ARE YOU INSANE, PENN STATE?
I'll do my best to tell you what I know about the situation, and if you see something that is not correct, please comment and correct me! I spent one year at Penn State as a member of the graphic design program, which is a facet of INART. From what I hear, photography and graphic design will still remain, however their futures are certainly unclear. According to my source, excluding photography & graphic design students, the INART major only has 93 students, which might be a small number in relation to such a large university, but it is my opinion that both photography and GD are very much "integrative" arts. The education needed in those areas most certainly makes use of such a large variety of courses outside of just visual arts that I simply see no other place for it.
"Integrative Arts is an interdisciplinary major available to students who desire a curriculum that crosses over traditional single discipline lines. The Integrative Arts student initially establishes an academic plan with the assistance of an approved adviser. The plan must contain a core component of 36 credits and an elective component of 19 credits. The two components combined must clearly illustrate that the plan has clarity, purpose, and cohesion."
I have personally had INART advertised to me before I applied to college, and since I entered (and left) PSU, I have continued to tell people about it, especially creatives who are having trouble finding a specific medium to focus in or have diverse creative interests.
I would like to clear the air and say that the reason I left PSU is because I am a born-and-raised State College native who wanted to experience PSU, but needed the stimulation of travel, spending a year at Penn State and transferring was my choice. But my year at PSU helped me to develop a body of work that got me into one of the most prestigious art schools in London, England. And by PSU I specifically mean the members of the INART department. We're talking about Keith Shapiro, and Bill Kelly, Keith Cummings, Alice Teeple & Nicki Williams -- all people whom have directly impacted me personally.
The other thing I have heard is that the web courses for INART have all been privately developed by a few integral individuals of INART, so if they claim rights to those online courses and leave, those programs and majors that rely on those classes will have to start from scratch. How many students will be affected? I hardly think that people who developed those courses would pull them outright, but I wouldn't blame them if they did.
Apparently tomorrow (February 18, 2011) is the big meeting to find out exactly what's happening with the department. All I know is that people are being moved around, some people are being forced into early retirement, and others are rumored to be thinking about retiring because of it.
Come on Penn State, what happened to chivalry?
It just amazes me that PSU, with such a large alumni endowment and with so many students, could do this?
A final word on INART:
How many head-of-departments would take the time during their busy schedule to allow a student to photograph them in their office for a project? How many staff members would interrupt their own work to walk down to the opposite end of the building to unlock a door for you because you forgot your ID? How many professors would give an independent study to a student who stopped them at 2am in the hallways and expressed their passion for photography? I think you get the picture.
All I know is that the decision has been made and the blade has been dropped. My only hope is that Penn State treats the members of the INART department with the proper respect and concessions they deserve.
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