MFA Semester Reviews

To support your growth as an artist, scholar, and community member, the School of Art and Design provides MFA students with ongoing mentorship and structured evaluations. Students receive two types of reviews each semester:

• Mid-Semester Reviews: Informal check-ins with faculty mentors to assess progress toward semester goals and identify areas for further focus.
• End-of-Semester Reviews: Formal evaluations during the first two years of study, designed to provide both formative and summative feedback on your development.

End-of-semester reviews include a portfolio review, an oral presentation, and a written research paper. Faculty mentors evaluate your creative work, research, use of tools and technologies, writing, and verbal communication skills. These reviews not only assess progress but also give you the opportunity to ask questions, receive guidance, and refine your direction.

Together, these review processes are designed to prepare you for your thesis year, ensuring you enter with a strong foundation on which to build your body of work and thesis document.

Portfolio Review

The review of your creative activity is a central component of your MFA experience, as it directly informs the development of your future thesis exhibition. During each review, you will discuss your work in relation to its materiality, process, context, and intentions. You are encouraged to present both in-progress and completed pieces, evidence of your creative research, and any visuals that clearly convey your artistic development and productivity for the term.

Oral Presentation

Your ability to present your work verbally is evaluated on a regular basis. Each semester you will deliver an oral presentation as part of the review process, in graduate seminar courses, and—during the spring semester—through participation in Research and Creative Achievement Week (RCAW). In consultation with your mentors, the RCAW presentation may serve as the oral presentation component of your spring end-of-semester review.

Oral presentations are evaluated on the following criteria:

• Information is presented in a clear, logical manner.
• Speech is articulate and effective.
• Demonstrates an understanding of the historical and contemporary context of your work, including formal issues, content, technique, and conceptual inquiry.
• Responds to questions logically and concisely.
• Communicates with confidence and persuasiveness.
• Maintains professionalism in both appearance and attitude.

Writing

To assess your art and design writing skills, you will complete and submit a research paper of at least five pages. The paper must follow either MLA style or Kate L. Turabian’s A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. A bibliography is required, and the completed paper must be submitted to your mentors at least one week prior to your end-of-semester review.

Research papers will be evaluated on the following criteria:

• Information is presented in a clear and logical manner.
• Grammar, punctuation, and syntax are correct and appropriate.
• Consistent use of an accepted writing style and citation system (MLA or Turabian).
• Effectively communicates the historical and contemporary context of the chosen research topic or personal work, including formal issues, content, and technique.
• Demonstrates how the research builds upon and contributes to broader knowledge within the field.
• Bibliography is thorough and appropriate to the topic.
• Paper is submitted on time and in the required format for review.

Wrap-up & Next Steps

Following each review, faculty mentors complete evaluation forms that are shared with students. Copies of visual documentation of creative work and the research paper must be submitted to the Graduate Programs Director within two weeks of the review. These materials are placed in the student’s file along with the completed evaluation forms, creating a comprehensive record of progress.

At the conclusion of the second-year spring review, students who successfully complete the process will establish a Thesis Committee Chair and submit a Pre-Thesis Research Approval Form to the Graduate School. At this stage, work on the thesis exhibition and written document should be well underway, providing a strong foundation for the final year of study.