[mgilley]

Arts Community Summary for Sept. 8.

Katherine Balsley, David Cook, Marc Gilley, Chanju Lee, Catherine Moore, Todd Mueller, Stacy Rusnak, Janet Stephens.

 

History/Current Existence-

-Origin of Music Appreciation as continued education for amateur musicians- not truly an applicable idea in our era.

-Currently Appreciation classes are a requirement to maintain the place of the Arts in the curriculum- a last ditch effort. It was suggested that the arts are a federal requirement, but upon further research accreditation occurs through 15 regional agencies (ours being SACS) that describe the core curriculum. -Specifically SACS say that at least 3 credit hours must come from a Fine Art- and that core curriculum may not teach professional techniques (it does not provide an upper limit, other than to say that the core is 30 hours and the distribution of classes must be explained in a document by the college). The federal government does accredit the accrediting agencies themselves, but does not deal individually with institutions.

 

Needs of the college-

– The film major has had to discuss the economic impact, specifically jobs again and again. This corresponds very well with the Strategic Plan.

-According to the Strategic Analysis Jobs and career preparation will be important focuses for the college. Additionally, retention of First and Second Year students is of great concern, only 67% of first year and 64% of second year students currently. And finally, the plan recognizes that community engagement is a largely untapped resource- most of our students come from Gwinnett (70%) and it recommends an outreach to the business community. Notably, “internationalization” was not discussed in the meeting- while I don’t think it is going away, it may not be the focus of the next 5 years.

– Of separate note the main solutions for student career readiness proposed by the strategic analysis are significant “co-curricular efforts.”

– The current tally of the largest GGC majors in numbers. The largest programs (Fall 2014) at the College are Business (2,480), Biology (1,270), Information Technology (1,032), and Pre-nursing (993). Exercise Science (+118%) and Information Technology (+101%) have seen the most growth since 2011.

 

Arts challenges-

-For the GGC student, why study Arts- can we define our value for a GGC context, including both what we offer to other areas of the curriculum and the intrinsic value of studying the Arts? I think we agree that Arts develop the whole student… how? And, how do we make that case?

– Can we get the Administration to stick with us long term?

– Can we develop stable funding sources?

– Equipment and Facilities needs (rehearsal space, sound stage, gallery digital or otherwise, etc… )

 

Arts Opportunities-

– Music and Art Therapy is a well-documented thriving set of majors leading to employment- also a venue for service and experiential learning as well as co-curricular works.

– Research shows that underperforming students enrolled in Arts classes (mostly documented in music, but I have seen studies in Art as well with similar numbers) have a higher retention rate by %20.

– Arts are the perfect venue for community outreach- remember our first concerts at the Hudgens, and the Library Grant (in terms of resources a challenge is working around the Aurora partnership).

– We can shape the college’s and community’s culture.

– Taking the mantle of Creativity back home where it belongs.

– Stem->Steam

– Arts develop cultural literacy.

– The economic impact of the Arts in Ga- especially Film (GA Music partners is developing a similar strategy, in the very early stages).

 

Strategy-

– Data: Special Topics classes offer data supporting the development of programs.

– Grass roots development- community work, student work, team with Student Affairs (Music has had some mixed success there, some very positive, some very negetive results).

– Throwing this out there- Arts festival?

– Art committee can raise awareness.

– Invite guests- Dean Santos? TJ Arant? Dan Nolan? Anyone else?

 

Tips:

– Received good results from discussing value of film after engaging with impactful works. Can we document those student reactions?

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