Annual Report Fall 2019

Strategic planning has helped our campus collectively craft a shared vision, consistent with our mission and values, that defines the work of the College. Through this process, we are positioned to better serve the Commonwealth and our students. A few of our recent accomplishments include:

• Renovation of the South Building and launch of the MassArt Art Museum (MAAM)
• Raised $12.5 million, surpassing the UNBOUND Campaign's (for MAAM) $12 million goal
• Welcomed a new Provost and Dean of Graduate Programs

The live dashboard (above) provides an overall update on the status of all goals, strategies, and actions outlined in the plan.

Read the fall 2019 Annual Report

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Progress on Retention and Completion

We pursue a just, compassionate, and equitable learning environment is the first phrase of our values statement and is the clear driver of our community to ensure that MassArt moves deliberately to be more just and equitable, and to do so with compassion.

Recently, we have worked to address retention and completion by:

• Updating our Pronoun and Chosen Name policy
• Establishment of the Office of Justice, Equity, and Transformation to promote systemic equity and campus cultural transformation
• Facilitation of conversations about race such as the Anti-Racism Dialogues, implicit bias training, Undoing Racism and faculty development workshops
• Removal of financial barriers for our Pre-Semester orientation program 
• Creating an orientation program to assist students with emotional challenges in gaining success skills

MassArt's first-year to sophomore retention rate for the 2017 entering cohort was 86% — the fourth highest of our Association of Independent Colleges of Art & Design (AICAD) peers. The fall 2016-to-2017 rate also places MassArt among the top three Massachusetts state universities for fall-to-fall retention. Maintaining a high first-year retention rate is a critical element in our commitment to increase both the six-year and four-year graduation rates.

MassArt's six-year graduation rate for the 2011 entering freshman cohort was 73% — the third highest of our AICAD peers. The six-year graduation rate has remained over 70% for freshmen entering MassArt since 2013. The rate consistently ranks above the median for our AICAD peer group and in the top three of the Massachusetts state universities.

MassArt and the Board of Higher Education are committed to partnering together to close opportunity and completion gaps and center our work on pursuing systemic equity on our campus and throughout the Commonwealth.