Pre-Meeting Workshops


As part of its continuing effort to provide professional development for administrative leaders of art and design programs, NASAD will offer three workshops immediately prior to the 2024 Annual Meeting. Please review the descriptions and information below regarding fees and registration. Registrants from both the new and experienced administrators workshops will come together during the luncheon hour on Thursday to share ideas, establish mentoring opportunities, and speak with members of the NASAD Board of Directors.

Pre-Meeting Workshop
for Individuals New to Art and Design

Higher Education Administration

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Wednesday, October 16, 1:00 p.m. 5:30 p.m. and
Thursday, October 17, 8:00 a.m. 1:15 p.m.
$135.00

Pre-Meeting Workshop:
The NASAD Handbook—Working with
National Standards and Guidelines

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Wednesday, October 16, 3:30 p.m. 5:30 p.m.
No charge

Pre-Meeting Workshop

for Experienced Administrators

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Thursday, October 17
8:00 a.m. 1:15 p.m.
$75.00

Pre-Meeting Workshop for Individuals New to Art and Design Higher Education Administration

Wednesday, October 16, 1:00 p.m. 5:30 p.m. and Thursday, October 17, 8:00 a.m. 1:15 p.m.

Registration is required for this workshop.

(Please note: A separate fee is required, and advance registration is recommended for this Pre-Meeting Workshop. It is recommended that individuals attend and participate in all sessions scheduled within the workshop. Coffee breaks and a box lunch on Thursday will be provided.)

This workshop is intended to address several of the most important and pressing areas of concern faced by art and design leaders in the early years of their administrative careers. Faculty members with an interest in administration, and those aspiring to take on administrative roles in the future, are also welcome to attend. Each segment will involve a basic briefing on a topic followed by ample opportunity for interaction and discussion. The content will focus on principles and approaches applicable to all types of institutions. Newly minted administrators will have an opportunity to share with and learn from their peers.

Wednesday, October 16

1:00 p.m. 1:10 p.m.

Introductions and Orientation

1:10 p.m. 1:15 p.m.

Welcome from the President of NASAD

1:15 p.m. 2:30 p.m.

Managing and Evaluating Personnel

A key element of administration is personnel management. For art/design administrators, this means overseeing day-to-day interactions, delegating responsibilities and expectations to faculty and staff, and evaluating the work of those individuals whom administrators oversee. This session will consider a variety of management and communication strategies that may be employed by administrators who are responsible for supervising individuals within art and design units. Developing and maintaining effective relationships between and among administrators, faculty, and staff will be explored. Questions such as the following will be discussed: How might administrators work to establish and maintain clear chains of command? How might administrators best manage and communicate with those individuals who report to them? While serving as a manager, what communication styles are most effective, clear, and appropriate, and how might or must they differ based on the various constituencies? How might administrators ensure that individuals tasked with administrative duties have appropriate expertise and the dispositions necessary to carry out their assigned duties? How might administrators work to promote excellence and continued improvement among faculty and staff? How should administrators evaluate results and how might these results be used to inform decision-making? What can administrators do to ensure that they maintain appropriate professional distance, necessary confidentiality, and levels of collegiality with their colleagues? Issues regarding tenure, unions, contracts, FERPA, and various personnel-related regulations will also be addressed.

2:45 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Working with the Academic Community

As members of the academic community, art and design administrators must work to establish and cultivate relationships between the art/design unit and various academic communities both within and beyond the institution. This session will focus on 1) developing relationships with other administrators and leaders in the academic community, 2) designing and revising effective strategies and approaches for promoting art and design as indispensable academic disciplines within the institution and community, and 3) accurately and positively representing the art/design unit both on and off campus.

Together, the attendees will consider the following questions: What are some examples of effective leadership styles for art and design administrators? How does one find his/her own leadership style? How does one develop a leadership style that will be effective given the multitude of issues that exist in any given art/design unit? Do different issues require different styles? How can a leader improve his/her leadership skills?

Several short examples describing leadership successes and failures will be provided and are intended to assist attendees to explore ways of finding their own leadership styles. These vignettes will serve as springboards, providing opportunities for attendees to discuss the myriad leadership responsibilities of art/design administrators, such as the management of people, oral and written communication, resource allocation, and planning.

4:15 p.m. 5:30 p.m.

Goals, Planning, and Time Management

This session will focus on the value of and suggested procedures for establishing realistic goals and objectives that serve as the basis for effective long-range planning and enable realistic considerations that govern the productive use of time.

The work of the art and design administrator requires an awareness of the necessity for careful and balanced cultivation among multiple constituencies.

Therefore, goal setting becomes a necessary and effective way to establish personal, institutional, and community priorities. When successful, this effort lays the groundwork for and focuses planning initiatives. Successful administrators are able to set goals, plan, and manage time—and understand the relationships between and among these three important aspects. Establishing a firm foundation based on carefully articulated goals enhances the administrator’s ability to develop multiple skills and acquire detailed subject matter knowledge that will assist to address efficiently and effectively the number and pace of questions, challenges, and issues that arise.

Suggestions with regard to setting goals, developing approaches to planning, and successful ways to think about time and its effective use will be explored.

Thursday, October 17

8:00 a.m. 9:15 a.m.

