Summary of department/program summary of Program

How Your Position Contributes to Program Success: As a visual artist and graphic designer with more than twenty year’s experience I bring a wealth of technical knowledge to the drawing, painting, and design classes I teach at Evergreen Valley College. Students from diverse backgrounds as well as art and non-art backgrounds learn concepts and techniques for creating successful works of art and design. I am dedicated to student success and offer my students art education in a productive and safe environment where their work can be evaluated by themselves, the instructor, and their peers, and learn and practice their craft.

MA in Art History, San Jose State University, CA


Bachelor of Arts and Design in Environmental Design, Bezalel- Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem
Areas of Expertise: Modern and contemporary art historian and curator.  

How Her Position Contributes to Program Success: I have joined Evergreen Valley College in Spring 2007 as a part time faculty. I have taught since all art history courses including art appreciation (Art 90), prehistoric to the Gothic (Art 91), renaissance to present (Art 92) and modern art (Art 93). Also I have served on the gallery committee and I curated an art exhibition. In addition, I recruited other artists to exhibit their artworks at Evergreen Valley College where campus community was exposed to different artistic expressions.  
James Rohal

B.F.A.  summa cum laude in Painting with a minor in Art History, Boston University

M.F.A.  Painting, University of New Hampshire
Areas of Expertise:  Painting, Drawing, 2-D Design, Art Appreciation, Art History (Ancient to Modern.)
How His Position Contributes to Program Success: The academic study of Art History and Appreciation is well suited to elevating the academic performance of students who have struggled in other subject areas.  I find that my background as a creative artist helps me to engage my students in bringing an active mindset to the subject of art rather than passively accepting the quality of what is shown to them.  I have risen to the challenge of teaching at EVC by improving my knowledge base of non-Western art, and am currently in the process of writing class proposals for several non-Western areas of Art History.  

Identify and describe innovative strategies or pedagogy your department/program developed/offered to maximize student learning and success. How did they impact student learning and success?

I assign students each semester to critically evaluate the labels used to present works of art in museums.  The students write a paper in which they evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of a label they've found in a museum, and then write an alternative label based on an entirely different theme.  The assignment not only challenges students to research a work of art, consider how to present it to others, and build a convincing argument-- it also forces them to discover the limitations of passively accepting knowledge presented by institutions like art museums.  The project encourages students to recognize that their active participation is necessary to learning, both in and beyond the classroom. 

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2. 
   List major professional development activities completely by faculty and staff in this department/program in the last six years and state proposed development and reasoning by faculty in this program.
   

3. 
   Identify current schedule for tenure review, regular faculty evaluation, adjunct faculty evaluation, and classified staff evaluation.
   

Evaluations and reviews of faculty are done in accordance with the FA Handbook.

4. 
   Describe the department orientation process (or mentoring) for new full-time and adjunct faculty and staff (please include student workers such as tutors and aides).
   

New faculty hires are given an administrative orientation by HR and an Art Department orientation by the full-time faculty member. Student evaluations and peer evaluations are planned by the Division Dean’s office in accordance with the Faculty Contract.

PART E: Facilities, Equipment, Materials and Maintenance

1. 
   Identify and discuss the facilities, equipment, equipment maintenance, and materials allocated to the program. Identify and explain additional facility needs and rationale.
   

The Art Department had a new building erected in Fall 2009. The two-story building houses the following facilities:

1. 
   The loss of the full-time faculty in 3D/Sculpture/Jewelry.
   
2. 
   The loss of the population of Jewelry students.
   
3. 
   The temporary loss of the Jewelry Program, which will set the program back years in terms of momentum.
   
4. 
   The inability for 3D/Sculpture classes to use equipment to meet the needs of the curriculum.
   

A consultant with expertise in creating metal and wood studio classrooms is needed to ensure that the dust collection, ventilation, placement of machinery and equipment, torches and welding equipment and electrical systems are to code and safe. The remaining full time faculty in the Art Department, Rachel Lazo, is not an expert in the discipline, but has outlined below what she understands to be the main problems with the facilities. This may not present the problems accurately and may not include all of the issues, however, it is at least a starting point to understanding how to proceed.

