Woodbury University Earns AICAD Membership
The Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design (AICAD) recently announced that Woodbury University was approved for membership by its Board of Trustees.
AICAD is a non-profit consortium of the leading specialized arts and design schools across all 50 states in the U.S., Canada, and more than 60 countries across the globe. AICAD institutions educate more than 50,000 undergraduate and graduate students each year, plus many thousands more in summer and continuing education programs.
AICAD offers members a variety of benefits, including:
- Distributing information about AICAD and its members, and about art and design education and careers, to students, parents, teachers, and others;
- Conducting regular conferences and symposia on contemporary academic and administrative subjects;
- Leading efforts to enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives at the member institutions through collaborative programs, such as the AICAD Post Graduate Teaching Fellowship and the AICAD BIPOC Academic Leadership Institute;
- Overseeing student exchanges among member schools and international affiliates;
- Gathering and analyzing substantial institutional data annually, accompanied by analysis and forecasts to assist in future planning efforts;
- Providing members with information about current art and design education issues, and about relevant legislation and government policies;
- Working with other educational and cultural groups on various policy issues and mutually beneficial programs; and,
- Maintaining a communication and information exchange system for senior staff and faculty of the member schools, including frequent meetings to discuss timely issues.
Jeff Bellantoni, Dean of Woodbury’s School of Media : Culture : Design, said that this achievement is a significant and welcome opportunity for the university. “We are proud to stand among our prestigious fellow AICAD members — such as Yale School of Art, Pratt Institute, California Institute of the Arts, and so many others — who are providing world-class instruction preparing students for the creative economy.”
ABOUT AICAD
The Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design was founded in 1991 by a group of 25 presidents who felt a need for the similarly structured art schools to come together so as to mutually develop their schools and programs. Their mission is to help strengthen the member colleges individually and collectively, and to inform the public about these colleges and the value of studying art and design.
Membership in AICAD is open to institutions in the U.S. and Canada that have a mission and values consistent with the aims of the Association; are private, non-profit, independent colleges of visual art, design, architecture, and/or performing arts, or are colleges or schools of creative practice within a private, non-profit university if there is a demonstrable and significant level of autonomy and authority; are fully accredited by one of the six major U.S. accrediting agencies or are approved by Universities Canada; and grant 2-year undergraduate, 4-year undergraduate, or graduate professional degrees in visual art, design, architecture, and/or performing arts fields.
Read the full announcement here.