Harvey School of Visual Arts Receives NASAD Accreditation
Arts and Humanities

Harvey School of Visual Arts Receives NASAD Accreditation

  • 27 June 2012
  • 2 min read

Midwestern State University's Juanita and Ralph Harvey School of Visual Arts has received accreditation from the National Association of Schools of Art and Design, the defining body for visual arts education. MSU is one of only 12 Texas institutions to achieve the honor.

Gary Goldberg, Interim Chair of the Harvey School of Visual Arts, said the accreditation was a validity of the quality of MSU's visual arts program. "This puts us in a category with other accredited schools such as the University of Texas," Goldberg said. "This is a fantastic stamp of approval for us."

"Dr. Nancy Steele English, the former Chair of the art program, and Gary (Goldberg) deserve special recognition for the role they played in reaching this goal," said Dr. Ron Fischli, Dean of the Lamar D. Fain College of Fine Arts. "The accreditation affirms what we in the Lamar D. Fain College of Fine Arts long have known: the Juanita and Ralph Harvey School of Visual Arts is a center of excellence and a point of pride at Midwestern State University."

The accreditation started as a three-year self-study of the department's facilities, equipment, curriculum, and personnel, with special attention to staff degrees and expertise. The final analysis included a site visit that named four issues the department had to address - noise and dust abatement in the sculpture area, fumes exhaust in the metal area, a course reduction for department chairs, and an increase in the digital images available in the library. "With the university's help, we were able to correct all those issues," Goldberg said.

As a member of NASAD, MSU will participate in revision and additions to NASAD standards and maintain its art and design curriculum according to those standards.

Founded in 1944, NASAD is an organization of schools, colleges, and universities with approximately 309 accredited institutional members. It establishes national standards for undergraduate and graduate degrees and other credentials; and provides information to potential students and parents, consultations, statistical information, professional development, and policy analysis.