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Arts Administration at the University of Virginia basic information Hi Interested Student,

July, 2012

Thank you for your potential interest in an undergraduate Interdisciplinary Major including Arts Administration. At UVA, these majors require three academic tracks, of which Arts Administration can be one. It should be noted that at many schools, interdisciplinary major refers to the connecting of two fields of study. At UVA we connect three disciplines and I consider this 3-way requirement another example of how UVA is extra-challenging and unique. The Interdisciplinary Major requires a minimum of 30 credit hours plus 6 credits for a thesis project. The Arts Administration offerings consist of 7 or 8 courses which are entirely elective and (in most cases) open to anyone. It is not a minor or a stand-alone major. So the first thing to note is if art & business simply holds casual appeal for you, you can just take Arts Admin courses regardless of major. But for those students who seek a truly alternative educational path and are willing to accept the challenge of designing their own, the interdisciplinary major presents a possibility. Associate Dean Shawn Lyons is the interdisciplinary dean for College students. If you are in a school other than A&S, you should inquire of your own academic dean. Dean Lyons requires a short proposal be submitted which needs to include a list of classes to be taken in the three areas, identify a faculty advisor in each area and a short essay describing your educational goals and why this unusual 3-legged interdisciplinary path is right for you. The proposal must include a fourth-year project which you feel could not be undertaken without an interdisciplinary major. The proposal must address: Why could this project not happen if I was to simply double major and take ARTS Admin courses on the side? In other words, what is unique about your proposed 3-way curricular path? Academic credit numbers and allocation have varied somewhat from student to student, depending in part on when the student begins the application process. The number of classes offered by Arts Administration is still limited, but is gradually growing. Thus most proposals show 15 credits in Arts Admin. These typically include Principles & Practices our basic introduction course offered each fall; the two advanced seminars of Arts Marketing and Arts Development/Board Management; and two of the Arts in Context courses which are offered in the spring semester and which change topics each year so that you can get academic credit for taking more than one of these courses. In addition, there is a mandatory Capstone Seminar in fall of 4th year for Majors only. This is the only required course of the major. In addition, a new summer internship course was offered in 2012 for the first time and will likely be repeated in 2013. Other courses are being developed and there are also two student-led courses which will begin to be listed as ARAD courses in 2012-13. In certain cases, there are also Independent Study courses available to majors. The idea of Interdisciplinary Studies is to create a more or less balanced curriculum of study. Most proposals therefore show at least 15 credits in each of the two other disciplines as

well. There are usually also electives identified as relevant or of interest to the student which round out the proposed curriculum. A key element of your proposal is to identify the 3 departments you want to be involved and a professor in each willing to sign off as being your interdisciplinary major advisor in that department. If Arts Admin is involved, I will likely be one of the three advisors. Each interested student needs to find 2 more. Departments engaged by majors in the past have ranged widely from an art form to languages to English or History or Psychology to Media Studies to - well all sorts of things. The required professor signature form is available through Dean Lyons office. The program has, as of this date, a policy of rolling admissions. But it should be noted that Dean Lyons is only one person, and there are times when his work flow can mean a rapid or slower response time, so in planning, the smart student will allow for some time for this process to work, and then be recorded by the University. There is however no deadline other than University policy that a student must have a major declared before enrolling in 5th semester courses (the mid-point of a 3rd Year). And I do ask to meet with prospective students before they submit anything to Dean Lyons - since this whole Arts Admin program is still a one-man shop and my getting over-loaded helps no one. This past spring for the first time, a limit of 10 majors per graduating class was needed to be established for the class of 2013. I will probably keep this limit for future classes as well. (As of this writing, the class of 2104 has 2 majors already, with none yet for 2015.) As a next step after reading this, you should reflect about whether there is something you can really only do in a self-designed and self-directed undergraduate curriculum (for that is what is being asked of you), and in a way which combines three academic fields. If you want to pursue this, I have samples of accepted proposals which have been approved for sharing by the current majors and alumna majors. The web site, still being built and populated, is located here: http://www.arch.virginia.edu/arad/ I hope this information helps. I am a faculty member in the School of Architecture and this alone demonstrates the multi-disciplinary stance which Arts Admin takes here at UVA. From this location, I cross-list courses into the College and the Commerce School so that they are available to College students in two ways; listed as ARAD within Arts & Sciences or through the A-School and listed as SARC. We welcome you in either way. So thank you for your interest in what is a unique program of the University of Virginia. I welcome the chance to speak with you further if you continue to remain interested in the interdisciplinary Arts Administration major. Best regards, George W. Sampson