[lcreekmore]

The standards for teaching at University levels should be raised. There should be some way of measuring and supporting professors who have had no pedagogy training. Why are there more standards and support for teachers at k-12 and not at collegiate levels, where the expectations for learning content is higher?
The primary role of teaching is communicating content for students to comprehend. Although the growing problem with undergraduate professors, is they have little to no training in teaching. It seems that most MFA graduates are looking for a job to support their primary career as an artist. This appears to be the logical route for a struggling artist, being submerged in content area of interest everyday and faculty support. However, it is not conducive to making artists interested in teaching. If one is not interested in teaching, clearly do not go into the teaching realm. Although this thought seems clear to the observer, it is much deeper. The real problem is that schools are producing many artists in a highly competitive art world. Teaching at a University level is a securer route for the struggling artist. The question becomes: how do we fix the system already in motion?
For, most professors are hitting tenure and are set in their ways. Can we change the expectations for the entry level of University professors along with additional support to those already teaching? Maybe a system could be implemented to help support new professors with requiring them to attend “x” amount of seminars/professional development hours in pedagogical training. Regardless of the fact, there needs to be a system designed to help support studio art professors in both academia and their own personal work. Students should not have to suffer horrible education and professors should be given ample support both in teaching and their pursuits as an artist. Meaning, yes, professors should be encouraged and supported to have faculty shows, but not if it takes away from the primary education of the students. This will only help with building the University’s program and surrounding community.

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