Meet-Ups provide informal safe space for attendants to share their strategies & concerns for the future. Offered throughout the year as supplemental to our annual conference, the 1.5 hour sessions are free and open to all academic arts administrators and those considering administrative roles.

PAST MEET-UPS //

Continuing the Conversation / October 16, 2023 
Join this Meet-Up to continue critical conversations started at the annual conference, including topics from the Case Studies and Ignite session. 
Hosted by:
O. Gustavo Plascencia, Dean of Visual Arts, New World School of the Arts
Jenn Gardner Selby, Chair, Art & Design, Executive Director of Transfer & University Partnerships, Rowan-Cabarrus Community College

Pre-Conference Mixer / August 14, 2023
Join this Meet-Up to learn more about this year’s conference, learn about the Board Candidates, and get to know other NCAA members before you meet-up in person in St. Louis. 
Hosted by:
O. Gustavo Plascencia, Dean of Visual Arts, New World School of the Arts
Jenn Gardner Selby, Chair, Art & Design, Executive Director of Transfer & University Partnerships, Rowan-Cabarrus Community College

The NCAA Table: Who's There and Who's Not / May 5, 2023
As we fully emerge into the post-pandemic landscape, it is a good time to reflect on our organization and consider the possibilities of its future. If we accept the premise that to have a voice one must have a seat at the table, the question becomes: Who is currently seated at the NCAA “table”? And perhaps more importantly, who is not present? This session will focus on our identity as an organization, with emphasis on the presence (and absence) of institutions and individuals currently at the table. This is not a strategic planning session, but instead an opportunity for shared reflection on who we are as NCAA, and for collective visioning on who we may become.
Hosted by:
Johnathan Fohrman, Dean, Arts & International Languages, MiraCosta College
Jenn Gardner Selby, Chair, Art & Design /Executive Director of Transfer & University Partnerships, Rowan-Cabarrus Community College
Binod Shrestha, Director of Foundations, University of North Texas

Initiatives to Increase Support for Adjunct Faculty / April 12, 2023
The number of adjunct faculty members in higher education has been increasing nationally over the past two decades. There has been robust debate about employing adjuncts, given concerns about low pay, poor access to benefits, lack of inclusion in academic decision-making, and little support outside the classroom. Given the growing reliance on part-time faculty it is important to find ways of supporting adjuncts that both honor their contributions to our programs and promote the quality of education they offer to our students. We will discuss adjunct faculty initiatives, in addition to higher pay, that supports this important sector and Adjunct Quality Assurance to satisfy our accreditors.
Hosted by:
Paige Williams, Academic Dean, Art Academy of Cincinnati
Jenn Gardner Selby, Chair, Art & Design / Executive Director of Transfer & University Partnerships Rowan-Cabarrus Community College
O. Gustavo Plascencia, Dean of Visual Arts, New World School of the Arts

Disrupting the Faculty Search Process to Diversify Results / Friday, November 18, 2022
Faculty searches tend to follow a set of prescribed practices with which we are all familiar. Left unchecked, these practices seems to do one thing very well: replicate what we already have. What strategies can we employ to shift the process and ensure more diverse results? What roles do we play within our units, and where can our institutions add support? Join us for this meetup to share successes, failures, lessons learned and a vision for how faculty hiring can ensure the successful evolution of our units.
Hosted by:
Colin Blakely, Director, School of Art, University of Arizona, Board Member & Treasurer, NCAA
Laura Vandenburgh, Director, School of Art + Design, University of Oregon

What doesn't ________________, makes you stronger / Friday, April 22, 2022
Arts Administration is challenging work. Often, we find ourselves managing situations that at a dinner party of non-arts administrators no one would believe. Please join us to & bring your finest story to share in one minute or less. We will use these as the prompt for creating connections & camaraderie, explore creative solutions and perhaps laugh a little together. 
Hosted by:
Mariah Doren, Director of Academic Programs in Continuing Education, Rhode Island School of Design
Lauren Lake, Dean, Alfred University School of Art and Design + Performing Arts Division
Jenn Gardner Selby, Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, Chair, Art & Design / Executive Director of Transfer & University Partnerships
Sandra Murchison, Director, School of Art and Design, Eastern Michigan University


