Columbia University Teachers College

Program in Arts Administration

525 West 120th Street, Box 78

New York, NY 10027
United States
Main Phone: (212) 678-3268
Main E-Mail: arad@columbia.edu

Degree/Credential: Graduate (MA in Arts Administration)
Web Site: http://www.tc.columbia.edu/rcac/

Program Director: JJeffri [link available to AAAE members only]

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Program Goals and Objectives

The Program represents an alliance of four disciplines: arts, education, business and law. It is designed to help professionals meet the challenges of the next decade: these challenges include questions about the long-term health of arts organizations, their missions, governance and management, sources of income and tax regulations. The objectives of the program are to:

* Train new leaders to manage and administer arts and cultural venues
* Raise the standards of arts administration to a new level of social responsibility
* Broaden the horizons of arts educators, facilitating their interactions with the arts community
* Give arts educators new management and administrative tools
* Strengthen advocacy roles for artists
* Provide the theoretical and practical preparation for students whose professional objective is a career in arts administration, arts education, or a combination of the two.

The Program offers a Master of Arts degree with course work in Columbia's Graduate School of Business and Columbia Law School. Areas of specialization include research through jobs and apprenticeships in the Research Center for Arts and Culture; Museum Education with the Program in Art and Art Education; combined teaching degrees with other departments and programs of Teachers College.

The Program seeks to serve a broad constituency of people who have at least three years experience in the field, who are dedicated to improving and challenging the arts and who have a strong sense of social responsibility.

The Research Center for Arts and Culture, founded in 1985 and internationally known, is committed to applied research on arts management, arts law, public policy and individual artists and has collaborative programs countries in Europe, Asia and North America.

In 1975 the first course in Arts Administration was offered at Columbia University in the School of the Arts. An interdisciplinary offering, it was team taught by arts and business professors. In 1980, the Program was established in Columbia's School of the Arts and established the interdisciplinary mix of business and law that continues to be integral to the core curriculum. In 1991, the Program was expanded at Teachers College to include both arts administration and arts education. In a quarter of a century, the Program has produced leaders and managers around the world and in every artistic discipline.

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Administration of the Program

Joan Jeffri, Director: Created the first course in arts management on the Columbia campus in 1975. Author: Making Changes: Facilitating the Transition of Dancers to Post-Performance Careers with William Baumol and David Throsby (2004); A Study of the Worklife of Jazz Musicians (NEA, 2003); Arts Money: Raising It, Saving It and Earning It (University of Minnesota, 1989); Information on Artists I, II and III (Research Center for Arts and Culture, Columbia University, 1988, 1997 and 2004); Artists Training and Career Project (RCAC, Columbia University, 1991-4); The Emerging Arts: Management, Survival and Growth, (Praeger, 1980); former founding and executive editor of The Journal of Arts Management and Law, and founder and director in 1985 of the Research Center for Arts and Culture at Columbia. The program is part of the Department of Arts and Humanities. It consists of an interdisciplinary curriculum with Columbia Law School and Columbia's Graduate School of Business and electives may be taken from any department in the university.

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Curriculum

Master's students must successfully complete 60 points of course work composed of 24 points in arts administration core courses, 12 points through the Graduate School of Business, 15 points in Teachers College courses, 9 elective points, an internship and a master's thesis. Completion of the degree generally takes 2 years.

The core curriculum represents an unusual alliance of the faculties of three professional schools: Teachers College, the Graduate School of Business, and the Columbia Law School. Included in the core requirements are:

Principles and Practice in Arts Administration I, II and III
The Arts in Context
Support Structures: Fund Raising and Development in the Arts and Humanities
Labor Relations and the Arts
Law and the Arts I: Copyright, Intellectual Property
Law and the Arts II: Tax-deferred Giving, Nonprofit Incorporation, Immigration and Personnel Law
Business Policy/Strategic Planning
Marketing
Accounting

Some suggested electives at various units of Columbia are:

Aesthetics and Education
Museum Issues: Objects and Meaning
Museum Issues: Policy and Administration
Managing New Ventures
Managerial Negotiations
Conflict Resolution
History of the City of NY
Press and Publicity
Critical Issues in Theatre Management
Public Space and Public Art
Distance Learning and
Technology

A Master's Seminar course is required leading to a Master's Thesis of at least 40 pages. The internship provides an opportunity for students to utilize and improve their skills and develop a career strategy, while simultaneously contributing to the efforts of an arts organization. Most internships are paid and there are three different kinds: New York based, domestic and international as well as several competitive internships tied directly to our program. Students must take at least 1 but many complete as many as four internships. Students are often mentored by alumni at arts institutions and are guided towards intern choices by the Program's Career Development and Intern Coordinator. The student is required to work 320 hours per internship. Both host institution and student evaluations are required at the end of the internship period. Sample institutions where students have interned include: Brooklyn Academy of Music, Carnegie Hall, JP Morgan Chase Philanthropy Internship, Cooper Hewitt Museum, Guggenheim Museum, London Philharmonic, Lincoln Center, National Gallery of Ireland, New Museum, NYC Opera, NY Philharmonic, Portuguese Museum Institute, Symphony Space, Weimar Cultural Capital. Practicum courses and fieldwork are also available.

Special courses in Arts Leadership, Critical Issues in Arts Administration, and in Cultural Policy are offered in cooperation with the Center for Outreach and Innovation, which issues Certificates of Participation.

In addition to the Director, there are 9 adjunct faculty members with experience in the professional field, as well as full-time instructors from the Graduate School of Business, Teachers College and other schools offering electives. A number are graduates of Columbia and they teach arts administration exclusively in this program. Guest faculty and speakers are drawn from the professional field and enhance the program on a regular basis.

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Admissions

To apply, submit an application, application fee, evidence of a bachelor's degree or the equivalent, transcripts from all colleges and universities attended, a personal statement of 750-1000 words, resume, three letters of recommendation (two from people who know the applicant professionally), scores on the general test of the Graduate Record Exam, scores on the TOEFL for applicants whose native language is not English (preferred score: 600), interview if requested.

Online applications and information are available at info.tc.columbia.edu/admissions. The application may be completed online, but the signature page must be downloaded, signed and sent in with application fee. Recommendations, scores and transcripts must follow.