Exhibition/Visiting Artists Committee

Name of Committee: Exhibitions/Visiting Artists Committee

Current Committee Members (please indicate chair and any other officers): 

Jennifer Sargent

Part 1:  MCA Faculty Handbook Description

1) The 2011-2012 MCA Handbook includes the following description of the Committee:

Exhibitions/Visiting Artists—will oversee the visiting artist and exhibition programs for the academic year. Membership: Director of Exhibitions and Lectures. Director of MFA Programs, Faculty Representative, Vice President for College Advancement and VPAA/Dean.

Director

2a) In the opinion of the committee, does the handbook description accurately describe the function, purpose, and membership of the committee? Please explain.

No it does not describe committee as there has not been one. A committee was attempted at least once in the past with makeup as given above and faculty reps being head of design and Fine Arts divisions. It was not successful with the members not reading the prepared materials and in the end leaving me to make decisions as before. For the past few years I have solicited input from faculty and discussed the overall needs/directions of MCA with VP for College Advancement so as to keep a balance of exhibitions and lecturers that serve the whole college

2b) Please suggest changes/edits/rewrites for the Handbook description of your committee.  If the Handbook does not currently include a description for your committee, please write one. (Answers to this section of the self-study are suggestions only. They are intended to help the faculty move toward Handbook revisions, but they should be regarded as draft versions at this stage. Please don’t spend an inordinately long time trying to craft the perfect description—they can be changed and edited as we go through the process.)

……membership; Director of Exhibitions and Lectures, Director of MFA Programs, VP for College Advancement, members of Gallery committee

Part 2:  Committee Charge, Duties, and Goals

1) Does the committee operate under a clearly stated committee “charge” (that is, a statement of purpose explaining what the committee is charged with doing on behalf of the faculty or college—this may be different from the catalog description of the committee)?  Is this charge written down and made available to the members of the committee and the college community at large?  Please explain. (If you feel that the current catalog description or any revision to the description that you made above functions adequately as a charge, please say so).

This will be developed during the spring semester after the new committee has met to discuss the programs for the coming academic year

2) Does the committee maintain a set of specific duties? Are these written down? If a set of such duties exists (written down or in the minds of the chair or other members of the committee), please list them here.  (In other words, what is the committee specifically responsible for? What does the committee do?)

no see above

3) Does the committee have a set of goals (short and/or long-term)? If so, please list them and briefly explain the process the committee used to arrive at these goals.

no

4) Other than verbal reports at faculty meetings, does the committee make reports in verbal or written form to the faculty or administration? How often are these reports made? Where are written reports housed and are they available to other members of the college community?

no

5) Please add any additional comments about the charge, duties, and goals of the committee.

Part 3:  Committee Membership

1a) To the best of the committee’s knowledge, how are faculty members of the currently committee chosen?

1b) If it is not explicitly stated in the description/rules/by-laws of the committee, how do you think the members of the committee should be chosen?

As described in revised description of committee

2a) Do the faculty members on the committee have limited terms of service?

Term would reflect members term on Gallery committee. Chair, Grad Director and VP for College Advancement would be ongoing

2b) If it is not explicitly stated in the description/rules/by-laws of the committee, should there be terms of service? Please explain.

As above

3) Does the current committee membership structure make sense? Is the committee too big, too small, the right size?  Please explain.

I will form committee in Spring 2012 and be able to answer more clearly after that.

4a) Does the committee as it currently exists have faculty members from each of the Divisions of the College?  If so, do you feel (or is it a requirement of the committee) that it always have representation from each of the Divisions? 

4b) If the Committee does not include members from each Division, should it? Please explain.

It should be based on gallery committee members plus grad director and VP for College Advancement

5a) If there are administrators on the committee (according to Dean Strickland’s committee grid), explain their role(s).

5b) If administrators are members of the committee, do you feel that their roles are necessary? In other words, does the committee feel that administrators should be members of the committee? Please explain.

6a) If there are staff members on the committee, explain their role(s).

6b) If staff are members of the committee, do you feel that their roles are necessary to the successful functioning of the committee?  Please explain.

7) To what extent are the decisions of your committee autonomous? In other words, do you make decisions that do not go to the full faculty for approval? Or do you make recommendations that then must be approved by the faculty or others?  Please explain.

8) Please add any additional comments related to membership, committee structure, the appointment or election of members, participation of non-faculty members, etc.

Part 4: Committee Meetings and Time Commitment

1a) On average, how many times per semester does your committee meet?  Please indicate if the number of meetings varies by semester and explain why.

Not clear, maybe two in the Spring only when decisions need to be made

1b) Is there a set meeting schedule (e.g., once monthly, bi-weekly, etc)?  If not, how does the committee determine if a meeting is necessary and who calls the meeting?

1c) If there is no set meeting schedule, do you think that there should be a set meeting schedule or a minimum number of meetings for your committee per semester? Please explain.

1d) How long is the average meeting?

2) In general, how many hours of commitment per semester does this committee require of members?

3a) Does the committee take minutes, keep notes, or otherwise track and archive the activities of the committee?

3b) If you do keep minutes, where are they housed? Can other faculty (or administrators) not on your committee look at these minutes easily?

4) Please add any additional comments on committee meetings and the time commitment required of faculty on this committee.