Queensborough Community College
of the City University of New York
ACADEMIC PROGRAM REVIEW
A.S. Degree Program in Gallery and Museum Studies
Excerpt: Priorities for the Future
Prepared by Jung Joon Lee, Assistant Professor, Department of Art and Design
Chair: Bob Rogers, Professor, Department of Art and Design
Spring 2014
Queensborough Community College – Gallery and Museum Studies – Program Review
VI. PRIORITIES FOR THE FUTURE: NEXT FIVE YEARS
The Gallery and Museum Studies Program at QCC is a unique program within the City
University of New York since no other CUNY community colleges offer such a program. It
is both enhanced and supported by the strong Studio Art and Art History curricula in the Art
and Design Department. Moreover, the small class sizes enable individual guidance and
advisement to students. Students gain hands-on experience at the QCC Art Gallery and the
Kupferberg Holocaust Center through their semester-long internships; they work closely
with the curators and directors, touching upon almost every aspect of museum-related tasks.
Students can also find internship opportunities at the Queens Museum of Art and the Rubin
Museum through the Art and Design Department’s internship coordination overseen by Prof.
Elizabeth DiGiorgio. We have seen students getting successfully accepted to transfer
programs at the University of Delaware, Brooklyn College, Queens College, City College,
and Columbia University.
Although the program has various strengths, enrollment has been decreasing. This is due to
a number of different reasons, but it largely reflects the current situation of the field of
museum studies and museum practices. A majority of museums and galleries across the
nation have been downsizing, while few prominent museums and commercial galleries have
been expanding and hiring. These museums and galleries require a B.A. or B.F.A. degree,
and more often, an M.A. degree in Art History or Arts Administration for entry-level
positions. Our program is a rare A.S. degree in Gallery and Museum Studies; students who
wish to pursue the field have the advantage gaining hands-on experience early on in New
York City, the “global center” of the art world, facilitating a move to a four-year program
with this advantage. Furthermore, QCC provides major academic services, including the
Campus Writing Center, which provides invaluable support especially for those new to the
discipline of art and art history.
To increase enrollment, these aspects of the program should be promoted and informed to
prospective students. While students who wish to major in art administration and museum
studies are likely to also look into four-year college programs, our program provides the
advantage of comparatively low tuition and smooth transfer to Queens College as long as
the student maintains a grade point average of 3.0. This could be advertised to potential
students at college open houses and in CUNY catalogues. Student advisement could also
help increase enrollment as seen in the sharp increase of enrollment in fall 2009 when the
Academy was first implemented and students received their first academic advisement from
the Academy. If funds are available, the program may be advertised in college guide
catalogues in print and online.
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Queensborough Community College – Gallery and Museum Studies – Program Review
The department continues to work on articulation agreements with other colleges and
universities; aside from concluding the articulation agreement with Queens College, Chair
Bob Rogers is currently discussing articulation with Hunter College. If agreed, Gallery and
Museum Studies students will have the option to transfer to two of the strongest
undergraduate Art History programs in New York.
The Gallery and Museum Studies curriculum was designed to synthesize various resources
offered by QCC, most notably the QCC Art Gallery and the Kupferberg Holocaust Resource
Center and Archives. In addition to such a synthesis, offering an online course may help
increase student enrollment and ultimately attract students to register for other on-campus
courses. As a start, the Art and Design Department plans to develop an online AR-803 Art
Curating course to be offered beginning in fall 2014. Since fall 2008, the program has
offered two AR-800 level courses per semester: AR-801 Art Administration offered every
semester and AR-803 Art Curating and AR-804 Art Institution and the Business of Art
offered in alternating semesters.
While the current curriculum consisting of one-hour 800-level courses has allowed a single
faculty member to manage all three courses, the instructor was able to bring more in-depth
course materials and incorporate various exercises and student-led discussions into a lecturebased course. This also allowed students to bring more questions and comments to class
while enhancing their learning experience. Including an online class may also make it
possible to attract experienced part-time faculty members in the field.
One of the strengths of the Gallery and Museum Studies Program is the close interaction
between faculty and students that prepares them for the many and varied tasks involved in
gallery and museum administration and curation. The hands-on activities at the QCC Art
Gallery and the Kupferberg Holocaust Resource Center and Archives incorporated into the
curriculum are the highlight of the program. As discussed, program promotion and
curricular redesign (offering an online course and three-hour, three-credit courses) can be
considered in the next five years to increase student enrollment, enhance the program, and
keep the program growing in the coming years. Adoption of high impact practices other than
writing intensive strategies can also enrich the curriculum, engaging students in more active
learning. Additional articulation agreements with colleges in the area will also strengthen the
program and provide students with a wider array of baccalaureate options.
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