Alumni-Student Communication Committee

The Academy has recently launched two Committees to better serve its community. The Alumni-Student Communication Committee works to foster open communication between Academy constituencies through collaboration and outreach. The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Committee serves the New York Academy of Art community by working towards an environment in which a diversity of cultures, races and ethnicities, genders, political and religious beliefs, physical and learning differences, sexual orientations and identities are thriving at our institution.

Mission

The Alumni-Student Communication Committee (ASCC) facilitates open dialogue between Academy students, alumni, board of trustees, faculty and staff, and ensures all constituents are heard and reported back to.

Committee Structure

  • Core CommitteeMembers of the committee include:
    • Board of Trustee members Jennifer Schipf and Susan Wasserstein
    • AANYAA President Tabitha Whitely
    • AANYAA Vice President Carlos Bautista
    • alumni Erin Pollock and Darryl Smith
    • Provost Peter Drake
    • Director of Communications Angharad Coates,
    • Director of Student Services Noelle Timmons
    • 2021 student representatives, Regiane Donadio, Alessandra Hogan and Kayley Kemp.
  • Committee Counsel
    This larger advisory group empowers a greater number of members across constituencies, including MFA & CFA student representatives and interested alumni.

Priorities & Objectives

  • The purpose of the ASC is principally as a listening body, to foster and repair trust and communication between Academy constituencies, especially our alumni and student communities
  • The Committee will identify the individual roles and strengths of its members that will aid communication and the delivery and receipt of information to and from Academy constituencies
  • The ASC is committed to improving the efficacy, and when necessary increase the frequency, of communication between the Academy and its constituencies
  • The ASC seeks to collaborate with Academy administration, board of trustees, faculty, students and alumni on,
    1. fostering open and transparent communication;
    2. ensuring thoughtful and rigorous review of Academy outreach and interactionwith student and alumni communities;
    3. assessing Academy public relations platforms(including Instagram, Facebookand email blasts), to ensure student and alumni satisfaction;
    4. encouraging transparency of Academy operations and institutional goals;
    5. examining the existing Academy culture surrounding internal communicationbetween constituencies;
    6. and working toward an inclusive and supportive environment for students andalumni to express their concerns

Committee Vision

  • Through small meetings with our various constituencies, the ASC hopes to encourage open, one-on-one, and group listening and conversation
  • Through engagement with the ASC, members of our constituencies are asked to express their concerns and viewpoints.
  • The ASC will use continued listening as a foundation for intentional institutional growth and evolution at the Academy
  • To ensure that constituency involvement in the ASC does not burden contributors with creating the solutions for substantive change, but rather creates a channel for better understanding of alumni, student, and global perspectives to more thoroughly inform and prepare the Academy to change, improve and evolve its policies and structures
  • The ASC will work to identify strengths and weaknesses within the Academy’s communication policy and institutional accountability to better reflect viewpoints of its members, constituencies, and contemporaries