August 31, 2009

Dear NCAA Members:

As the summer draws to its inevitable close and classes start anew, I hope that you have already made plans for November 4-7: you need to be at the National Council of Art Administrators annual conference in St. Louis! Our hosts, the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University, have planned a wonderful conference.

If you attended last year’s Sarasota conference, I hope that you still have great memories of the sessions, the conversations, meeting old and new friends, and the overall value of the experience. This year’s conference promises to be just as exciting and worthwhile, and is NCAA’s first conference partnership with the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA).

Among the many great components that Dean Carmon Coangelo and his team have planned are:

• Another great ‘pre-conference’ set of sessions on Wednesday afternoon, dealing with planning and entrepreneurship, faculty, finances, and careers. Whether a new or experienced (okay, old) administrator, we all need new insights in each of these areas.
• RISD President John Maeda’s opening night lecture, “Creative Leadership.”
• Presentations by the innovative recipients of the 2009 Skandalaris Awards, each recognized internationally for establishing innovative understandings of “economy,” particularly through community-based and sustainable practices.
• Our always fun NCAA Awards Banquet, a fitting end to several days of invaluable networking.

Be sure to register now for the conference if you have not done so already, and make reservations at the beautifully restored and renovated Chase Park Plaza Hotel. Visit the NCAA website conference links for more information: www.ncaaarts.org.

Let us know if you have questions about the conference or the organization. And by all means, don’t miss the St. Louis conference!

Sally McRorie

NCAA President