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Master of Arts in Arts Administration
This graduate degree program is for individuals with experience in arts organizations, seeking to
enhance their effectiveness and increase their career opportunities as arts administration
professionals. The emphasis of the degree is on leadership in not-for-profit arts organizations
with special focus on the visual arts, dance, music, theatre, museum, cultural institution and
performing arts administration.
The 36-hour degree program consists of a core of 18 weekend sessions (18 credit hours), thesis
and practicum work (12 credit hours), and two one-week summer institutes (6 credit hours)
spread out over two years of full-time, low residency enrollment in the fall, spring, and summer.
Classes meet one weekend each month fall and spring semesters and one week in June.
Participants will be admitted in cohorts beginning in the fall semester of each year. Classes
meet on three weekends during the fall semester, three weekends during the spring semester, three weekends
and one full week during the summer term.
Mission Statement. The mission of the Master of Arts in Arts Administration is to prepare reflective
leaders to work with skill and grace in non-profit arts communities. The program emphasizes critical
thinking, clear communication, and open discussion supported by current academic research in
leadership and the arts. The Master of Arts in Arts Administration program combines current
theoretical study and academic research as well as applied practice to prepare reflective leaders to work
with professional skill, creative initiative, and humane integrity in non-profit arts environments.
Admission Requirements. In addition to meeting Winthrop University general admission
requirements for all graduate students, the applicants for admission to this program must show
high promise of success in graduate study in arts administration as demonstrated by an essay,
interview and documentation of work experience in the field. Specifically applicants should:
1. Hold a baccalaureate degree in an arts or business management discipline;
2. Have an overall undergraduate grade-point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale;
3.
3. Have at least one year of professional work experience (professional or volunteer) in
a non-profit arts/cultural environment;
4. Submit an essay describing their background in a non-profit arts/cultural
environment and their reasons for pursuing this degree program;
5 Submit a current vitae; and
6. Submit two letters of recommendation. Recommendations from arts and/or academic
professionals who can speak about the applicant’s involvement in the non-profit arts field and the
applicant’s academic research/writing skills are preferred.
Materials and applications are due by Review of applications will begin on February 15 for the
Fall semester admission.; aAll materials should be sent to the Graduate School, 209 Tillman
Hall, Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SC 29733. Final admission decisions cannot be made until
all information has been received. Applicants not submitting all materials prior to the deadline
will be considered for the following academic year.
After credentials are reviewed, the program director will contact the applicant to schedule an
interview. Interviews will be conducted between March 15 and April 30.
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An applicant whose native language is not English must present a score of at least 550 on the
TOEFL. Students desiring to participate in this degree program who do not have a bachelor’s
degree in an arts or business management discipline may demonstrate life and work experience
as prerequisite for admission. This substitution is applicable to less than 10% of any entering
class.
Required Program
Year 1
ARTA 600
ARTA 610
ARTA 650
ARTA 685
ARTA 686
Principles and Practices of Arts Administration
Leadership, Management, and Organizational Structure
Arts Administration and the Law
Field Based Practicum I
Field Based Practicum II
Year 1- Summer Institute I
ARTA 670 Policy and Advocacy
Year 2
ARTA 620
ARTA 630
ARTA 640
ARTA 695
3
ARTA 696
3
Marketing the Arts
Financial Analysis, Budgeting, and Fiscal Management
Sustainability: Funding, Development, and Grants
Thesis Research in Arts Adminisrtation I
Semester Hours
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
Thesis Research in Arts Administration II
Year 2 - Summer Institute II
ARTA 660 Community Engagement
3
Total Semester Hours
36
Students must meet the same qualitative requirements (GPA) for retention and graduation as
for the graduate educational leadership and relevant graduate arts degrees.
The information below is NOT part of the catalog copy. It is explanation about the reasons for
the changes in this program. The changes that are being proposed in the four courses, ARTA
685, 686, 695, and 696 reflect a significant adjustment in the design of the MAAA program. The
proposal is eliminating the formal thesis as part of the degree requirements and replacing it with
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a major research paper that students develop and complete in ARTA 695 and 696. There are
several reasons for this proposed change.
On a practical level, this program change is about sustainability. Many MAAA students are not
completing their theses and their degrees. These are post-traditional students with several years
of professional experience in the non-profit world. Once they finish their coursework and
become disconnected from the institution, the thesis falls by the wayside as they juggle the
responsibilities of full-time employment and personal/family commitments. Since the creation of
the program in 2003, the program has maintained about a 50% degree completion rate, and such
a low completion rate could jeopardize the program’s status with the state Commission on
Higher Education or with SACS.