1. 
   The dust collection system was designed to collect both metal dust and wood dust into the same ductwork. This was deemed to be unsafe due to the possibility of fire or explosion. Two separate systems need to be designed.
   
2. 
   In order to have two sets of duct work – one for wood and one for metal – two dust collection machines are needed. The area was housed with one very large machine. It is Prof. Lazo’s understanding that this machine is too large for the needs of the space and maximizes the allotted draw for the HVAC system. It should be replaced with two smaller units: one for wood dust collection, and one for metal dust collection. It is uncertain whether the existing dust collection machine can be coded to operate at a much lower draw or whether it should be replaced with a smaller unit. (The dust collection machine in the scene shop in the new Performing Arts Building presumably is the adequate size).
   
3. 
   The torch room does not have adequate draw for ventilation and this cannot be increased because the current dust collection machine has maxed out the HVAC system.
   
4. 
   The casting area also needs adequate ventilation.
   
5. 
   The power tools need to be positioned and spaced apart to comply with safety guidelines. Placement of wood-only and metal-only machines needs to be designed to take into account a re-design of the dust collection system.
   

At least three reports with recommendations on how to fix the problems in the 3D/Jewelry areas were solicited by an outside environmental studies group. All three reports were rejected in part by the former full-time faculty member.

1. 
   Complete and fix the area for the purposes for which is was intended. Even if the Jewelry Program were to be deactivated completely, all of the equipment in the area is used by the Sculpture Program. The dust collection, ventilation, welding stations, and equipment and machinery all need to be safe and operational whether or not the Jewelry Program persists.
   
2. 
   Hire a consultant who has built and designed metal and wood working classrooms to assess the problems and propose how to fix them. Cabrillo College and California College of Art have metalsmithing/jewelry programs and wood shops, with Cabrillo’s being built within the last 3 years. I recommend starting with those schools when researching a consultant.
   
3. 
   Retain an industrial hygienist or safety officer to insure that health and safety standards are met and faculty safety concerns are addressed.
   
4. 
   Include faculty in the planning process, rather than asking faculty to sign-off on decisions after they have been made.
   
5. 
   Hire a full-time tenure-track faculty in Metalsmithing/Sculpture/3D Design who can coordinate and maintain the area.
   

Woodshops, small metals shops, torch rooms and welding stations are not outlandish, obscure facilities on colleges. In fact, most 3D/Sculpture programs offer these facilities to students. How the architects and engineers built these classrooms so poorly is unfathomable. Why the District is not suing the architects is a mystery.

1. 
   Ventilation was supposed to be designed to accommodate the use of oil paint, solvents, toxic glues and charcoal dust. MSDS sheets of all materials to be used in the classrooms were provided to the architects in the early stages of design. However, faculty and students do not believe that ventilation is adequate. Two air quality tests were done that concluded that nothing was wrong with the air quality in the rooms. However, during the test, both students and faculty were overcome for the fumes in the room and experienced light-headedness and headaches. Students complain of blowing black gunk out their nose when the class is working in charcoal (which is a standard material for drawing). Full-time faculty Rachel Lazo has the following recommendations:
   
   • 
     Install an industrial fan that can be operated by a switch inside the classroom. The teacher can flip the switch for 5 or 10 minutes to exhaust the air. The doors can be propped open so as not to create a vacuum in the room. The noise of the fan is acceptable for 5 or 10 minutes of use. A fan would be needed in both VPA-200 and 201.
     
   • 
     Install some kind of room ionizer that could be operated by the instructor when needed to allow charcoal or pastel dust to drop the floor.
     
2. 
   Shades were installed on all classroom windows except for room 200A. This room holds paper, which is very susceptible to continual, direct sunlight. Dual shades (black out and partial screen) should be installed in VPA-200A, just as they are on all other classroom windows.
   
