How do you feel SAIC prepares its students to go out into the "real world?" Is preparing students to "earn a living" an obligation of the school, or is SAIC strictly a fine arts institution?

compiled by Andrea Hicks

    There are as many individual ways to balance earning and exhibiting, promoting and creating, fundraising and independence as there are ways to make the work itself. The school's BFA and MFA curricula prepare students to be independent artists. The most effective career service the school can provide for its students is to prepare them to find these balances for themselves. ... We would like to see professional practice more thoroughly integrated into the curriculum. We have been involved directly in discussions regarding new class initiatives, expanded advising, and curricular requirements, and are committed to giving access to a critical professional discourse - and a practical "leg up" - to all students. Student interest and advocacy of this process will only accelerate it.
-Sara Schnadt, Nancy Gildart , Kate Schutta Gorczynski Career Development

    The history and culture of SAIC precludes it from being a "trade" school, primarily producing graduates who are able to quickly make the transition to the work force, whether through traditional employment or self starting. Let me make it clear that I believe this to be a positive. ... After teaching at SAIC for 5 years, it is apparent that there is a cultural aversion to preparing students for "employment" following graduation. I do not mean employment in the "I work for a corporation" sense, but in the "I can support myself while making my art" sense. This of course is not a blanket statement applying to all departments, but more of school-wide generalization. Like all generalizations (and this of course is one), this one does not apply to all departments all of the time.
-Tim Cozzens Faculty, Interior Architecture

    I think this school is way too focused upon the fine art approach to teaching and way of thinking. I suppose I should have spent some time down the street at Columbia if I wanted a more professional approach, but why do schools have to have such extreme leanings? I think this school at best does a so-so job at preparing students for the professional world. Preparing students to earn a living is an obligation of the school. Even if it is strictly a fine arts institution, you gots to get money to make all that fine art junk with anyhow, right?
-Adam Robinson Undergraduate, photography

    I think that SAIC is only helpful to those students who actively seek out programs that assist them in "real world" integration. As an undergraduate, I took two semesters of Co-op, which was an excellent experience. I am currently working my first job out of school at one of the companies at which I interned. I found Career Development to be an interesting place, but I never felt I had enough information about that office to use it effectively. SAIC seems to have always had a problem with informing its students of what programs are available to them. I realize it is the responsibility of the student to research programs the school offers, but I believe it would be far easier to enter into the "real world" if programs like Co-op and career development were pushed a bit more forcefully onto students. I think considering making an internship a requirement for graduation would be an excellent idea. If students never experience the practical applications of their course of study while in school, how can they possibly be prepared to enter that new world upon graduation?
-IMHO, Tricia Juettemeyer Class of 2000

    Based on my experience both as a former graduate student and as current faculty, I don't think the school aims to prepare students for the "real world." There is a decided bent toward non-objective and intangible pursuits that directly conflict with the idea of the real world. I don't have an opinion on whether art schools are in the business to prepare students for the real world, but I have a strong opinion about the real world. It's where artists make real work and hopefully craft a real art career. Even if art pursuits are non-commodifiable, such as a piece that exists only for a moment in time, the artist will still need to locate and negotiate real world opportunities and constraints. With that said, I think a lot students get away with bad habits that don't encourage intellectual rigor or prolific art making. It doesn't get more real than that.
-Deirdre Jordan Faculty, Interior Architecture

    I don't feel that it's the school's job to prepare me for the real world. As an art student in any school I feel like you have to take the resources you have and knowledge you are given and figure out how to apply it to your own form of expression. This is an art institute, not a technical school. If I wanted to go to school to make money I would not be here. I don't feel it is the school's obligation to prepare students to earn a living, just to become better artists, and even that is partially up to the individual. Being an artist is a gamble as far as making money goes. If you are not making art because you love it you might as well quit and go home. There are also many commercial industries to sell out to if you just want money. If you want to really be an artist you have to be in it for the long haul.
-Matt Strongin