Last June 14 at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, Laura S. Kiralla, Ed.D.
Vice President for Student Success and Dean of Student Affairs at Otis College of Art and Design, and myself, were presenters at the AICAD Student Success Conference.
AICAD – the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design – is a non-profit consortium of 42 leading art schools in the US and Canada. The Student Success Conference is designed to engage faculty, students, and staff across functional areas to build upon, and strengthen, integrated communication and learning throughout AICAD.
Our session, presented to a packed room, was entitled “Your Creative Future: A Signature Career Preparation Initiative”. It was billed as a way to “learn about Otis College of Art and Design’s partnership with Clayton Campbell Consulting to conduct an internal review of professional development across the College’s curriculum and co-curriculum. The workshop will share details about the five key elements of the initiative from business practices to real-world engagement.”
In a lively 90-minute session with lots of audience participation Laura and myself had a conversation about my work with Otis College researching their professional development curriculum that resulted in their “Your Creative Future” initiative.
Questions we discussed included; How did your understanding of the 21st century student, shape your partnership with Otis College? Discuss the breadth and depth of your research including your interviews with faculty/staff; benchmarking data; and surprises in the data?
We further discussed how during my work at Otis, the term “Silo” was used a lot – I shared my perspective regarding this term and what I experienced happening at Otis College and how I turned the use of the word “silo” from a negative to a positive. Audience members asked me what made my work at Otis College stand out from other consultative work, what obstacles I faced, and what recommendations I provided to the College?
Some of the answers can be found on my website in the Work section in the Otis College of Art and Design 2 portfolio including a link to the Your Creative Future initiative.
