Visual Arts - PLEASE READ: Welcome Letter, Orientation Schedule and Important Information to get you started in the MFA Visual Arts Program
Dear Artists,
We hope this finds you well and we look forward to welcoming you to the Visual Arts MFA Program at Columbia University this fall. Please read through the following letter as it contains important information about Orientation and specifics about starting school this fall.
Orientation
The Visual Arts Orientation will be conducted via Zoom and will start on Wednesday, September 2.
The Orientation schedule is attached to this email. Please note that ALL orientation events and meetings are mandatory. School of Arts Orientation days and times are listed on the calendar attached to this email, highlighted in grey. Information about these events will be sent from SoA Student Affairs.
During the Orientation, Matthew Buckingham, Chair, and Leeza Meksin, Director of Graduate Studies, will discuss how Visual Arts courses will take place this fall, the staff will go over the rules and new COVID protocols for using the studio spaces, and there will be an introduction to the shops and the further orientations that will take place for using them. Additionally, we will meet and talk about student service positions and how they will function under the new COVID protocols.
As you make your final plans for the coming school year please remember courses at the University at large will begin on September 8. Visual Arts graduate courses (Critical Issues, Seminar in Painting, Professional Practices, Visiting Artist Lecture Series (VALS)) and undergraduate studio courses (which are cross-listed for graduate students) will also begin on September 8. Our core Visual Arts MFA studio courses (Graduate Studio: Research and Practice and Group Critique) will begin on October 26.
Campus + Covid Protocols
The required protocols for gaining campus access, including access to buildings can be found here. We have also pasted and attached these steps below. Please note that if you are coming from another state or abroad, you may need to quarantine for 14 days before you are able to get a COVID test on campus. For more information, please see New York’s COVID policy.
Visual Arts’ plan for reopening the studios and the shops is a phased reopening. There will be a minimum of two weeks in between each phase to establish and ensure a community of care amongst students, staff, and faculty. The rising 2nd year students will be moving into their new studios over the next two weeks, through a staggered process to adhere to the low-density protocols. The department will wait two weeks to make sure that all is going well and rules are being followed, then rising second-year students will be re-oriented and given access to the shops. We will follow this process with your class.
The Incoming Student Lottery will be on Tuesday, September 22 at 4:15 pm. You will be able to move into your studios starting on September 25, by appointment. It may take 1-2 weeks for us to get everyone into their studios. Shops orientations and access will begin two weeks after you move in to the studios on Oct 12 if all goes smoothly within the studios. We will discuss this further at Orientation. Please note that you have until October 26 (the start of MFA 1) to move into your studio. If you are concerned about the possibility of moving into your studio by October 26, please let us know.
Slide Nights
As part of Orientation the MFA community will introduce ourselves sharing our work on three ‘Slide Nights.’ We will hold these later in mid-late September. The second years will present work on Friday, September 18; the Faculty and Staff will present work on Friday, September 25, and your class will show work on Friday, October 2. These will all start at 4 pm on Zoom. You will receive a detailed email about how to show work closer to the evening.
Lionmail
Please activate your Columbia email. After orientation, we will send emails only to your CU email address. We also recommend that you sign in through Lionmail so that you can also access the Calendar and Drive. You can activate your account here.
Registration
We will talk about how to register for courses on Wed, September 2. Registration is open to you on a rotating schedule during the week of Orientation and during the first 2 weeks of classes. We will walk you through all of this during Orientation at Wednesday’s meeting.
Academic Calendar
The 2020-21 Academic Calendar is pasted below and attached.
Student Service Positions
As part of your Financial Aid package, you are offered $1800/ semester ($3600 per year) to earn through a Student Service Work Position. This breaks down to 6 hours/ week over the course of the semester (15 weeks). These jobs are important to helping us run the department. Because all of our shops and activities need to follow low-density protocols and be socially distanced, many of the service positions may be revised. I will send you a questionnaire next week, and we will discuss student service positions during the Orientation. If you would prefer to decline your service position, please let me know.
Website
Please send us your website by October 1. We look forward to posting these on the Visual Arts Program website this fall!
Pedagogy and safety
The health and safety of our students, staff, and faculty, along with the quality of your education, are our primary concerns as we navigate the new landscape we find ourselves in. Our October 26 start date for the core MFA studio courses gives us time for a careful and phased reopening of the graduate Program. Our core curriculum will be taught in ‘hybrid’ mode, combining in-person and remote learning. Everyone is invited to participate at the level they are comfortable with. We will talk more about this at Orientation.
Please let us know if you have any questions. We look forward to meeting you soon!
Best,
Matthew Buckingham and Carrie Gundersdorf
The following is pasted from the email sent by the Interim Provost, Ira Katnelson on August 18:
- Enhanced Health and Safety Policy: This policy has been established as a first-line of protection. It requires community members to wear face coverings, maintain physical distancing, and follow other public health policies. Distribution of face coverings (two per affiliate) is being accomplished through the University’s testing centers and the schools.
- The Columbia Health Compact: The Compact, which incorporates many of the elements of the Enhanced Health and Safety Policy, must be signed via an electronic link as part of the required return to campus protocols. It is a reciprocal pledge of mutual responsibility and observance. The University commits to work assiduously to keep the campus safe through enhanced facility cleaning and sanitizing procedures and other protocols. In turn, each affiliate undertakes to follow relevant rules in the interest both of individual and collective health. The link to the Columbia Health Compact can be found on your daily symptom check app (see below) or here.
- Safety training: The training program must be completed before a return to campus. It can be found here.
- Self-quarantine: Any person arriving from New York-designated states or territories or from the CDC-designated international destinations must self-quarantine as required by New York State. See How to Quarantine: A Guide for CUIMC Students and list of designated states or territories. * If a community member is coming from a destination on the list, it is expected that this person will quarantine for 14 days, then go to campus and get the COVID test.
- Testing for SARS-COV-2: Since June 22, all returning faculty, staff, and students, now numbering more than 2,700, have been given a free “gateway” PCR test for SARS-COV-2. As of Monday, August 17, this testing has been significantly expanded at two Columbia locations—Lerner Hall on the Morningside campus and the Black Building on the CUIMC campus. Repeat testing for students and an ongoing sampling approach for faculty and staff is part of the testing program. Testing and tracing details can be found here.
- Daily symptom check: ReopenCU, a symptom self-checking app, has been in operation successfully for two months. This attestation is required by the State of New York. Beginning this week, accessibility to all buildings with security guards or where access is dependent on the Lenel badge, will be tied not only to the completion of the symptom self-check but also to the completion of training and signing of the Columbia Health Compact.
SEPTEMBER
Wed 2 – Thursday 17 - Orientation
Monday 7 - Labor Day: No Classes
Tuesday 8 - First day of fall Classes
Friday 11 - Deadline to add Fall A courses
Tues 8 -Friday 18 - Change of Class Period
Friday 18 - Last day to receive tuition refund for dropped class
Tuesday 22 - Last day to drop Fall A course
OCTOBER
Monday 26 - First day MFA Lab 1
NOVEMBER
Monday 2 - Academic Holiday: No Classes
Tuesday 3 - Election day: No Classes, Offices Closed
Thursday 19 - Last day to drop class
Monday 23-Wed 25 - Spring 2021 Pre-Registration
Wednesday 25 - Academic Holiday: no classes
Thursday 26 - Friday 27 - Thanksgiving: No classes, Offices Closed
DECEMBER
Monday 14 - Last day of fall classes
Wednesday 23 - Semester end date