Guidelines
Standards for the BA and BFA Degrees in Studio Art
Adopted unanimously by CAA Board of Directors, January 31, 1979.
After a thorough study of graduate education in the visual arts, the Board of Directors of the College Art Association, on April 16, 1977, officially adopted a Statement of Standards for the MFA Degree. In the belief that a similar set of standards is needed governing the BA and BFA degrees in studio art, the Board instructed a subcommittee to make a study of undergraduate education in the visual arts. The subcommittee has presented the Statement below. After careful consideration, the Board has adopted the report as the official formulation of the Association’s policy regarding the BA and BFA Much of the report is consonant with standards published in its Handbook by the National Association of Schools of Art, as criteria for accreditation of member institutions. CAA and NASA are in agreement on the objectives of maintaining present levels of quality of undergraduate programs in studio art and working continually to improve the process of educating young artists.
Requirements and options in undergraduate studio education vary greatly from institution to institution throughout the country. The differences in degrees, concentration, and emphases in both art subjects and adjunct areas are immense. It is not the intention of CAA to impose a uniform pattern on undergraduate institutions, since variety adds healthy enrichment to a field that would be stultified if unduly restricted. It is of vital importance that institutions and departments assess their educational objectives carefully, making sure that they are realistic and feasible within the existing context—or possible in view of projected changes in the immediate future. The objectives, as well as patterns of requirements and options, should then be clearly formulated and published, so students planning to enroll will have a reliable notion of what can be expected from the program they are considering. The various guidelines cited below represent a logical minimum to insure the maintenance of quality. Where possible, they should be surpassed in order to foster continuing advance in the standards of the profession.
Portions of the Statement that follows are arranged in parallel columns to facilitate comparison. Comments concerning the BA appear on the left, the BFA on the right.
Definitions and Purposes of the BA and BFA Degrees in the Visual Arts (Studio)
The BA degree in art, normally awarded by art departments in colleges and universities, certifies the completion of major study in the visual arts, which has been undertaken as an integral part of a general liberal-arts degree program. The degree normally implies study in some depth in a number of studio and art-historical disciplines. Such study may or may not prepare students for careers as art professionals. Career preparation is not a primary objective in programs leading to the BA. A major part (over 50%) of a student’s education is in areas outside art, with substantial coverage in the humanities, social sciences, and physical sciences.
The primary objective at institutions offering the BFA, usually university and independent schools of art, is to provide professional education in art and design at the undergraduate level, to enable graduates to enter professional careers in such fields as design, painting, and sculpture after the award of the degree. Students concentrate in relevant technical and aesthetic studies, which are a major portion of the program. There is a basic assumption that BFA graduates shall have developed technical competence, aesthetic judgment, and a strong commitment to artistic quality. It is also assumed that the holder of the BFA has had sound instruction beyond the high school level in certain fundamental academic disciplines, especially in English, the humanities, social sciences, and the physical sciences.
Degree Requirements
Definition of Credit. Because credits are a unit of measure, reflecting amounts of work over certain periods of time, a precise definition is needed in order to reconcile the variety of academic record-keeping arrangements that exist through the nation. The Association recognizes a standard in which one semester credit represents three hours of work a week over a semester of at least 15 weeks (one quarter credit is the equivalent of the of 2/3 a semester credit). Work towards credit can take place in formal classes, critiques, technical workshops, or independent studio activity. While the distribution of time spent between in-class and out-of-class options is a decision that must be made by the faculty, who determine specific educational patterns within a given institution and a given discipline, the ratio of three hours of work per week per credit should be met.
To earn the BA, students should complete a minimum of approximately one-third of their total work toward graduation from among courses offered by the art department, including a minimum of 8–12 credits in art history. The studio curriculum should be designed to provide breadth, rather than specialization, by insuring that students take courses in a variety of media. The maximum elections in studio and art history should normally not exceed one-half the total for graduation. The remainder (1/2–2/3) should be in liberal arts courses offered by other departments in the institution, including study in the humanities, social sciences, and physical sciences.
To earn the BFA, students should complete a minimum of 70 credits in courses related to their intended areas of specialization, including from 12 to 18 credits in art history. These professional studies should constitute no more than 3/4 of the total work towards graduation. The specific nature and sequence of classes in the various disciplines is, of course, subject to the discretion of each individual institution, but it is assumed that, following introductory study in a variety of media, some degree of specialization in a particular discipline will usually be required. In addition, no less than 1/4 of the total credits for graduation should be in courses outside the art curriculum including English, the humanities, social science, and physical sciences.
Studio Curriculum
It is not the intention of CAA to provide curriculum outlines and thus undermine the valid principle of diversity in higher education. Credit distribution must be left to individual programs in the belief that they will capitalize on their strengths and minimize their weaknesses in order to provide the soundest education possible. There is no necessity that every institution offer work in all conceivable art disciplines. It is more important to teach fewer areas thoroughly and well than to cover a larger number superficially. Once general structures are agreed upon, each student deserves from the staff careful consideration of individual needs and conscientious direction in planning an appropriate course of study within the program.
