MIAD Family Forum

At MIAD, advising works to support your student in both their passion and future profession! Majors Declaration Day is Thursday, November 8. At this event, your student will be able to declare their major and interact with department chairs, other students and alumni with a more intentional focus and direction.

For First-Year Experience (FYE) students, it’s time to declare. This semester, students received a Professional Preparation Plan (PPP) guidebook that can help them on their journey toward academic engagement as well as career development as an aspiring professional.

Use the guidebook as a conversation-starter to ask your student:

• What mediums do you use in class? Which do you enjoy using to demonstrate a concept?
• Have you identified your interests and skills?
• Are you researching the majors and occupations that derive from degrees offered at MIAD?

It is never too early to begin investigating majors and career opportunities. Below are videos on each academic major, as well as academic and career development tools for your examination:

Communication Design
Illustration
Industrial Design
Interior Architecture + Design
New Studio Practice: Fine Arts

Professional Preparation Plan
Careers in Art & Design

Students with questions about academic programs and/or career options may contact Director of Advising Alea Cross at aleacross@miad.edu or Assistant Director of Career Services Christina WickHeiser at christinawickheiser@miad.edu.

Short-term study and travel abroad programs offer students a chance to broaden their world-views, immerse themselves in other cultures and environments and elevate their artistic and design practices.

This year, students have one short-term study abroad opportunity:

MAKING GLASGOW: CULTURE AND CREATIVITY IN A POST-INDUSTRIAL CITY

Overview

Led by Courtney Maloney, Bob Lynch and Ben Dembroski, this trip is three weeks on-site in Glasgow, Scotland (May 20 – June 11) with scheduled pre- and post-trip class meetings at MIAD.

Through this course, students will investigate the relationship between creative work and the historical, social and cultural dynamics of Glasgow. Students will be challenged to consider how artists/designers make work that is uniquely expressive of their time and place, and how artists and designers, in turn, make the place.

Credits

3 Studio + 3 Liberal Studies credits (6 total)

Pre-requisites

Completed WR120 and has instructor approval

Estimated travel/course fee

$4,250 includes six credits of MIAD summer tuition, housing, field trips and museum admissions, travel health/safety insurance during program dates, and several group meals.

Financial aid and need-based grants are available for eligible students.

DEADLINE TO APPLY: December 3, 2018

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

• Read more.
• Encourage your student to attend the first information meeting on Wednesday, September 12, 2018, 11:15 a.m. in the 4^th Floor Screening Room.
• Your student can contact Jenny Krantz at jkrantz@miad.edu or in Office 450B.

Did you know that MIAD offers 17 academic minors? A minor can help a student expand his or her skill set in a focused area of study. Minors are available in all five majors, as well as several liberal studies areas, including advertising, art history, business, copywriting, humanities, natural sciences, psychology and writing.

In the past couple of years, MIAD has added several new minors as well, including the majors detailed below.

Arts Management
The first classes for this minor are happening this semester. The Arts Management minor prepares students to lead and manage arts organizations and events. Courses allow students to explore the theory, practice, knowledge and culture necessary to managing individual practices, community arts organizations, traditional and experimental art spaces, museums, galleries and nonprofit groups.

Book Arts
The Book Arts minor offers students a wide-ranging set of experiences within the broad definitions of a book. In an introductory class, students explore a variety of binding and folding techniques that incorporate interdisciplinary processes and utilize a variety of media. Then students use a variety of required and/or elective courses to complete a focused minor in book arts that fits their interests and skills.

Digital Media Production
The Digital Media Production minor is perfect for a student with a passion for storytelling. The minor allows students to explore the production process, from concept to completion in a variety of applications and media. Through one focused required class and then selecting four elective courses from a broad list, students build a set of experiences that match closely with their career goals and interests. Students gain an understanding of professional practices and issues related to the real-world employment market of filmmaking, animation, video games and sequential storytelling.

Furniture Design
This cross-disciplinary minor is ideal for students interested in designing and building well-crafted, modern furniture. Students learn the core principles of woodworking, joinery and fabrication, as well as more exploratory bending and forming techniques. Students embrace all phases of the design-build process from conception to completion.

Learn more about academic minors at MIAD.

The spring semester is more than half over, but there’s still a lot more happening on campus. Check out the important dates and deadlines you and your student should know about from now until the end of the semester.

March 30 – AH213 Field Trip
Sophomores and juniors in AH213 engage in an all-day field trip.

April 6 – First-Year Juried Student Exhibition Awards Reception
The First-Year Juried Student Exhibition represents the best of first-year student work. An outside juror selects students to receive awards. The exhibition and award ceremony are held in MIAD’s East Gallery. The Awards Reception is April 6 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.. The exhibition opens April 4.

April 18 – Senior Exhibition Preview Night
MIAD’s annual Senior Exhibition, Wisconsin’s largest exhibition of its kinds, features more than 100 artists and designers representing all of MIAD’s Bachelor of Fine Arts majors and minors. The Preview Night is the MIAD community’s chance to see the work before the exhibit opens to the general public on April 20.

April 24 – Guest speaker: Glenn Adamson, “Make or Break: Inside and Outside the Rules”
Curator, writer and scholar Glenn Adamson discusses his current research into the work of two artists/designers and what goes into career-shaping breakthroughs. This programming is generously sponsored by the Caxambas Foundation. The event is at 7 p.m. in the MIAD Student Union.

April 25 – MIAD DEFINES: Sustainability
All classes are canceled for this unique learning event. The entire college participates in a day of panels, gallery talks and events.

May 1 – RPC Pecha Kucha Presentations
Selected first-year students will present pecha kuchas they’ve created in their RPC classes. The presentations will be from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

May 12 – Graduation
Congrats to our graduating seniors! MIAD’s commencement ceremony is held at the Pabst Theater from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Find out more about commencement on the MIAD Graduation blog.

A note from Alea Cross, Director of Advising

As the spring semester is underway, Academic Advising is excited to support students in their academic planning to develop them as creative minds and emerging professionals.

This semester, advisors have shared an action plan guide with your student. This guide will assist your student in developing and setting academic, personal and professional goals for the semester. MIAD encourages your student to take time to reflect on their plan for the spring semester. As educators, we know academic success aligns with personal satisfaction. To equip students, we are challenging each student to proactively meet with their advisors about their academic action plan during 4-week reports.

As parents and family, MIAD encourages you to be a supporting advocate for assisting your student learn how to plan life proactively. How can you help?

Talk with your student, using these guided talking points. Ask your student:

• When do you plan to meet/did you meet with your advisor?
• How do you plan to maintain or increase your GPA?
• What are your academic and personal goals and challenges?
• Have you reflected on how you will be successful with both your academic and personal goals?

The importance of student success has been reflected in research addressing the challenges that shape young adults navigating college with effective decision-making skills. With advisors reaching out to students, we are performing a best practice that supports students being able to effectively plan for the future.

We encourage all students to:

• Meet with their advisors at least 3 times per semester.
• Proactively consider scheduling time in the Learning Resource Center for time-management support and tutoring.
• Continue a working relationship with their advisor and the Career Services Office for career planning.
• Cultivate a mentoring relationship with faculty to gain insight into their art and design practice.

For tips on how you can continue the support of your student adjusting to adulthood, consider reading Marjorie Savage’s You’re On Your Own (But I’m Here If You Need Me): Mentoring Your Child During the College Years.

Also, download MIAD’s Creating an Action Plan PDF.