If anyone is looking for an exciting and challenging place to learn your craft, I would HIGHLY recommend Savannah College of Art and Design. I am so impressed with the school that I would be happy to field any questions you might have. 
Why is SCAD not accredited (sp?) by NASAD? This is a major limiting factor for those considering advanced degrees.
SCAD is accredited by SACS, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (http://www.sacscoc.org/); this is the same accreditation system that acknowledges Clemson, Duke, Emory, Wesleyan, and more.
Yeah, but it doesnāt mean squat for an art or design school. You need NASAD to be taken seriously. The Industrial Designers Society of America doesnāt even acknowledge schools without NASAD accredidation (like SCAD.)
Itās their way of maintaining the quality of the profession without having the professional accredidation required by professions such as Architecture.
But Iām curious tooāwhy arenāt they?
SCadstudent, can i get your email so that i can ask you some specific questions?
cg is correctā¦
scad is a new id program (relative to other schools). They are expensive and will accept most students who can afford the tuition, from my understanding scad is an excellent school for the fine arts. Their ID curriculum is less structured and the graduating talent is not as consistent as the more established design schools. Please DONāT choose scad because of their marketing/adverstising.
Stick to solid design programs, look at the tenure professors.
(A bit of advise to students, avoid going to school in the deep southā¦there is not as many internships, jobs and networking opportunities. Pick schools who geographic location is near design oriented cities, this will help you network with professionals and land internships)
The program is ten years old, older and more established than many other programs, and has solid ties to industry.
The curriculum is actually quite solid, and the graduating talent consistently secures jobs at fortune 500 companies and leading design consultancies.
I agree, and certainly donāt discount them because of either uninformed posts on a message board or because of lack of NASAD accreditation (which, if you stop and actually delve into, means very little - their requirements fill a quarter-inch thick book, while regional accreditation requirements are generally very, very specific, filling many volumes of text).
Why on earth would you look at ātenure professorsā? Tenure has nothing to do with skills; in fact, it usually implies just the opposite (that professors have been there forever and ever with little recent industry knowledge to back up their ideas).
you look at the tenure professors because they are the ones who choose and teach the students. They provide the consistency for the design program.
Programs who have professors coming and going do not provide a solid curriculum. Criteria of acceptance changes often, curriculum changes oftenā¦occassional turning of the guard is good. If the turn around occurs often, it is is a good indication of a design program turning for the bad.
andā¦
ten years is not established. no organization is considered āestablishedā after ten years.
NASAD accreditation is importantā¦if NASAD accreditation isnāt difficult, why again has SCAD failed to gain this accreditation? (Hint: See my comment about their curriculum)
Because they havenāt tried.
well one would think that after 25 years of existence an art school would gain national accreditation in the artsā¦okay, Iām catching myself and donāt want to bash the school.
It actually seems quite the contrary ā¦
Does anyone who actually GOES to scad have anythin to say?
Yet another reason why coreās anonymous posting is such bullcrap.
Hereās a better question. Where are those Fortune 500 designers and who has worked with them and are they great, okay, or sucky?
now i know what SCAD stands for. was wondering. on CGTalk today:
āBut why I am askingā¦I have already spent a year at SCADā¦that equals $30,000 so farā¦and counting And I could have easily learned all that I have so far at SCAD by paying $40 for a book at Barnes and Noble.ā
Hey, SCADstudent, Can i get your email to ask more questions about your school. I am actaully looking towards gamedesign, but i have other questions as well. Thanks,
Ed
Even if that were true, why on earth not?
NASAD accreditation is quite expensive and some good schools choose not to go forward with it. (Most Universities like to have as many credentials as possible). Perhaps SCAD spends the money elswhere.
The main disadvantage of not having it is exclusion from IDSA, who work closely with them in establishing criteria.
Although I think some job listings will say - āā¦from and accredited programā - your portfolio is the bottom line!
(Listed schools@ http://nasad.arts-accredit.org/index.jsp?page=Member%20Lists)
I just happened to be flipping through my IDSA member directory tonight and spotted:
Glick, Christopher
Director of Accreditation
Savannah College of Art & Design
Savannah GA 31402
912.525.5850
cglick@scad.edu
Affiliate Member, IDSA
Ask him why.
Someone (guest) mentioned the need for a school to be NASAD certified for graduates to pursue MA, MFA, or MID at big schools such as RISD, IIT, UCincinnati, etc. Would anyone, who knows about grad school, comment on this? It seems like, on one hand, that NASAD accreditation is important - otherwise, so many schools would not advertise this attainment, yet some schools like UArts donāt even require an undergraduate degree in design for their Masters program.
Oh, and by the way, bashing a school like SCAD isnāt cool and isnāt consistent with the beginning of this thread. I feel they might be doing some things well. But, I to am interested in why they have not pursued NASAD accreditation.
Anyone care to comment about SCAD without becoming defensive?
i read a comment yesterday. student said his program was still not solid, but definitely improving. he sounded pretty excited about that. but i think he was in the media/film/games or whatever program.