Intentional Faculty Recruitment / November 5, 2021
Tate & Plascencia will facilitate a conversation for strategies for diverse and inclusive hiring practices, they will use their experiences at their home institutions as a starting point, but are interested in an exchange of ideas and practices at other institutions. 
Hosted by:
Jordan Tate, Associate Director, School of Art at University of Cincinnati
Gustavo Plascencia, Dean of Visual Arts, New World School of the Arts 

THE FUTURE IS NOW / September 18, 2021
While keeping up with the present task of opening (in whatever form that might be), arts administrators are planning the future. From faculty & staff searches, spring, summer, and fall course 2021 schedules, tenure & promotion, and recruiting the class of 2025 while we balance the immediate needs of our students, staff, and faculty during this semester.
Hosted by:
Lauren Lake, Dean, Alfred University School of Art and Design + Performing Arts Division
O. Gustavo Plascencia Dean, New World School of the Arts.

Rethinking Budgets (post-pandemic) / August 27, 2021
Many colleges and universities will continue to see declining enrollments, even after the pandemic ends. With shrinking enrollments comes shrinking budgets, and sometimes the scale of the budget reduction asymmetrically outpaces the percentage decline in enrollments. With these hard realities in mind, how can academic leaders in the Arts rethink budgets priorities and re-evaluate what is really necessary for our faculty and staff to best serve our students? Considering virtual options that are now widely accepted (conference attendances and workshops, etc.), what should we consider to best ensure student retention, persistence, and successful achievement of learning outcomes?
Hosted by: 
Darren Lee Miller, Chair, Columbus College of Art and Design
Vagner Mendonça-Whitehead, SoVA Director, Penn State University

Silver-linings Redux / July 29, 2021
Summer brings a chance to assess the intensity of the previous year, both as administrators and as individuals. We are therefore revisiting our “Silver-linings” discussion now that we’ve gained some distance. These past several semesters have brought chaos and confusion while highlighting inequities. They demanded flexibility and inventiveness in order to respond to the multitude of obstacles we faced. This session will explore the unexpected ideas, processes and discoveries that emerged during the pandemic semesters. 

With the shutdowns came opportunities to reassess and reorder priorities. For some, the opportunity to redesign curriculum based on diversity, equity and inclusion became an urgent and important silver-lining, one that was previously just another item on a to-do list. Others were able to direct unused budget lines, due to remote teaching, towards equipment purchases. How has your leadership role positively evolved and expanded as a result of all the pandemic adaptations?
Hosted by:
Audrey Goldstein, Chair, Suffolk University
Vagner Mendonça-Whitehead, SoVA Director, Penn State University

NEW LEADER 101 / June 10, 2021 
The moderator will share a brief presentation on the many "lessons learned" in the last eight years of experience holding academic leadership positions in three distinct institutions. Veteran academic leaders are encouraged to share their knowledge and experiences in the following conversations/Q&A portion of this event. Likewise, new leaders should feel safe to ask any questions and bring concerns to the group at large.
Hosted by:  
Vagner Mendonça-Whitehead, SoVA Director, Penn State University
Jade Jewett, Chair, California State University-Fullerton

CONTENT WARNING / April 16, 2021
By their very nature, the arts are provocative, yet our programs and institutions exist amidst heightened sensitivity to potential triggers in our works, juxtaposed with student demands, faculty concerns, and the impact of these factors on teaching and learning in the arts.  How do arts administrators navigate these realities as they lead their programs into the future?
Hosted by:
Lauren Lake, Dean, Alfred University School of Art and Design + Performing Arts Division
Bruce Mackh, Ph.D., Dept. Head, Valdosta State Department of Art & Design

SILVER LININGS / December 19, 2020
For the last nine months, arts administrators have been challenged with the weight of an unprecedented coronavirus pandemic and its effects on our people, programs and platforms. This meet up will be an opportunity for us to discuss positive takeaways, insightful and surprising lessons learned, and new possibilities for both Spring 2021 and into the future.
Hosted by:
Lauren Lake, Dean, Alfred University School of Art and Design + Performing Arts Division
Vagner Whitehead, SoVA Director, Penn State University

RAMPING UP: Fall 2020 preparedness, concerns, and uncertainties / August 14, 2020 
This meet-up will provide a safe space for attendants to share their preoccupations and strategies prior to schools reopening in mid-pandemic. T
Hosted by:  
Jade Jewett, Chair, California State University-Fullerton 
Vagner Mendonça-Whitehead, Chair, Texas Woman’s University