1 July 2006
To:
Linda Beath, Associate Vice President
Undergraduate Studies
From:
Marji Morgan, Dean
College of Arts and Humanities
Re:
2005-2006 Program Review, Art
I write to provide commendations and recommendations as part of the program review process for Art.
These remarks are based on the Department’s Self-Study and the external reviewer’s evaluation, and take
into account college mission and resources.
Although a detailed self-study written by Dr. William Folkestad and signed by all faculty in the
Department was provided to external reviewer Donald Van Horn, it is not clear how many faculty
participated in producing the self-study contents. The conflicting views regarding whether or not there
was sufficient opportunity for input make it difficult to know how the self-study was generated. They
also are symptomatic of serious divisions and communication issues in the Department, which will be
addressed below. The self-study did provide much useful information and many very valuable
recommendations, which the Department should consider as it looks to the future.
COMMENDATIONS
Student Activities : The Department is to be commended for the many extracurricular opportunities it
offers to students. The lectures, workshops, and exhibitions in the Sarah Spurgeon Gallery, as well as the
Student Art Council and the chapters of the National Art Education Association and the American
Institute of Graphic Arts expose students to diverse groups of artists and provide them with opportunities
to exhibit their work. According to Van Horn, “These are commendable student activities and are equal
to if not better than what you would find on comparable campuses nationwide.”
Faculty: The creative and scholarly work as well as the teaching effectiveness of the faculty are
impressive. The faculty are committed to their students, are strong arts advocates, and are generous with
their time when it comes to university service. The comment made in the review about students feeling
frustrated because the faculty don’t care about them does not ring true with what I have heard from
students. On the whole, current and former students have praised the faculty for their outstanding
teaching and devotion to students.
Campus and Community Collaborations: The Art Department is one of the few in the college that has an
internship requirement, at least for some of its students (graphic design). The art education students
connect with the schools in a variety of ways, including student teaching. Some courses include gallery
and museum visits. An increasing number of faculty are engaging in interdisciplinary teaching, either by
team-teaching or offering courses in interdisciplinary programs. All of these efforts to collaborate with
community organizations as well as artists and scholars outside of the department are to be commended.
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Facilities: Given its age, Randall Hall is a surprisingly spacious and modern facility. Several people from
other institutions have commented to me that they wished they had facilities as good as Randall Hall.
Considering the artwork in the building and the expensive equipment in some areas, it is unacceptable for
the building to remain without air conditioning. During this recent hot spell the temperatures reached 100
degrees in the dark room where students routinely work with toxic chemicals. The Spurgeon Gallery is a
remarkable space–one of the best public gallery spaces in the state. Unfortunately, it is woefully
underfunded and underused. Every effort should be made to transform the Gallery into a vital part of
campus and community life, of general education, and of K-12 education.
Capstone Requirement: The ART 495–Studio Project–course in which students prepare a professional
portfolio and present work suitable for exhibition is an excellent capstone experience. It helps prepare
students for what comes after graduation, and provides the department with an appropriate program
assessment tool.
Recent Search: The Department just successfully completed a search for a specialist in graphic design.
This is a very difficult position to fill; the Department is to be commended for conducting this search in
such a professional and successful manner.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The external reviewer offered many suggestions that should help the department, college and university
transform the Art Department into a more vibrant and collegial place for students, faculty and staff.
Department Dynamics and Governance: The most serious issues facing the Art Department are the
polarization and lack of collegiality, mutual trust and respect among the faculty. The situation is so
serious that Van Horn described the Department as “dysfunctional” and suggested that if these issues
were not addressed soon the Department would “crumble.” There is no shared governance, and instead of
facing these issues head on, some faculty are pulling away and turning their efforts outside the
Department. I have met with the Department and made clear to the faculty that this situation cannot
continue. We have all agreed to work on these issues, and to start doing so immediately by means of a
Department retreat facilitated by University Ombudsman Donna Kramer. I appreciate the faculty’s
recognition of the seriousness of these issues, and their willingness to come together for meaningful
discussion about how to resolve them and move forward.
Mentoring: The issue of mentoring came up in the review in a variety of contexts: mentoring for the
Chair, for new faculty, and for students. Good mentoring is essential for retaining faculty and students,
and for helping them to be as productive and successful as possible. There is currently no mentoring
going on in the Art Department, except that provided by the Chair. As Van Horn pointed out, “Mentoring
is not writing an annual evaluation and expecting junior faculty to accept the document as gospel.”