3. 
   After the opening of the new buildings there has been no area training for health and safety issues. Training and implementation of regular maintenance for toxic waste storage and disposal is needed.
   
4. 
   A Spray booth is needed for use by all disciplines so that students can safely use spray paint, spray adhesives and spray fixatives.
   

1. 
   The overhead lighting in the classroom was designed incorrectly. The room has all-over florescent lighting, which is fine, but also has canned spot lighting on dimmer switches that were placed incorrectly. The canned lighting is to be used when the florescent lights are off and the projector is on. They are meant to dimly illuminate the room so that students can see their notes/quizzes/textbooks while viewing projected presentations. There is a row of canned lights on one the side of the room, which is great, but there is another row of canned lights right above the screen. All the canned lights in the room are operated from one dimmer switch, so there is no way to have the canned lighting on while using the projector. It is recommended that the canned lighting above the screen be relocated to the side of the room that doesn’t have canned lighting and that each set of canned lights be operated on separate switches.
   
2. 
   Hardware or software on the computer needs to be updated to allow smooth streaming of video content on the Web.
   

1. Tools for Art Gallery totaling $1000

2. Laptop computer available for use by the student Art Gallery Assistants

3. Printer

1. 
   Copy machine. There is no copy machine in the Visual and Performing Arts Buildings. One copy machine located in either building for the use of all VPA faculty is needed.
   
2. 
   There is a printer in the Faculty Workroom sitting there idle. Faculty would like the laptop that the Art Gallery uses to print to this printer. Faculty would also like to be able to plug in their laptops to print from this printer.
   

1. 
   Single-use bathrooms on the second floor are a potential safety hazard. Students can lock themselves into the bathroom. Faculty have observed more than one student coming out the bathroom at a time and has smelled marijuana in the bathroom. It is recommended that these bathrooms be operated by key and be designated for faculty/staff use.
   
2. 
   There are display cases in the hallways that were never completed and have a faulty locking design. These cases were designed for faculty to exhibit class projects. This is a very important feature at every art school because it allows students to see what types of projects are coming out of particular classes. Due to the faulty design, student work has been stolen. The cases were supposed to be lined with self-healing tack board, just like the kind that line the critique walls in the classrooms. The architects completely dropped the ball with these display cases.
   
   1. 
      Line them with gray, self-healing tack board like the kind in the classrooms
      
   2. 
      Paint the edges of the cases gray to match tack board
      
   3. 
      Replace locking mechanisms or glass doors with a better design
      
   4. 
      Key all locks to one key
      
3. 
   Fire extinguisher cabinets do not stay shut. Students can pull them open. Fire extinguishers have been stolen.
   
4. 
   Signage is needed to direct people to the restrooms and the sculpture area.
   

2. 
   Describe the use and currency of technology used to enhance the department. Identify projected needs and rationale.
   
   1. 
      All lecture and studio classrooms are outfitted with a smart podium and projector.
      
   2. 
      Some computer systems need to have upgraded software, such as flash player, to allow for smooth streaming of video content off the Web, and updated Adobe Reader.
      
   3. 
      The digital video labs need to have a localized server so that student can store their work for faculty review.
      
   4. 
      The digital labs could also use another flat bed scanner.
      
   5. 
      The Art Gallery needs a laptop computer that the student assistant can use (does not require faculty log in) for Art Gallery purposes.
      
   6. 
      There is a laser printer located in the Faculty Workroom, but no one is hooked up to use it. The Art Gallery would like to have access, as well as faculty who bring in portable computers.
      
   7. 
      A copy machine is also desperately needed on this end of campus. This can be shared by both the Performing and Visual Arts areas and can be located in either buildings’ faculty workrooms.
      
   8. 
      The Art Gallery would also like to have a portable digital projector to use for exhibitions requiring this type of display. This should NOT be mounted as a permanent fixture in the Art Gallery.
      

3. 
   If applicable, describe the support the program receives from industry.