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2 schools plan dual master's program
Filmmaking, business would be united
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Published: September 5, 2008
Updated: 09/05/2008 01:55 am
Two state universities could soon join forces to offer a dual master's degree in business management and filmmaking.
The trustees of the UNC School of the Arts gave school administrators the green light yesterday to begin planning a Master of Business Administration/Master of Fine Arts program with their counterparts at UNC Chapel Hill. The program, if approved by the UNC board of governors, would begin in September 2009 and include a three-year course of study.
Officials at both schools say that offering an MBA/MFA would help satisfy a demand in filmmaking and related industries for creative people with "a more sophisticated knowledge" of accounting, management, marketing, distribution and other business skills.
"We think it makes a lot of sense to join our efforts," said James W. Dean Jr., the senior associate dean for academic affairs at the Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC Chapel Hill. Kenan-Flagler has similar dual-degree programs in law and public health.
John Mauceri, UNCSA's chancellor, calls the proposed MBA/MFA "a harbinger of the future for our school." He envisions a school that trains the "whole artist" -- meaning one with the skills to create a marketplace for his or her work.
The dual-degree program would eventually grow by 15 students a year to include 45 students. The students would spend their first year at UNC Chapel Hill and their second year at UNCSA. During the program's third year, students would be able to take electives at both schools.
Jordan Kerner, the dean of UNCSA's School of Filmmaking, said that students would, after taking more general film and business courses, focus on different "areas of emphasis."
"We're teaching potential executives in film, television, animation and gaming, commercial and music videos and new digital productions," Kerner said.
In other business at the trustees' meeting, Mauceri said he wants to fulfill three goals this school year. One is to increase by 50 percent the number of alumni making a gift to the school.
In the 2006-07 school year, the most recent for which figures are available, just 2.8 percent of alumni made a gift to UNCSA. School officials want that figure to rise to 4.2 percent by June 30, 2009, when the fiscal year ends. The UNC system is encouraging all its schools to increase rates of alumni giving.
UNCSA appears to be at the low end of average in alumni rates of donations in a recent list of arts schools compiled by US News and World Report. UNCSA officials say that donation rates at their school are low when compared with those at other schools in the UNC system. The annual alumni-donation rate is 23 percent at UNC Chapel Hill, 11 percent at Appalachian State University, 13 percent at UNC Wilmington, 7 percent at UNC Pembroke and 6.5 percent at UNC Charlotte.
Another goal is to devise a strategic plan. Suzanne Hilser-Wiles, UNCSA's chief advancement officer, said that a strong strategic plan "is an essential element in a capital campaign" -- but added that a capital campaign is not imminent.
Mauceri's third goal is to continue the transition toward a two-semester system, which is scheduled for 2011. UNCSA now operates on a three-semester system.
The board also approved changes to UNCSA's room-and-board policy. In general, all full-time college freshmen and sophomores must live in campus housing, ensuring that they will get the most out of residential experience.
However, certain groups are exempt, including married students or those living within 25 miles of the school at the time they enrolled. Two more groups became exempt yesterday -- students who have turned or will turn 21 within the fall term, and UNCSA high-school graduates who attend the arts school as college sophomores.
■ Ken Keuffel can be reached at 727-7337 or at kkeuffel@wsjournal.com.
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