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Arts Administration Program Overview
The faculty and staff of the Arts Administration Program exemplify excellence in teaching, scholarship, and professional contributions to the field of arts administration. This creates an environment that enhances the educational atmosphere of the program, instilling in the students a desire for lifelong learning. The Program Director is the Advisor for graduate students A-K, and the Associate Director is the Advisor for students L-M.
Master of Fine Arts Degree Track
The Master of Fine Arts degree track is a two-year academic and experiential learning residency that includes 60 credit hours (see MFA Curriculum) combined with work opportunities through our professional affiliates. The track begins each fall at an intensive three-day conference which includes program orientation, master classes, and workshops. This event introduces students not only to the field of arts administration, but Arts Administration faculty and fellow students in both degree tracks.
A limited number of students are accepted to the MFA track each year, thereby providing the highest level of personal instruction and mentoring in the classroom. Students also receive several opportunities outside of the classroom to participate in both scholarly and practical activities and projects. This combination of personalized academics and experiential learning gives students the tools necessary to compete in today’s job market.
Students admitted to the MFA degree track are automatically granted an Assistantship at one of our professional affiliates (the College of Performing and Visual Arts, the Southern Utah Museum of Art, the SUU Advancement Office, and the Utah Shakespeare Festival) for 20 hours per week. The Assistantships follow the SUU Academic Calendar, and students are allotted 4 weeks/year leave from Assistantship work. Requests for time off beyond those four weeks, if granted, is unpaid. All leave must be coordinated through the assigned Assistantship Mentor. Assistantship pay varies each year depending on the University budget, but is also accompanied by a 50% in-state tuition waiver per semester*. In total, this represents an over $40,000 investment SUU makes in the student over the two years in the program.
Additionally, an out-of-state student can qualify for a Non-Resident Graduate Student Waiver from SUU if their cumulative undergraduate GPA was greater than or equal to a 3.20. This scholarship takes out-of-state tuition down to in-state levels, and is facilitated by the AA Program Director.
All student fees are the responsibility of the student. Tuition amounts can be found on the Southern Utah University Cashier’s Office webpage.
*Tuition waivers are not available to international students. Tuition waivers are also not available to non-resident students during Summer semesters. Students are advised to gain Utah residency as soon as possible to be eligible for a waiver during their second summer.
Master of Arts Degree Track
The online Master of Arts degree track includes specialized graduate coursework totaling 36 credit hours (see MA Curriculum). Coursework in the MA Track is done entirely online and includes financial management, development, fundraising, marketing, legal issues, leadership, and board development. At the end of the program, students will complete a final project which focuses on the practical aspects of the academic material studied.
Students can begin this degree track in either Fall or Spring semesters, but all are invited to an intensive three-day orientation conference held in Cedar City each September. The conference includes program orientation, master classes, and workshops. This event introduces students not only to the field of arts administration, but Arts Administration faculty and fellow students in both degree tracks.
As this is an entirely online program, students are considered part of SUU's "Online Campus." Tuition in this Online Campus is one rate, no matter where in the world the student resides. This offers a significantly lower tuition than many universities around the country, as there is no hike in cost for out-of-state students. Tuition is charged based on the amount of credits taken (which can also allow students to budget in advance), and can be found on the Southern Utah University Cashier’s Office webpage. Assistantships and tuition waivers are not available to students in the online program.
Graduation Requirements
Graduate students on both tracks are required to maintain a minimum of a 3.0 (“B”) cumulative grade point average on a 4.0 scale. Additionally, graduate students will not receive credit for a course where they achieved less than a 2.0 (“C”). The student may be given an opportunity to repeat the course once at their own expense, but the program cannot accommodate offering the course outside of the sequencing provided, and if the student is on the MFA track, tuition waivers and assistantship placements will not be offered outside of the traditional twenty-four month period. If the student re-takes a course and receives less than a 2.0 (“C”) for a second time, the student will automatically be dismissed from the program.
If a student receives less than a Pass (“P”) in the Capstone (MFA track and MA track) or the Degree Defense (MFA track only), the student will not be granted the degree and will be dismissed from the program. The Capstone and Degree Defense may not be repeated.