Please see the Student Handbook for information pertaining to the Student Code of Conduct (for example, plagiarism).
BFA Committee and Policies
Students enrolled as a major in one of the Studio Arts must organize a BFA committee no later than one month after enrolling in their Art Capstone class.
Consisting of three faculty members, the committee will be chaired by a tenured/tenure track professor representing the student’s area of concentration, usually teaching the capstone class in that area.
The student will nominate two other members of the committee which will be approved by the chair of the committee. One person on the committee MUST be outside the student's emphasis area. These other members will be drawn, primarily, from the tenured/tenure track/continuing faculty from the School of Art, though the Chair may approve other SOA faculty or faculty from other units such as Anthropology, Art History, History, and Music when the project dictates. A fourth member may be added to the committee if the Chair approves and the project warrants.
While we can have no expectation of service from part-time or temporary faculty members with no service obligations, students may elect to include one SOA part-time or temporary faculty from this list when he or she volunteers to do so.
The criteria for such faculty is as follows:
- any SOA faculty member with 5 years of experience in university Art programs
- any SOA faculty member with an MFA, DFA, or Ph.D.
anyone with an MFA in the community as approved by the area coordinator and the Director of the SOA.
The formation of the committee must be completed no sooner than three semesters before graduation and no later than enrollment in the Art capstone
The chairperson must file the names of the committee members with the Director for approval.
As part of the requirements for earning the BFA, the student will execute an exhibition, which reflects the aesthetic and conceptual focus, essence, and/or the diversity of their work.
The student will arrange to meet with the entire committee at least 3 times.
At the first meeting a contract defining the schedule of production, evaluation, and exhibition will be drawn and at future meetings certain benchmarks of the student’s progress, such as the following, will be presented, reviewed, discussed, and critiqued. The student is expected to meet numerous times throughout the semester with the Committee members individually. The last meeting is usually at the BFA exhibition, within a week after the opening.
The committee will record notes as to the progress of the student toward the BFA Exhibition
- through grades
- through comments
- through other means defined on the syllabus for the capstone
The student must meet with the committee, at least the designated three times and accomplish the benchmarks by required dates. A student who fails this requirement will be removed from the BFA Program and must reapply to be considered for re-admittance.
The student may change a committee faculty member once the selection has been made by stating the reasons for a change in a letter to the Director. In cases of extreme conflict which slows a students progress to degree, the Director may replace committee members.
This Capstone class will offer guidance for the required artists statement and thesis. The gallery director will assign an exhibition date during the time frame of this class.
The student must set up the exhibition her/himself, securing all necessary permissions from the NAU Museum director and gathering other required materials and permissions
from the Committee. The Committee chair will set the amount, type, and nature of assistance the student may have in the staging of the show and reserves the right to rearrange a show if it is found lacking.
The work in the exhibition should be an individualized, self-directed body of work, which goes beyond class assignments and reflects the students area of concentration. The BFA committee will review the work with the student prior to installation. Each student is responsible for installing and removing his/her own show according to the instructions of the Gallery Director. Publicity, mailers and openings should be arranged for in adequate time with prior notification to the Gallery Director.
Each BFA candidate is required to submit to his/her committee chairperson the following:
An artists statement, reflecting the development of the work in the exhibition and other materials, as required by the contract, such as slides, videotapes, CD or, website which visually documents the work exhibited.
The instructor of the capstone course will place the paper, artists statement and examples of work on file in the art department office. Excellent work will be posted on the website. The Chair of the Committee will assign the grade for the show, drawing upon the suggestions of the other Committee members.
CAD Lab Policy
Access to the CAD Lab is THROUGH ENROLLMENT IN specific classes WITH SPECIFIC PROJECTS that can only be supported by software and hardware in the Lab (i.e. AutoCAD, VectorWorks, and Plotting). The Lab Aid in the CMC Lab, room 209, will provide you with access. You will need to present a picture ID. The Aid will check this against the class roster. Each time you need access to the CAD Lab, you must present your ID (take your ID with you if you have to leave the lab briefly).
If you must leave the lab and will be gone for more that 10 minutes, save your data, exit all applications and log off the computer so someone else can use it. You are not authorized to allow access to the CAD Lab to anyone. When you exit, please make sure the door closes behind you.
Clean your area before you leave – pick up papers and place your chair back under the table etc. MAKE SURE YOU REMOVE DISKS AND CDs FROM THE COMPUTERS AND LOG OFF.
Report all problems with the equipment and software to the Lab Aid. Do not attempt to fix it yourself.
When using the scanner the Lab Aid must be present to assist. All scans must be saved to a CD, USB Flash Drive, etc and then deleted from the computer to which the scanner is attached. YOU WILL make adjustments to your scans at your workstation.
All use of the plotter needs to be supervised. All plotting must be part of an assignment and listed on the class syllabus as such OR PERSONALLY REQUESTED BY INSTRUCTOR FOR YOUR SEPECIFIC PROJECT. An addendum will be provided to you and a copy will have been made available for verification by the Lab Aid.
Internet downloads should be saved to disc and not printed. Printing of final project would be authorized. DO NOT PRINT PHOTOS OR SPECS UNTIL YOU HAVE FINALIZED YOUR SPECIFICATIONS.
You are not authorized to install any software or drivers on the computers in the lab.
Do not save your work on the workstations. Save your work to CD-R, CD-RW, USB Flash drive, or file server.
Where possible, all assignments should be in electronic form.
Because of the altitude and hydration issues in Flagstaff, water in a sealable container is allowed in the lab (other types of drinks and food are not allowed).