Working with the Faculty

Administrators often find themselves in charge of, and having to work across, multiple discipline-specific units; responsible for a broad array of degrees by level, major, and area of emphasis; and in need of finding commonalities so that resources can be maximized while at the same time emphasizing and promoting the attributes of specific areas of study. A key factor in addressing these challenges and ensuring that the complexities support, rather than constrain institutional mission, is the role assumed by the faculty. Keen leadership abilities and skills are not only required to navigate these circumstances, but also to manage and direct faculty resources and address the needs of faculty members. This session will focus on approaches that can assist to create and develop cultures that stress the importance of participation and collaboration, the assumption of responsibility and ownership, and the value of establishing camaraderie and respect, as well as cultures that offer permissions which enable, and protections which safeguard, innovation. The session will also focus on nuts-and-bolts issues such as hiring and firing; conducting annual performance reviews; promotion, tenure, and reward systems; and faculty development opportunities. A variety of situations will be presented, each followed by time for discussion.

9:30 a.m. 10:45 a.m.

Financial Management

Art and design programs are complex. Such complexities create costs on many levels and in many dimensions. Technology compounds this issue by producing additional and possibly new budget pressures in terms of equipment and the need to maintain its currency. Successful financial management, therefore, requires not only detailed knowledge of costs, but also the savvy required to advocate for budget needs, the ability to allocate and manage funds effectively, and the wherewithal to exercise fiscal responsibility—while at the same time dealing with issues that range from scholarship to facility maintenance/repair to faculty compensation.

This session will begin with an introduction of existing realities and the pressures they bring to bear on institutions, and specifically, art/design units. Predominant focus will be placed on financial planning, both short- and long-range; ideas and approaches with regard to budget advocacy; developing and maintaining sound fiscal policies and procedures; and ways to approach fiscal stability in order to ensure the ongoing financial viability of the institution or unit.

11:00 a.m. 12:15 p.m.

Community Relations and Fundraising

Many successful art and design administrators maintain extensive contacts in their local and regional communities. These contacts can prove valuable when interests in developing institution/community collaborations arise. They can also provide opportunities to develop and cultivate beneficial fundraising relationships. Fundraising, once solely the purview of the upper administration, now more often is a challenge and a responsibility art/design administrators must face.

This session will consider the strong relationship between community relations and fundraising. It will consider how presentations of art and design, relationships with art/design programs in the public and private schools, and the development of community support groups can enhance fundraising opportunities. Methodologies for connecting educational goals and objectives with community development goals will be explored.

12:15 p.m. 1:15 p.m.

Box Lunch and Open Conversation with Individuals Attending the New and Experienced Administrators’ Workshops and Members of the NASAD Board of Directors

Pre-Meeting Workshop for Experienced Administrators

Thursday, October 17

8:00 a.m. 1:15 p.m.

Registration is required for this workshop.

(Please note: A separate fee is required, and advance registration is recommended for this Pre-Meeting Workshop. A coffee break and a box lunch will be provided.)

8:00 a.m. 12:15 p.m.

Open Conversation

The responsibilities of the art/design administrator are diverse and multifaceted. Each day brings new challenges and opportunities. Over time, the roles and responsibilities of an administrator often expand, change, and evolve. This pre-meeting workshop, especially designed for administrators with five or more years of experience, will include both short presentations and discussions related to various issues affecting the work of the experienced art/design administrator. The issue of succession planning will be addressed, along with other topics of interest that will be established by the group. Experienced administrators from all types of institutions and from all levels of administration are welcome. However, individuals new to art and design administration may wish to attend the Pre-Meeting Workshop for Individuals New to Art and Design Higher Education Administration offered on Wednesday, October 16 from 1:00 p.m.–5:30 p.m., and Thursday, October 17 from 8:00 a.m.–1:15 p.m.

12:15 p.m. 1:15 p.m.

Box Lunch and Open Conversation with Individuals Attending the New and Experienced Administrators’ Workshops and Members of the NASAD Board of Directors

Pre-Meeting Workshop: The NASAD Handbook—Working with National Standards and Guidelines

Wednesday, October 16

3:30 p.m. 5:30 p.m.

Registration is required for this workshop.

This workshop is designed for 1) individuals attending the 2024 NASAD Workshop for Visiting Evaluators, 2) individuals attending the 2024 NASAD Workshop for Experienced Evaluators, 3) currently trained NASAD visiting evaluators, 4) representatives from institutions scheduled for NASAD comprehensive accreditation reviews within the next three years, and individuals who will have the responsibility for leading the accreditation process and/or writing Self-Studies, and 5) individuals preparing materials for review by the Commission on Accreditation. The primary focus of the workshop will be the NASAD Handbook and will include discussion of the Constitution, Bylaws, Rules of Practice and Procedure, Code of Ethics, Standards for Accreditation, and Appendices. Attendees will devote a substantial amount of time to discussing the standards—including the role they play in NASAD evaluative review processes and their application. Attendees will have the opportunity, using case study materials, to consider various scenarios which will explore the application of standards and guidelines.

(Please note: Individuals attending the Workshop for Visiting Evaluators or Workshop for Experienced Evaluators [Thursday, October 17 from 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.], and/or the Briefing for Evaluators [Thursday, October 17 from 1:15 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.] are asked to attend this session in preparation for these invitational training sessions.)