July 8, 2015

The Westphal College is pleased to report a successful ten-year re-accreditation and renewed membership in the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD) for our design, art and media programs. NASAD sets a basic framework of national consensus for all institutions that offer programs in the visual arts and design in order to assist students prepare for their post-graduation careers by obtaining the best possible education. Our renewed membership involved a two-year accreditation process that included a lengthy self-study by the College, a NASAD team visit in 2014, and a Visiting Team report that highlighted the many strengths of our programs and administration. The process was truly a team effort requiring assistance from faculty, staff and students, and the display of student work during the site visit was an impressive showing of our talents. The NASAD reviewers had many laudatory things to say about the quality of our faculty, students and curriculum, our growing research portfolio, our facilities, the co-op program, and more.

Renewed NASAD membership was granted to undergraduate programs in Design & Merchandising, Entertainment and Arts Management (Visual Arts track), Fashion Design, Film and Video, Graphic Design, Interior Design, Photography, Product Design and TV Production and Media Management, as well as graduate programs in Digital Media, Fashion Design and Interior Design. In addition, Plan Approval was granted to the new Art History major and to the Animation, Gaming, and Interactive Digital Programs. These new programs will be eligible for full membership when they graduate their first class of students.