What the heck? Let's go ahead and be the Harvard of the Plains! — Me
Where a student can afford to go to school should not limit their long-term trajectory. But let's face it, it can if they can't cowboy up and pay big money for tier one or private art & design school.
Or we as a department can stop printing those recruitment brochures turned out by University Relations and start investing in the students directly. That's Winner, Winner.
In 2010, we stopped spending recruitment money trying to get new students and started paying competition entry fees for the students we already have. And it worked. Since 2014, students have won 1,700+ awards in Flux, Addy's, Print, CA, HOW, CMYK, and several other competitions. And, oh yes, our recruitment increased substantially!
But winning isn't the point; the confidence a student gains through this verification by competition is. And let's tell every person we meet on campus, off-campus, and through social media what we won and how much! We do keep score! But not because winning is everything but because everyone understands winning and can immediately extrapolate that to excellence.
But most of all, we ensure the students know how much we believe in them because we're investing in them.
So come and get us. We're ready. We are the best little design school you might not have heard of—yet.