whims, not sound.
A Dean who had been here many years is gone because he complained and tried to point out to the new CAO that his policies and tactics are destroying the school
They trumpet how great the facilities are, yet only a few majors have those great facilities, most suffer with woefully inadequate places to do their work
When the President's office makes bizarre and demeaning requests, everyone jumps, no one ever questions the decisions and she is surrounded by people who are enabling her slowly crumbling sense of what's right and good for the university.
Her son is running Hong Kong, enough said.
Mr. Ozaysin is uniformly despised by everyone in the college except the President, he is gutting programs, destroying lives and making ludicrous decisions that only someone with virtually no academic experience could, yet he continues his reign of terror, counteracting so much of the good that his predecessor put in place.
They try to control every aspect of the college's life and there is absolutely NO academic freedom whatsoever. It is more like a communist regime than an institution of free thinkers all contributing to a great outcome.
We are all desperate for the President to have someone in her ear that she trusts point out to her what she is allowing to happen and stop before its too late.
We all love SCAD and only us professors know the truth about how powerful a force we are in the lives of our students. And the numbers support us. Almost 85% of our students enter the job force, even in this economy, within six months. Can any other college match that?
Will SCAD go the way of the Roman Empire and Leona Helmsley? "
As a second year transfer student here at SCAD, I am still amazed by how much this school provides for te students, facility-wise and academically. The buildings and technologies are top-notch. Most (95%) of the professors here are dedicated and want their students to do well and encourage us to go beyond the classroom assignments. However, there always seems to be a dark cloud hovering over them: the administration.
I have never met Paula Wallace, nor do I expect to, but if I did I would enthusiastically thank her for setting up such a wonderful place to learn the arts. I would then request her immediate resignation on grounds of insanity. The museum is a joke, as well as Hong Kong, apparently. The fact that they are forcing a the departments' staff to take a month of unpaid leave to pay for the ludicrous project that Is SCAD Hon Kong is ridiculous! Someone high up there needs to realize that place will be the beginning of te end for SCAD and shut it down, donate it for tax purposes, whatever. Just get rid of it.
Also, just about every advisor in York (now Bradley for some reason) Hall needs to be fired and those positions thrown out. The only advisers the students need are their major advisors, as none of the general advisors in York Hall seem to know anything other than how to get your money to SCAD faster.
Sadly, we can't eliminate York Hall from the picture; a school needs it's admins to keep everything straight and do the boring paperwork. And they do a good job keeping things in line here. In my experience, they really have this place nice and organized. So why is it every time I go there, everyone is on edge and looks like the building could fall down on them any minute? My guess is the leadership. The leaders of SCAD instill fear into their workforce, and it spreads like wild fire.
Most of us students try to ignore these things in an effort to get the most out of SCAD, but when the tuition goes up a few thousand dollars, an unnecessarily costly museum addition goes up, and the new campus is obviously failing, we can't ignore that dark cloud anymore.
As far as the museum goes, SCAD IS a museum! Just go walk the halls of any department building. I've seen more amazing things in halls of my school than I've seen at the freaking MOMA. I find it truly sad that the higher-ups can't see SCAD in the same utterly amazed regard that I do.
I'm a recent SCAD Atlanta graduate. I finished the master of fine arts program last year. Loved it. The school is great, very tough academically, but I never felt for a moment that the school impeded my student ambitions in any way.
I love SCAD, but sadly, it is true that the administration is a little totalitarian and too concerned about the school's image more than anything else. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the reviews above were written by SCAD staff, for example. I love this school, but I do feel that intellectual people will be (and already are) the leaders of tomorrow, and by successful leaders I don't mean how many employees are under you but how many projects you have to positively impact the world. I would love for SCAD to give more emphasis to humanism, to the intellectual, to the commitment to the world as a community through design. I am scared of putting my real name and get in trouble for this, so I am using a fake one. I do really want to point out that I am nevertheless very happy in this place and I have learned to love it, but still, with this insights I mentioned, it would be a much much worthier school of course
SCAD is certainly republican... not at all the student body, but the administration. Making money = the only important thing, How, doesn't matter. I wont say more : (
while i felt censored at scad and saw censorship at scad the only censorship true censorship i experienced there was self censorship.
i think the promotion of self censorship by some members of the staff is worse than traditional censorship that is usually cited.
