Columbus State’s Art Department Earns National Accreditation

June 11, 2014

COLUMBUS, Ga. – Columbus State University’s Department of Art received word Monday that its programs have been approved for reaccreditation for the next decade by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design.

“The ten year reaccreditation has been a major goal of the department and achieving this milestone for the first time firmly establishes our program within a peer group of the top art and design programs nationally,” said Joe Sanders, CSU’s Alan F. Rothschild Distinguished Chair of Art.

Ten years is the maximum length of time for NASAD accreditation. Previously, CSU had been accredited by NASAD for shorter periods of time. CSU offers three undergraduate degrees and two graduate degrees that will remain in “good standing” through the 2022-2023 school year as a result of the reaccreditation:

• Bachelor of Fine Arts in art


• Bachelor of Science in Education in art education


• Bachelor of Arts in art history


• Master of Arts in Teaching in art education


• Master of Education in art education

Columbus State had been working toward NASAD reaccreditation since 2012, completing its self-study in 2013 followed by an on-site review by a NASAD-appointed team in March 2013.

After the onsite visit, evaluators presented a Visitors Report summarizing their findings.

“The arts, professional education, community partnerships, service leadership and global awareness are themes that one hears on campus as well as in university promotional materials,” CSU’s Visitors Report states. “The Department of Art is well positioned to take an enhanced leadership role in this mission through its increasing connections and partnerships in the local, regional, national and international art communities, as well as through the programming in the Illges Gallery.”

Columbus State’s reaccreditation effort was approved during the annual NASAD Commission Meeting in May. The commission stated in its letter to Sanders: “NASAD appreciates the institution’s extraordinary efforts clearly evident in its application.”

For more on CSU’s Department of Art, visit http://ColumbusState.edu/art.

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