Graduation and Other Exhibitions of Student Work
Policies regarding the exhibition of student work vary from institution to institution. The opportunity for all students to see their work on public view, in either group or solo shows, adds a significant dimension to understanding of their achievements and growth; therefore, exhibitions are encouraged. Every effort possible should be made to provide satisfactory spaces for such shows In BA programs, graduation exhibitions for majors are desirable, though not mandatory. For BFA graduates, the senior show can serve as public evidence of the levels of competence each has achieved and as a device for evaluation of the work; therefore, BFA granting institutions are urged to require graduation exhibitions as a prerequisite for awarding the degree.
It is desirable that slides of works shown be made and retained as an ongoing record. In addition, institutional resources should, if possible, be used to purchase outstanding examples of student work. The CAA, in a resolution, dated April 29, 1972, has declared the unacceptability—and illegality—of the all-too-prevalent past practice of demanding, without compensation, examples of work by students.
Admissions
In many institutions, admission to the major in art, leading to the BA, is open to all students enrolled in the institution, who are at liberty to declare their intention to specialize after electing a number of introductory-level courses. In other departments, often as a means of limiting the number or majors and to insure an acceptable level of quality in their students, portfolio review or other screening devices are instituted. Either arrangement is satisfactory.
Admission to BFA programs is often by portfolio review, to determine not only the student’s potential for success in the program but also to determine whether there are deficiencies in prior training or problems in aesthetic direction that demand the attention of the faculty once the student is enrolled.
Advising
In either of the above circumstances, it is the obligation of the faculty of the department to provide a careful advising system for all majors, to determine each student’s strengths and weaknesses and to help devise logical programs of study to fit particular needs.
Once enrolled, students need and deserve the opportunity to consult with faculty members regarding course choices that will compensate for possible weaknesses and build on strengths. Achievements should be reviewed from time to time to help insure that satisfactory levels of progress toward professional competence are being achieved.
Faculty
The core of the studio faculty at any BA- or BFA-granting institution should consist of full-time, continuing members who are, by training and experience, qualified to teach at the postsecondary level and are currently involved in creative work of high quality. They should be able to communicate their knowledge and insights effectively to students. In order that proper instruction may take place, there should be sufficient faculty members to insure that all students receive the full attention they deserve (student-faculty ratios, calculated to full-time equivalents, should not exceed 15-1). Teaching loads should be such that faculty members have the opportunity to engage in their own professional work. Full load should consist of no more than 18 contact hours per week. Enrollments in introductory courses should be kept at a level at which adequate contact is possible between teacher and students and generally should not exceed 25, with smaller numbers, as appropriate, for more advanced classes in which even greater contact between teacher and student is necessary.
BA- granting institutions which have fewer than four well-qualified studio teachers, including at least one person who is competent to teach college-level art history,* should consider carefully whether they are justified in offering a major in art, since both breadth of coverage and variety in points of view are vital to a strong major program.
*One art historian and three studio instructors might be an acceptable alternative.
Programs are so varied in kind and size that it is impossible to specify precise numbers of faculty members needed to conduct a satisfactory BFA program. The faculty should be sufficient in numbers and competence to carry out effectively the professional and educational programs of the school and to provide a variety of points of view in every major discipline offered.
Facilities and Resources
BA and BFA programs should be offered only in those areas that are fully and adequately equipped with a reasonable full range of available technology and satisfactory working spaces for students. While facilities can never take the place of gifted teachers, the better they are, the more those using them will benefit. Specialized equipment is absolutely necessary in some areas, and students should not only become technically competent in its use but should also be trained to understand fully and practice safe shop and studio procedures. In addition, students should be thoroughly informed of the many hazards to their health found in the arts today, from solvents toxic synthetic material, inadequate ventilation, etc., and means of protecting themselves from such hazards.
If it is within the ability of the institution to provide them, private or semiprivate studio arrangements are desirable for advanced students especially in BFA granting institutions, though they should not be so private—so segregated—that they prevent healthy contact and interchange.
No strong program in art can exist without adequate library, slide, and exhibition resources. If the institution does not include a museum, it is of utmost importance to provide opportunities for students to visit neighboring centers, where they can become familiar with masterworks of the past and have continuing contact with the art of the present. Departments, especially those that are remote from cultural centers, should consider establishing data banks of video and film documentation on contemporary art and artists in order to broaden student contact with and awareness of major issues in the arts today.
Committee on Standards for the BA and BFA Degrees in Art: Paul Arnold, Oberlin College, cochairman; George Sadek, Cooper Union, cochairman; Alma Eikerman, lndiana University; Ellen Lanyon, New York City; Leonard Lehrer, University of Arizona, Tempe; Jerrold Maddox, Kansas State University; John Rogers, University of North Dakota; Helen Schiavo, Queens College; Jason Seley, Cornell University; and Wallace Tomasini, University of lowa.