the traditional censorship is fairly ridiculous. things like limitations on nude drawings and paintings on display in the hallways. part of the justification is that high school kids will visit durring the tours of the building. i cant think of any museum so puritanical that they would not have nude portraiture on display and feel the need to hide it away like it is something shameful.
the self censorship bothers me more for two reasons. the most important being because if its learned and picked up by the student it can linger long after your stay at scad if the student does not adress it. the second reason is that art school is suppost to be a place where you find your voice, where you have the freedom to make mistakes and learn from them in a non commercial nurturing environment. while i learned everything about materials and techniques i could ever want i feel like i was never able to really explore my voice out of fear that i would say something i shouldn't.
sometimes i think true artists thrive in oppressive regimes, it gives them something of substance to talk about. look at the art that came out of the Reagan years, or whats coming out of china an Iran these days. so maybe the oppressive tones that tarnish scads otherwise impressive credentials are a good thing. but then again i only saw one person making any artwork addressing these issues.
i have no regrets of going to scad, only hopes that it can grow from the critiques that so many have raised.
As a senior preparing to graduate with a BFA from SCAD in June, I don't really have any negative feedback. I have never felt that I was unable to find my voice due to squandering. As a matter of fact, I have felt the exact opposite. All my professors have challenged me to produce better work, approach things in a new way to help me learn and grow as an artist. I have never felt like my professors were under a looming cloud. That isn't to say they aren't, but I never personally picked up on that.
I'm not really sure how I feel about the museum addition. At the opening it was hard to really experience it... but I don't think it's a complete waste. There is a lot of interesting work on display.
As for all the negative comments about the administration, it's all useless. I've never had a personal experience with the president or the others, but if they're really so terrible, why doesn't anyone try to actually do something about it? There is so much action people can take anonymously to bring these points to the president's face and really get her attention. So why is it not being done?
As a previous student of scad now living in new york, I can personally say that as I've approached grad schools, the directors of the masters programs always have a bit of laughing to do about SCAD. The censoring, the corruption, the lawsuits they have placed on other colleges for trying to open a campus in the region (such as that of SVA)...not a good reputation to have to face as a student looking for a grad program or job after spending $120,000 dollars to attend (scholarship or no scholarship!) That's Yale tuition. Meanwhile, Paula jacks up tuition at every given opportunity and as students sink further into student debt loans, the more she is able to pocket. The administration at this school is beyond corrupt and is an EMBARRASSMENT to the students and faculty they represent. Maybe instead of being so concerned about "their reputation" as it relates to student work...they should start encouraging academic freedom and treating it's faculty with more respect like the PROFESSIONALS they are. If the faculty wasn't so great here, Scad would be sinking like a ship. Besides, the best of the faculty eventually quits or gets fired for speaking up for themselves and their students... FOR ACADEMIC FREEDOM!!! Paula, P.J., Brett Osborn, and "crew": Stop blaming the students, faculty, and press for your negative feedback and take responsibility for your mistakes!!! That's the TRUTH! It's been going on for almost 40 years now and it's the same conversation. You would think you would eventually step back and think "maybe there IS room to change!"
@spcollins "Please note that SCAD is accredited by SACS, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (http://www.sacs.org/). This is the same organization that accredits Emory, Georgia Tech, Agnes Scott, Vanderbilt University, University of Virginia, Richmond University and fellow art school Ringling School of Art and Design among many others."
Thats great and all but this is an art school not a regular university. They should be accredited by the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design or at least the National Association of Schools of Art and Design !!! Its an art school, and a very expensive one. Where majority of the kids who enroll end up dropping out or failing out after their first year. But most transferring because they cant afford to even go here anymore. SCAD just needs to get their priorities straight. I feel horrible for the three athletic teams that they just cut this year for a stupid reason. They broke a lot of promises and destroyed a lot of young kids dreams. Yes they're still giving them their scholarships but these kids came here so they could follow their passion for art AND passion for sports. I feel even worse for the freshman they just signed to those sports this year. Came to the school of their dreams and all excited to play 4 years of a college sport then after their first semester its cut?! Talk about a load of BULL****!! SCAD is going downhill, fast.
I just want to know where my $29 every quarter went because I have yet to receive any answers. Just saying!