From the perspective of educational philosophy, this program change is about pedagogical
relevance. Faculty members in the program considered the fundamental question about the most
appropriate kind of capstone experience for students in the MAAA program. Graduate study in
arts administration is professional—not academic—training that prepares students for careers in
a specific field of public employment. It shares this purpose with degrees like the MSW, MBA,
and the M.Ed. in Educational Leadership, where professional competency is the intended
outcome. The most recent graduate standards articulated by the Association of Arts
Administration Educators (AAAE) recommend program design that develops students’
professional competencies. MAAA students would be better served with a capstone experience
that is an authentic learning activity designed to develop professional competency as opposed to
a theoretical investigation that generates new academic knowledge. An authentic learning
activity accurately simulates a task, skill, or problem in the professional setting. (The Case
Method pioneered by the Harvard Business represents a good example of this pedagogical
approach.)
With this program change in place, MAAA students will complete a major research paper or
project as the capstone experience in the program. Completion of a research project can become
an authentic learning activity directly related to a student’s current professional work with an arts
or cultural organization. Similarly, completion of a research paper can explore an issue or topic
in the profession that could either help a student meet a personal professional development goal
for career advancement or enhance academic research and writing skills as preparation for
further advanced education (Ph.D., DMA, J.D., or Ed.D., for example). Students will develop
this capstone research activity over two semesters in the second year of enrollment—in ARTA
695 and ARTA 696. In ARTA 695 the student will draft the proposal for the capstone research
activity. In ARTA 696 the student will write and revise the final draft of the research activity.
The final draft is expected to be 20 pages long (5000 words). A faculty mentor, the program
director, and an outside reader will work with each student on this capstone research paper or
project. The outside reader could be a Winthrop faculty member, a Winthrop academic staff
member, or someone outside of Winthrop with relevant expertise and interest in the topic. This
team of reviewers will work with the student to insure excellence in the quality of the final
product’s content, design, writing, and research.
Students are prepared to succeed in this capstone research activity by completing smaller
research papers in the first year of enrollment. In ARTA 685 students write a detailed summary
and analysis of an interview they conduct with a professional practicioner in the field (2000 word
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minimum). This assignment is modeled after one used in the College of Education in the M.Ed.
program. In ARTA 686 students write a 10-page (2500 word) research paper on a topic of their
choice (approved by the instructor). In ARTA 695 students are drafting the proposal for the
capstone research paper or project (1200 word minimum). Students are also completing research
and writing assignments in other courses throughout their two-year enrollment. Taking into
consideration all these assignments spread over the two years of study in the program, students
will be engaging in MORE research and writing than they would do for a traditional thesis (40
pages or 10,000 words).
This program change streamlines the path to degree completion for MAAA students in a
number of ways. While a formal thesis is published research, this capstone research activity will
not necessarily be published. Hence, will be no need to submit an IRB protocol for approval
when human subjects are involved in the research for this capstone research activity. Moreover,
this capstone research activity does not require the approval of the college-level director of
graduate studies, the college dean, or the graduate school. Finally, students will not need to pay
the costs of printing hard copies, as they would be required to do for a formal thesis.
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This program change is not viewed as a “watering down” of the degree. MA programs
that do not include a formal thesis are widely accepted in American higher education today.
Indeed, the presence of a required thesis in MA arts administration programs is not normative
nationally. The AAAE website lists 40+American MA programs in arts administration
(including formats that are traditional, online, low-residency, etc.). Required degree credits
range from 30 to 40+, and only a handful of them require a formal thesis. Many require some
sort of internship or other kind of authentic, professional practice as a capstone experience. Not
all MA programs at Winthrop require a formal thesis. For example, the M.Ed. in Curriculum and
Instruction, MA in English, MA in History, MS in Biology, and MS in Human Nutrition all offer
non-thesis options where students enroll in additional courses as the alternative to the thesis. The
graduate director of the College of Education reports that the overwhelming majority of M.Ed.
students choose the non-thesis option. An AAAS analysis indicates that about two-thirds of
students in the four CAS programs choose the non-thesis option. The MLA, MBA, MS in School
Psychology, MAT, and MSW degrees at Winthrop do not require a thesis. As an alternative,
these latter three programs require professional practice experiences in the form of field
placements.
1. Ggraduate programs must contain academic substance at a much higher level of rigor
than in undergraduate degree programs;
2. graduate programs must include substantial research or professional activity; and
3. graduate programs must engage students in the study of the literature of the academic
discipline.
Certainly, an MA program that includes a formal thesis meets these standards. The change
proposed here in Winthrop’s MAAA program will not jeopardize accreditation with SACS. This
capstone research activity will require study of the literature, it will require research, and the
rubric used to evaluate it is calibrated to graduate-level standards of academic rigor. Moreover,
the entire program includes research papers, projects, and presentations in many of the required
courses where students demonstrate their skills in research and their knowledge of the literature
of the field. The MAAA Annual Assessment Plan (accessible on the program website) explains
in detail how the program as a whole meets SACS standards for graduate programs.
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