Overview

Read the press release from May 1, 2008.

What is the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project (SNAAP)?

SNAAP is an annual online survey, data management, and institutional improvement system designed to enhance the impact of arts school education. SNAAP will provide the first national data on how artists develop in this country, help identify the factors needed to better connect arts training to artistic careers, and allow educational institutions, researchers and arts leaders to look at the systemic factors that helped or hindered the career paths of alumni, whether they have chosen to work as artists or pursue other paths.

Neither an exit nor a longitudinal survey, SNAAP will be administered as an annual survey of alumni at specified junctures following their institutionally based arts training (at 5, 10, 15 and 20 years out). Once fully operational, SNAAP findings will allow for national and other comparisons and can be disaggregated in various other ways so that institutions can better understand, for example, how students in different majors use their arts training in their careers and other aspects of their lives.

Why and how was SNAAP developed?

SNAAP grew out of the Surdna Foundation's response to needs articulated by arts training institutions across the country. Significant milestones in the project's evolution have included the following:

• Early Indicators of Need: Beginning in 2002, more than 25 of Surdna's arts training grantees individually approached Surdna for help in gathering information about their alumni. A critical mass of interest appeared to be forming, but of the few who had taken initial steps, surveys were weak and organizational capacity to analyze and act on the results was lacking.
• Preliminary Research: Following up, Surdna surveyed its arts grantees in 2003 to better understand the nature and scope of alumni tracking needs. An analysis of over 80 surveys revealed that across all institutional types and artistic disciplines there was strong interest in alumni tracking, driven by programmatic, institutional, and advocacy concerns. The surveys also highlighted obstacles - lack of technical expertise, insufficient staffing and inadequate financial resources. The findings suggested that economies of scale could be achieved through collaborative survey development.
• Confirming Data: Concurrently, at annual meetings of the Duke/Surdna Talented Students in the Arts Initiative (TSAI), issues of alumni tracking became an increasingly prominent focus of discussion and action. At the request of grantees, expert speakers were brought in to share knowledge about best practices (spring 2004). Soon thereafter, a subgroup of TSAI participants formed to further explore the issue.
• The Working Group: A working group of 20 Surdna grantees (TSAI participants and others) began intensive work on survey development in fall 2004, joined by Steven Tepper, an arts policy researcher (then Deputy Director of the Princeton University Center for Cultural Policy and now the Associate Director of the Curb Center for Arts, Enterprise and Public Policy at Vanderbilt University). Two pilot surveys were developed and tested during 2005: one for arts high schools and arts colleges/ conservatories; and a second for afterschool and intensive summer institutes. Subsequently, Surdna and colleagues determined to include only the survey for arts high schools and arts colleges and conservatories in the project's launch.
• Field Input: From 2005-2006, through focus groups and ongoing discussions, an increasing number of field leaders, researchers, and arts training institutions and their alumni voiced interest in the survey and the potential impact it could have on the quality of future training. Over 170 alumni and their organizations tested survey questions for content and style and provided feedback on other issues. This R & D phase revealed that data collection could best be done online, increasing the potential to create a fieldwide system. Consultants with relevant technical expertise joined the working group and began the design of prototypes.
• Planning for Launch: In the winter of 2007, the OMG Center for Collaborative Learning team was engaged by the Surdna Foundation to assess market demand and resources, and develop a business plan for SNAAP's launch. Its work included: objective testing of market interest; exploring startup requirements through research on similar largescale survey systems; identifying potential hosting or survey administering organizations (SAOs); and development of a business plan. Ultimately, OMG recommended that the Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research host SNAAP. The Center works closely with the Curb Center for Arts, Enterprise, and Public Policy at Vanderbilt University and the Indiana University Center for Survey Research to develop and implement the SNAAP survey.
• Funding Partners: In late 2007, Surdna Foundation provided a fiveyear leadership grant to help launch the project. In addition, SNAAP is being supported by the Houston Endowment, Cleveland Foundation, an anonymous foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). SNAAP is a National Partner of the NEA's Arts Education Program.

Who is supporting SNAAP?

To launch SNAAP, in 2008 the Surdna Foundation provided a five-year $2,500,000 leadership grant to Indiana University in partnership with the Curb Center for Art, Enterprise and Public Policy at Vanderbilt University. The Houston Endowment awarded $600,000 over three years. The National Endowment for the Arts committed $60,000 for 2008-2009 and an gave an additional grant of $60,000 for 2009-2010. The Educational Foundation of America and the Cleveland Foundation each provided a two-year grant of $100,000. A foundation that wishes to remain anonymous gave $450,000 over three years.

Support from other organizations is anticipated to support the various phases of the project and insure widespread participation. SNAAP is expected to become self-sustaining by 2014 by institutional participation fees.

Who benefits from SNAAP?

Information gathered through SNAAP will benefit arts training institutions, policy makers, and arts leaders, as well as parents and students considering intensive arts training. The information will provide the first national profile of how artists prepare in this country and allow for deepened understanding of what constitutes artistic success and contribution. In addition, data gathered through SNAAP will assist government entities, funding organizations, and arts leaders in making investment decisions in education, training and resource allocation.

Why is SNAAP important now?