Mentoring starts the moment someone is hired, and it should be an ongoing process of hands on guidance
and feedback regarding expectations, performance, departmental and university policies and procedures,
and so forth. If more senior faculty do not engage in mentoring, they are likely to have to spend their
time searching for faculty, because no one will want to stay in a department that does not invest in its
members’ success. I agree with Van Horn when he says, “The senior faculty have to take the issue of
peer mentoring of junior faculty seriously.” I also plan to start a college mentoring program to ensure that
new faculty and new chairs have mentors from outside their departments. Ideally, I think this should be a
university-wide program, rather than one confined to a college.
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Assessment: Van Horn mentioned several times the lack of program assessment in the Art Department.
He also recognized that this was an institutional issue more than a departmental one. That is, there are no
expectations for program assessment at CWU, other than those mandated by accrediting bodies such as
NCATE and the program review process itself. Given the lack of an institutional culture that expects
ongoing program assessment, I think the Art Department should be commended for the assessment tools
it does have, such as capstone course ART 495. The Department should make more use of this course for
determining what students know and can do at the end of the major, in relation to goals defined for what
they should know and be able to do upon upon graduation. The course should also be used to collect
meaningful data about students’ views of the program–something that was not included in the self-study.
Curricular Reform: The reviewer suggests that the curriculum be examined from top to bottom in the
context of quality program assessment. Art faculty also recognize the need for curricular reform. For
example, the self-study mentions the need for rethinking the foundations courses. Some faculty have also
expressed a desire to rethink the curriculum in light of the new contract. Curricular reform should start
with a discussion about what art students should know and be able to do upon graduation. It should also
be guided by the interests, expertise and size of the faculty. Student comments suggest that particular
attention needs to be given to ensuring that the curriculum provides a good balance between theory and
technical skills development. Given the small size of the Department, it may be wise to consider more
integrated drawing/design/theory foundation experiences for undergraduates, and a more interdisciplinary
or generalist M.F.A. degree. At the very least, the number of concentration possibilities for the M.F.A.
should be scaled back, to ensure that full-time faculty are supervising graduate students.
New Faculty Positions Needed: There are serious gaps in discipline coverage, due to the fact that some
faculty have left and not been replaced with tenure-track hires and some areas such as printmaking have
been eliminated. There is currently no full-time ceramicist and photography is covered by a non tenuretrack faculty member. Once it becomes clear that the faculty are making progress on transforming the
Department into a more functional and collegial workplace environment, every effort should be made to
fill the ceramicist and photography positions with tenure-track faculty. I do not believe that an
investment in tenure-track faculty is reasonable when a department is as dysfunctional as the Art
Department is at the moment.
Student Focus Groups: There were enough concerns expressed by students to suggest that the
Department would benefit greatly from having input from students by means of a series of focus group
discussions led by a third party–perhaps Donna Kramer. It is very important for faculty to listen to
students as they work to make the Art Department a better place for all.
Improve Advising: Advising is a specific area where student input might help the Department to
improve. Art students must follow a very coherent and prescribed curriculum and so regular, mandatory,
and well-informed advising is critical.
PROCESS
The faculty and reviewer found the review process less than satisfactory, mostly because things were too
rushed. Van Horn met for no more than five minutes one-on-one with some faculty, because one or two
meetings ran longer than scheduled. I suggested the one-on-one meetings, but realize now that group
meetings would have been more effective.
SUMMARY
It is time for the Art Department to look to the future and to let go of past issues that are poisoning the
workplace environment in Randall Hall. Of all spaces on campus, Randall Hall should be a refuge and
valued destination for all of us–a place we go to have our spirits lifted by exquisite jewelry, provocative
paintings and posters, intriguing wood designs, unique sculpture scenes, engaging photos, and teachersto-be who will end up in classrooms to help ensure than an appreciation for art is fostered in future
generations. It will not be such an uplifiting space as long as the faculty who work there are
uncomfortable and eager to leave it each day as soon as they can. I have sensed from my meetings with
Art faculty this year a desire on their part to move forward and to work together more productively. I
appreciate these positive signs, and look forward to assisting the Department in every way I can as it
works to become a more cohesive and supportive place to work and to learn.