Tom Greene, the President of VCFA, described his support of our pedagogy using capitalistic terms:
“Any suggestion that we are somehow dismantling the program is ludicrous. We are, in fact, investing in the program. Over the past year, we have increased the marketing budget and created new marketing materials that celebrate the program's distinctive pedagogy.”
We want him to do more then ‘celebrate’ our pedagogy, we want him understand it and put it into daily practice. As such, we are asking the administration to write and publish a mission statement for the MFA-V program, in collaboration with the faculty, that specifically includes the founding pedagogy of the program; student-centered learning through individualized curriculum.
Vermont College of Fine Arts currently has a mission statement, but in our review of peer institutions, we found that it is common for departments or schools to publish their own mission statement in order to make a commitment to their guiding principles and express their own individuality.
We believe this is an opportunity for the administration to reflect on the strengths of the program, as well as make a commitment to the founding pedagogy on which future growth will be based. We also believe it would be a worthwhile exercise for the writing programs to pursue as well, and that these mission statements will only strengthen the mission of the college as a whole. As you can tell, the mission statement of the college may be in need of some strengthening:
Mission
Vermont College of Fine Arts is a national center for education in the arts, fostering the excellence of emerging and established artists and advancing the arts to create a more humane world.
Call for Collective Action:
Sign the petition by listing your name, email address and affiliation with the program on the comment section of the Petition page.
