Welcome to the spring semester!

The College of Visual Arts and Design is a collection of collaborative disciplines engaged in the creation of new forms, new scholarship, and new ways of helping people, organizations, and communities live better, more creative lives. The CVAD faculty provide the vision and direction to our current programs and create our new programs as well. This year, we welcomed a large number of new faculty who will be adding their unique vision to our programs. This spring, we are seeking six or more new faculty to help our students and their colleagues chart new directions in creativity and scholarship.

We are a growing college in a growing institution in a growing part of the country. This fall we added a new Bachelor of Arts program in Interdisciplinary Art and Design Studies along with new BFA concentrations in Watercolor and New Media. New course offerings are being delivered in Dallas and we are expanding our students' international study opportunities with exchange programs in Mexico and Scotland. You will be able to find out information about these and all of the CVAD programs under Academic Programs and Student Advising and in our Announcements section of the website as details become available.

Helping our students accomplish great things is what we are all about. Along with teaching and mentoring, financial assistance is another important way to help. Some very generous members of the CVAD community have added a number of new scholarships like the CVAD Blogger Scholarships, new first year scholarships for freshmen, transfer students, and graduate students, as well as enhancing the number and levels of many of our existing scholarships. While most of our scholarship dollars help undergraduate students, many of the new scholarships, for the first time, will be available for new graduate students who are applying this spring to join us next fall. Additionally, the University has added support for graduate students though improved salaries for assistants and tuition refunds. See Student Advising and Announcements.

Facilities are important too. This fall, we initiated new facilities for drawing, interior design, and painting as well as new exhibition facilities in the Art Building. A lot of attention has been paid to safety and health issues in ceramics, printmaking, and photography with new ventilation systems in place.

February 20, we hope our alumni will join us at the reception being hosted by the College of Visual Arts and Design at the annual College Arts Association meeting in Dallas. Many of the sessions and exhibitions for the conference are being coordinated by UNT faculty and hosted by the College.

As you look through the website, please look at the work of the faculty and students, the many exhibitions and special programs, and explore the opportunities that await you here as we continue to create the best educational opportunities possible. Please visit our Support CVAD site, too, and help us help our students become the great artists, designers, educators, and scholars we know they can and will be.

Thank you for visiting us on the web. I hope you will visit our site often, ask us any questions you have, and if you are not a member of the CVAD family already, join us. We look forward to working with you!

Robert Milnes, Dean
College of Visual Arts and Design
University of North Texas
August, 2006