Leading:
Parsons
Diversity in Hiring Task Force, 2018–2021
This group looked for ways to increase equity and diversity in hiring. My part was in looking at the specific documents and processes used throughout the process (the job description, shared documents in the committee, the job talk) and iterating towards a process that wouldn’t alienate people before they even began to think about teaching full time. The group is now working on the hiring of part-time faculty. When this task force was convened, we decided as a group to be fluid about its membership and have no chair.
Collaborators: Shana Agid, Melanie Crean, Fatuma Dahir, Jess Irish, Marisa Jahn, Selena Kimball, Rory O’Dea, Rit Premnath, John Sharp, Richard The, Ka-Man Tse
EDI Handbook draft ︎︎︎
BFA Communication Design at Parsons
Director, 2011–14
Associate Director, 2014–16
When I was appointed to the full-time faculty at the New School in January 2011, I was hired to direct the BFA Communication Design program at Parsons. I also directed the BFA Design and Technology program beginning in Fall 2011, and continued to direct both programs until Spring 2014. When my terms directing the BFA programs ended, YuJune Park was hired in as Director and I took on the role of Associate Director of Communication Design. YuJune Park was followed by E Roon Kang as director, and then Caspar Lam.
BFA Communication Design is the oldest program of its kind, and one of the largest. As director I was responsible for over 450 students and 115 part-time faculty, and served alongside 6 full-time faculty who reported to the Dean of the School of Art, Media, and Technology. My goal from the start of my time directing the program was to fully integrate interaction into the curriculum and culture of the program, to align the core courses, and to diversify the faculty along many different lines. I hired 50 new part-time faculty in the first two years, followed by another 32 from Fall 2013 until Fall 2014. As our student base almost doubled over the next decade, so did our full-time faculty: in addition to YuJune, E Roon, and Caspar, Pascal Glissmann, Brendan Griffiths, Kelly Walters, and Lynn Kiang joined me and Lucille Tenazas to lead and shape the BFA, AAS, and MPS Communication Design programs.
Collaborators: Anne Gaines, Pascal Glissmann, YuJune Park, E Roon Kang, Brendan Griffiths, Kelly Walters, Caspar Lam, Lynn Kiang, as well as 100+ part-time faculty and students over the years.
BFA Communication Design Thesis site ︎︎︎
BFA Design and Technology at Parsons
Director, 2011–14
At the end of Spring 2011, I volunteered to direct BFA Design & Technology in addition to BFA Communication Design, and was appointed in Fall 2011. I continued to direct both programs until Spring 2014. When my terms directing the BFA programs ended, I took on the role of Associate Director of Communication Design. At the time, the Design & Technology program graduated about twenty-five students a year, while the Communication Design program graduated about one hundred.
The introduction of a new 120-credit curriculum beginning in Fall 2013 across Parsons (and a new first year) opened up an opportunity to redesign the BFA Design and Technology program. The program promised proficiency in five different areas: physical computing, motion graphics, interaction design, game design, and computational art. But because each incoming class had fewer that 30 students, it wasn’t possible to even introduce these topics adequately in required courses.
The solution was to completely rethink the BFA Design & Technology curriculum, in consultation with the school dean, the school curriculum chair, and with input from structured meetings with students, faculty, and alumni. The program was reorganized into two tracks: Game Design and Creative Technologies. We recruited and supervised two faculty in writing the curriculum for the tracks, Kan Yang Li and Ryan Raffa. Kan Yang Li took on the leadership of the program in 2014–15.
Collaborators: Anne Gaines, Pascal Glissmann, Kan Yang Li, Ryan Raffa, and all of the faculty and students teaching and learning in the program in 2013.