Pre-Meeting Workshops

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 them 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 presented.

As members of various academic communities, art and design administrators must work to establish and cultivate relationships both within the art/design unit as well as between the art/design unit and various academic communities both within and beyond the institution. This session will focus on 1) establishing a culture among faculty within the art/design unit that promotes and embraces participation, collaboration, and ownership, 2) developing mutually beneficial relationships with other administrators and leaders in the academic community, 3) designing and revising effective strategies and approaches for promoting art and design as indispensable academic disciplines within the institution and community, and 4) accurately and positively representing the art/design unit both on and off campus.

Together, attendees will consider the following questions: What are some examples of effective leadership styles art and design administrators may implement that will assist them to establish and nurture necessary relationships? 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? Should different leadership styles be employed for different situations? Do different issues require different styles? How can a leader improve his/her leadership skills?

Several short examples describing leadership successes and challenges 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.

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 arts 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 can administrators work to establish and maintain clear chains of command? How can 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 can administrators ensure that individuals tasked with administrative duties have appropriate expertise and the disposition necessary to carry out their assigned duties? How can administrators work to promote excellence and continued improvement among faculty and staff? How should administrators evaluate results and how can 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.

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, is now a challenge and responsibility which the art/design administrator 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 arts 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.

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 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.

The work of the art and design administrator today is never-ending, or so it may seem. Whether facing internal pressures such as shrinking budgets, reductions in personnel, declining enrollments, expanding workloads, and the like; or external pressures, such as national malaise regarding higher education, state and federal requirements, among others, administrators confronting these pressures must be cognizant of and recognize the effect such conditions may have on their ability to achieve and maintain a healthy balance between their professional and personal lives. There is no question that the conditions described above, individually and certainly collectively, can and often lead to increased physical exhaustion and persistent anxiety. Balancing the internal and external, coupled with expectations that require art and design administrators to assist and serve the needs of faculty, staff, students, etc., can be overwhelming.

In today’s session, attendees will consider the following: How might administrators begin or continue to prioritize personal well being so that a reasonable and realistic balance between work and life can be achieved? What assistance and resources are available to help administrators navigate current realities? What boundaries must/should be drawn by institutions/individuals? How might administrators collaborate to enhance or redefine institutional expectations regarding productivity and identify avenues of support that align with current realities in the discipline? Ample time for questions and considerations will be provided.