And by $29 I mean.....that they kept saying I owed more money every Quarter for tuition. Strange-indeed. More seriously, I remember how amazing I felt being accepted into SCAD. How I felt so talented and couldn't wait to start my career and I must say the experience was once in a lifetime, but that was cut short because of exceedingly demanding tuition with very little financial/scholarship help. I understand that relying on the school alone for a full ride is outrageous, but they really do squeeze whatever money that they can from you. I do miss SCAD every day and the wonderful people I met along the way, but I don't miss the constant battle with fighting to keep my lunch money honestly. SCAD has terrific Professors, whom I believe are there to help you succeed, but it seems to stop with them. I learned a lot from being there and that will carry with me into my career.
my cousin went to SCAD. now he works at olan mills. yay art school.
As a current building arts student at SCAD i would like to say that first and foremost every university has its faults but the ones everyone speaks of about the administration seems to be shared by most large universities. Administration here is very Overbearing... However I think that this aspect of SCAD Should be viewed also from a slightly different perspective. As designers we are in a constant and crazed search for perfection.. If you are not, you dont belong in this industry. I cant help but see that the administration is on the very same rampage. They may not always go about this in the right way but more importantly it is apparent that they care. The administration at the past two universities I attended did not have such a totalitarian administration.. But to be honest their laissez-faire attitude reflected in every aspect of the school including the students. At both universities it was very apparent that they didnt give a damn about the way they were portaying themselves and in retrospect their students. I pay a ridiculous tuition for SCAD administration to not be relentless in their search for a image of perfection. I dont always agree with their tactics but appreciate their effort as outrageous as it may seem at times.
In respect to previous comments mentioned above about academic freedom and the administration infantilizing the faculty...
First and foremost..
WE ARE NOT JUST ART STUDENTS. We are students preparing ourselves for competitive professional careers. Because of this we should expect SCAD to operate as a corporation not just an educational facility. This gives us as students a taste of the real world. You dont like Paula Wallace? You are furious because she is overpaid? WHO CARES. As professionals half the time we are in the industry we will hate our boss and complain about how they behave like a dictator. I dont even think about Paula other than to laugh about how we have a higher paid president than Harvard... And believe me when i say she is not hendering my education or academic freedom. I do not need an administration to "be nice to me, or baby me because I am a student." This is not elementary school I want a realistic sense of the real world.. Which is all about corporate image. Lets face it corporate image and branding are SCAD's top priorities.
In response to the complaint about how the work put up in the halls must be approved by the administration..
First of all, it should be noted that this is approved by the chair of your department who is also a designer or professional in your major, not just some out of loop administrator with no design background. Secondly, THANK GOD someone approves the work. How would it look to visiting professionals and recruiters who walk through our halls to see mediocre work on the walks? Think they would want to hire SCAD students then? It makes sense fir the best of the best to be on exhibit.. That is who makes it in life. Get used to it.
SCAD is preparing me for a competitve workplace and industry and I am proud to say I am getting my education here. The atmosphere is competitive and inspiring, my professors and peers have pushed me to the point that i know regardless of the career path I take I can make a strong impression.
One thing I'd like to see addressed is the quality of the online instruction. After two years in the online program I have to say I cannot recommend it. Many of the professors seem to think their only job is to grade papers on time, and offer little to no guidance or interaction with the students. I see other students flounder and fail in these courses because they have no idea what they are doing and no one to help them.
I feel that online-only schools may have more expertise and specialized instruction to offer that this campus-centric university cannot. I have complained about the situation and the only changes I have seen is the number of assignments shoot up, but the instruction quality has not changed. There are a few dedicated professors in this program that understand the nature of online instruction but they are rare and cluster in only one or two departments.
I see SCAD spending its money in too many different directions, such as opening a campus in Hong Kong (-?), while the online programs are just left to flounder and are nothing more than a money farm for the school.
The information provided by SCADprof is patently false. He fails to mention how SCAD has not given raises to faculty in recent years and furloughs staff during the winter break to save money for those posh trips to Paris because the college is going bankrupt due to the over expenditures on facilities, lush trips, "family" salaries, and the development of Hong Kong, which has been a huge loss financially for the college. SCAD is a PR machine that cares for no one, student, faculty or staff. The fact that a few students happened to have a good experience is due to the few good faculty that work there. Those faculty who have not been brainwashed (and SCAD is a cult) stay because they love their students and want to do what is best for them in spite of a program that puts financial gain and reputation above education.