Arts training institutions have articulated an urgent need for objective data. The information that SNAAP provides is especially timely given the changing environment in which arts training institutions operate: career opportunities are shifting, competition for both students and resources is on the rise, and a generational shift in leadership is underway. Institutions require data to respond and plan effectively. Accreditation requirements also include data regarding alumni paths.

How will key stakeholder groups benefit from SNAAP?

For arts high schools, arts colleges and conservatories, and arts schools and departments within comprehensive universities, SNAAP will provide information to:

• improve institutional hires, address alumni needs and enhance development efforts
• strengthen curriculum by tracking what striving young artists need to advance in rapidly changing arts fields
• clarify what students learned and how it has been used in both arts and non-arts contexts
• compare their work to that of similar institutions to identify strengths and gaps
• learn more about the institutions from which their students came to create more productive learning links and better match students to institutions

• what led artists to pursue careers in the arts and other fields, including financing and other resource factors
• local and regional arts workforce issues and market patterns for community developers and planners
• how students who have trained intensively in the arts contribute to the creative economy nationally and by specific locale
• gaps in the arts training ecology, across disciplines, at different training junctures and across various geographic locales
• support mechanisms and resources needed to encourage and sustain artists in their most vulnerable five years after school and beyond

• arts career patterns
• educational resources
• the roles of professional relationships
• obstacles to achieving arts training and professional goals

Who is surveyed?

Arts training institutions have articulated an urgent need for objective data. The information that SNAAP provides is especially timely given the changing environment in which arts training institutions operate: career opportunities are shifting, competition for both students and resources is on the rise, and a generational shift in leadership is underway. Institutions require data to respond and plan effectively. Accreditation requirements also include data regarding alumni paths.

What kinds of questions are asked?

• early interests and training as well as current involvement in the arts
• types of art practiced and how often
• current and past careers and education
• relevance of arts training to work and further education
• turning points, obstacles, critical relationships, and opportunities
• support and resource needs post graduation
• experiences as teachers
• current family situations
• unions and other professional affiliations
• income and support, student debt, other fiscal issues
• career impact and influence of faculty and staff, other artists, classmates, family, friends, coworkers, and other arts professionals

How is SNAAP administered?

SNAAP is a web-based survey that collects data from alumni through questions that make use of dropdown menus and check boxes. A unique feature of the survey instrument is that it creates a Lifemap for each respondent upon survey completion, which provides a visual representation of the impact of various professional, educational and personal experiences on career development. The survey has been specifically developed to reflect the nonlinear nature of arts training and careers and to be user friendly.

What products will participating institutions receive?

1. reports that summarize the lives of alumni since graduation for:
   • comparisons and analysis of the national aggregate group, and peer group, of respondents on key indicators (e.g., graduation rates, percentage pursuing arts careers, non-arts career paths, income levels)
   • confidential internal institutional analyses of their alumni


2. Access to data files for individualized institutional research.
   Some typical examples of SNAAP reports by graduation year:
   • types of art practiced and how often
   • current and past careers and education
   • relevance of arts training to work and further education
   • turning points, obstacles, critical relationships and opportunities
   • support and resource needs post graduation
   • experiences as teachers
   • current family situations
   • unions and other professional affiliations
   • income and support, student debt, other fiscal issues
   • career impact and influence of faculty and staff, other artists, classmates, family, friends, coworkers, and other arts professionals
   • percent of alumni currently working in the arts, by discipline and most common types of jobs
   • percent of income earned from arts-related employment, sources of support and amounts of student debt
   • percent of alumni working in non-arts jobs that say their arts training is relevant/important to
   • what they do, and percent of nonworking time they spend making art
   • types of non-arts jobs that draw most heavily on artistic skills and training

Who owns SNAAP data and how can the results be used?

SNAAP data will belong to Indiana University and participating institutions according to the following principles:

• Participating institutions will receive a summary report and a file with respondent raw data to permit additional school specific data analyses.
• Participating institutions can use their SNAAP data for institutional purposes, based on guidelines recommended by the national advisory board.
• SNAAP project staff will use the data in the aggregate for national and sector reporting purposes and other educational improvement initiatives. SNAAP may also make data, in which individual institutions and students cannot be identified, available to researchers interested in studying the career paths and experiences of arts alumni.
• SNAAP results specific to institutions and identified as such will not be made public by SNAAP except by mutual agreement between SNAAP and the respective participating institution.
• SNAAP survey administration protocols will adhere to federal regulations pertaining to the protection of human subjects (45CFR46). The SNAAP survey protocol will be approved annually by the Human Subjects Committee (HSC) at Indiana University Bloomington (IUB). Any changes to the survey protocol by participating institutions must be approved by the IUB HSC.

What can my institution do to participate in SNAAP in 2010?

Your institution will be asked to do the following:

• Provide the best possible alumni contact information for the classes of 2005, 2000, 1995 and 1990. SNAAP will need each graduate's name, gender, degree, email address and, if possible, mailing address and phone number.
• Identify a primary Campus Contact to work with the SNAAP staff
• Communicate with your alumni about SNAAP and encourage them to participate. SNAAP will provide message templates to assist with this effort.
• Edit five email messages that will be sent from the Indiana University Center for Survey Research under your name to your alumni, linking them to the survey.