SCAD - NASAD Certification and fast growth concerns

LALondonNY
Sat, 23 Oct 2010 12:07:20 +0000

Some thoughts from the ‘front line’ of the SCAD Fashion Department from an insider with experience at other Universities. There is no Chairperson - nobody wants the job. The Dean is new and inexperienced in education and design - clueless. There is difficulty keeping profs. 3 good ones left this past year and haven’t been replaced.
Aside from the flashy visitors, the connections to NYC are zero. Not what they are at FIT / Parsons and Pratt. The placement person is useless. Half the profs are excellent and the rest going thru the motions - of the remaining ones - all have no current connection to the fashion world. Half have their Masters degrees from SCAD. You are on your own getting an internship. Job placement figures they quote are a lie. Because of the open admissions - classes are dragged down by the less talented and lazy… The most recent industry collaboration with Malandrino and Posen was a disaster.
Some of these problems are common to any institution, others are uniquely SCAD.
My take is that the higher the visibility of the department the more Paula meddles which ultimately filters down to the classroom.