Testimonials

Arts Leaders Weigh in on SNAAP

"At last, SNAAP promises a rigorous tool for arts training institutions to track the professional outcomes and satisfaction of their graduates. Used thoughtfully, SNAAP will allow our programs to be better informed about our results, more engaged with our alumni, and more responsive in our curricula. SNAAP also allows our professional training programs to satisfy the increasing call for "outcomes" assessment of program effectiveness."

- Douglas Dempster, Dean of the College of Fine Arts, University of Texas at Austin

"For the first time, SNAAP results will allow us to see how high-quality, deep training in the arts guides professional careers of creative American citizens."

Sarah Bainter Cunningham, Director, Arts Education Program, National Endowment for the Arts

SNAAP is poised to become one of the signature accomplishments of our foundation in this decade. It will help a segment of the organizations we serve extend their long-term value to students and the fields into which they migrate. SNAAP's impact will only increase over time, and Surdna is pleased to support the project's talented administrators and policy analysts.

- Phillip Henderson, President, Surdna Foundation

"I know that there is a connection between education and professional and personal success in later life. However, being able to make this case is maddening, to say the least. The SNAAP project has the potential to prove this link, and in doing so, has the potential to alter curricula in training institutions, and thereby alter how orchestras operate."

- James Undercofler, Professor, Arts Administration, Drexel University

"Using online availability as an important connecting point, SNAAP will enable arts education institutions to assess the effectiveness of their programs based on widely gathered statistical information from their graduates. In turn, it will help them to better prepare their students for the careers they enter - in the arts or not."

- Mary Schmidt Campbell, Dean, Tisch School of the Arts, New York University

"Rhode Island School of Design was an early participant in the planning discussions because we recognized the potential of this large-scale project in helping to put the value of a RISD education into some context. There are no other broad and deep assessment vehicles for arts education on the university level that would have usefulness both for the institutions and the individuals involved. The Career Services Department at RISD eagerly awaits the opportunity to tap into the data base to help shape its future education programs and services to our alumni and students."

- Roger Mandle, Former President, Rhode Island School of Design

"I cannot think of a more important effort to help us prepare the artist leaders who will transform our profession."

- Robert Sirota, President, Manhattan School of Music