I'd like to weigh in on this and reiterate what most people have been implicitly saying, that SCAD is first and foremost a business. It is, however, damn good at what it sells.
I'm a Senior Graphic Design BFA student here, and I do agree that this school seems to be run like a dictatorial corporation, but to be honest I think that's one of the biggest reasons the students graduating from here tend to be so successful. I think SCAD takes so much heat, not because it's run like a corporation, but because it's an art school run like a corporation. Creative people tend to trend towards a liberal mindedness in the social and political spheres. SCAD as mentioned before is very conservative, but what major successful business isn't? Herein lies the real conflict.
There is a general assumption that in order to be an affective educational institution you give total freedom to the faculty to teach their students in any manner their whims take them. I respectfully disagree. As one example, I am forever grateful that political moralizing, and proselytizing have little or no place in any of my classrooms. We are here to learn how to conduct ourselves in the business of art. We are here to learn a craft and a trade. We are not going to this school to get preached at or become brainwashed by anyones personal political agendas, and I'm proud of that.
As for the constant attention to it's self image, I would actually commend SCAD for their efforts. As frustrating as it can be at times, they are practicing the very things they teach about successful branding. It's all about controlling your image. Call it PR, or whatever you like, but if a school is teaching it's students how to create a successful brand, they ought to be applying those same principles themselves.
Finally I admit that there are certain expenditures I think are frivolous and stupid (ie. Hong Kong) and I am often frustrated by some of the lack of equipment in certain departments. Stupid choices come with taking risks, but so does good business, and SCAD has been taking risks since Paula decided to open an art school in the bible belt. It is annoying, but ultimately it has little effect on the quality of education I receive. The professors here are fantastic, and if anything the restrictions and bureaucratic non-sense actually help this school produce good creative professionals.
You don't have to like it, and you don't have to like Paula (I certainly have no love for the woman.) You can continue to rant and rave about how evil it is. You can even start your very own occupy SCAD movement, but what she's doing has worked so far. It's put thousands of fantastic creatives in their dream jobs, it's revitalized a dieing town, and the level of education I've received here so far is worth every damn penny I've spent. After all, isn't that what I'm really paying for?
As a SCAD student who has pursued several degrees at the school's main (Savannah) campus, these are my thoughts: Firstly, the school's standards of education in most fields are top-notch, though the grading standards are not quite up to par with the level of instruction. That is to say, because the school wants seemingly more and more students, they don't want things to be too hard on them and in contrast to many art schools (I also studied at RISD), the rigor is not what you'd expect. Some professors bring about very demanding standards, but in general you can get an "A for effort" in too many cases. As far as problems at SCAD actually affect students, that would be my focus. Dr. Wallace and her family did found the school, she has since becoming president lead it far and beyond what anyone expected an art school to accomplish and she is by any standard a highly-innovative business-woman.Two million per year is a lot for a college prez but not for a CEO at a corporation, and I think she sees herself as the latter as much as the former. She started a successful business and has made it what it is today and she wants to get paid. We'd not complain if she did that with GE or Lockheed, now would we? As to academic freedom, the lack of tenure for profs always seemed odd but honestly, the emphasis at SCAD is on teaching and profs are not expected to publish as at most schools. For someone in a field like art history who wants to teach over do research, that can be a blessing. They do how tend to censor student and facult complaints and even art . . . try getting an explict or highly political work of art into a SCAD group show and it won't probably make the cut. They want to come off to the Garden and Gun type of Southern, upper-class folks as friendly and down-home but hip and that's pretty much where they are today.
SCAD is not an "art school" it's an ART BUSINESS school. It runs it's "business" in a very scary "Big Brother" like fashion .....it''s a trend in American institutions of higher learning to put business before education...SCAD is the forerunner of that; they are as shameless and tacky as Kim Kardashian. On top of it, they are known for skullduggery amoung professionals. R u a talented graphic designer? Go to RISD.
We can summarize SCAD in a few sentences: It is a kingdom and the queen is the emperor without clothes. The faculty is treated like subjects without rights, the Deans have nothing to say anymore, the management is super inefficient. The best faculty leaves and left over is mediocre but loyal faculty. That's all and that does not mean that it is a bad educational institution it is just not democratic at all and very feudal.
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