Survey of art (and related) departments in Ireland How is or was your experience at art college? Great? Miserable? Probably somewhere in between, and probably also multi-faceted. At Circa we are preparing an article or two on art departments in Ireland, and we would be very grateful for your input, if you are attending or have attended a third-level art college (or art department in a larger third-level institution [eg DIT, UU, GMIT]) anywhere on the island of Ireland. (If you do not or did not study in Ireland, feel free to complete the survey if you like - it will offer us useful comparative data.) The questions below primarily look at what we are getting for our time and money in art departments in Ireland. Visual-arts courses are what we are interested in, in a broad sense - Multimedia, Virtual Reality, Fine Art Photography and similar courses also qualify. Also, some colleges have a general first year (eg 'Core' at NCAD). Feel free to comment on this introductory year if you happen to be in it or have gone on from it to do something other than visual art after that. The survey is in two sections. Part A is mostly about the art department and your experiences of it. Part B is about you. At the end you are asked to enter your e-mail address. You don't have to do this! However, if you do enter it, we can contact you for confirmation; we will also be compiling statistics separately for anonymous and onymous contributions. No comments will be printed with attribution without consent. We will be publishing a selection of the results in the magazine. We will eventually 'publish' all results online, minus e-mail addresses, except where the content may present legal or related problems. Some questions have yes / no answers, tick boxes or rating scales, but these questions also invite extended comments - please feel to elaborate on any point! Where there are scales, it is helpful if you try to use the full range of values, rather just sticking to the middle ones. Are you a third-level art lecturer / tutor? You are of course very welcome to fill out the survey below, but there is also a parallel survey here. Finally, your time is very valuable, but we can't pay you for your contribution. Instead, Circa will make a 250-euro donation to charity as a sort of mass-payment.

Part A: The Department

1. What college do or did you attend?
   Please fill in the above field. (As mentioned above, you may if you like report on a college outside Ireland, for comparative purposes; if you are doing that, please click here: )
   Are you still at college? | after college?
   If you are still in college, what year?
   introductory / core year | year 1 of degree | year 2 | year 3+ | postgrad year 1 | postgrad year 2 | postgrad year 3+
   (If you are commenting on the introductory year, though you went on to do something other than visual art, please tick this box: )
   If you have left college (a) what year did you leave? and
   (b) did you finish the course? yes | no; if not, why not?
   
   (If you attended more  than one college in Ireland, or the same college more than once – eg a BA then an MA – we’d be grateful if you responded separately for each course.)
   If you have not left college, what year will you graduate?
2. What is the name of the degree? (Please give specialisation where applicable - eg 'Fine Art/Sculpture'.)
3. What is or was your overall impression of the the course?
   Please rate using the scale below:
   terrible brilliant
   Any comments?:
   
   Would you recommend the course to others?
   yes | no
   Any comments?:
   
4. What are or were the facilities like (particularly in terms of space, physical structure and integrity of buildings, layout)?
   Please rate using the scale below:
   terrible brilliant
   Any comments?:
   
5. How is or was the quality of tutoring?
   Please rate using the scale below:
   terrible brilliant
   Any comments?:
   
   Does / did the tutoring encourage you in your art-making?
   Please rate using the scale below:
   very discouraging very encouraging
   Any comments?:
   
   Is / was the teaching style respectful of you?
   Please rate using the scale below:
   not at all very much so
   Any comments?:
   
   
6. On average, how much time are or were you allocated for one-to-one tutoring per three-month period? (Give amount in final year if you have left college.)
   
   Any comments?:
   
   How available are / were staff?
   barely very
   Any comments?:
   
7. Are / were there peer critiques? yes | no
   If so, are / were they constructive? yes | no
   Are / were they well managed by teaching staff? yes | no
   Any comments?:
   
   To what extent are or were fellow students a source of stress?
   not at all very much so
   Any comments?:
   
   To what extent are or were fellow students a source of support?
   not at all very much so
   Any comments?:
   
8. How well is or was the department run?
   Please rate using the scale below:
   very badly brilliantly
   Any comments?:
   
   Are or were resources (equipment, etc) adequate? Please rate using the scale below:
   no - very poor yes - excellent
   Any comments?:
   
   If problems arise / arose regarding resources, how well are / were they dealt with?
   Please rate using the scale below:
   very poorly very well
   Any comments?:
   
9. How well are or were students treated?
   Please rate using the scale below:
   very badly brilliantly
   Any comments?:
   
   Do or did students select / elect class reps? yes | no
   How effective is / was the Students Union? Please rate using the scale below:
   totally useless very effective | don't know
   Any comments?:
   
10. Is or was there a gender balance on the teaching staff in the department?
    For permanent staff (full-time lecturers), please estimate gender balance using the scale below:
    strongly male staffing strongly female staffing
    For temporary staff (part-timers, module tutors, etc), please estimate gender balance using the scale below:
    strongly male staffing strongly female staffing
    How would you estimate the gender balance of the students on your course?:
    strongly male strongly female
    Any comments?:
    
11. Is or was there teaching in art or cultural theory? yes | no
    If so, how good? Please rate using the scale below:
    terrible brilliant
    Any comments?:
    
    If it exists or existed, is / was the theory helpful or stressful, or both?:
    helpful | stressful (tick either or both)
    Any comments?:
    
12. Do you or did you benefit from your course - is / was it worth your while?
    Please rate using the scale below:
    not at all very much so
    Any comments?:
    
    Do you believe the course delivers / delivered on its promise, in terms of content and teaching?
    Please rate using the scale below:
    not at all very much so
    Any comments?:
    
13. Does or did the college attempt to prepare you for making your way in the outside world?
    yes | no | can't tell yet
    Any comments?:
    
    How relevant is or was the course for life in general post-college?
    Please rate using the scale below:
    not at all relevant very relevant | don't know yet
    Any comments?:
    
    How well does or did the course prepare you for professional life / practice post-college?
    Please rate using the scale below:
    very badly very well | don't know yet | I've lost interest
    Any comments?:
    
14. If you have left college, are you making art? yes - full-time | yes - part-time | no, but in art-related employment | no, and not in art-related employment
    If you have left college, how did you do in terms of your final mark in art?
    Please rate using the scale below:
    very badly very well
    Any comments?:
    
    If you have left college, was the final mark a fair reflection of your performance?
    Please rate using the scale below:
    not at all very much so
    Any comments?:
    
15. How would you rate the professional conduct of teaching staff?
    Please rate using the scale below:
    very unacceptable very acceptable
    Any comments?:
    
    Is or was staff conduct always appropriate?
    yes | no
    Any comments?:
    
    If conduct is / was not appropriate or acceptable, does / did the college have adequate systems in place to deal with such problems?
    yes | no
    Any comments?:
    
16. Are / were all students, in your opinion, treated fairly and equally?
    yes | no
    Any comments?:
    
    How much, do you think, does or did the college or department care about students?
    not at all lots
    Any comments?:
    
    Do or did a student's looks impact on how s/he is or was treated?
    not at all very much so
    Any comments?:
    
17. Have you attended any other similar department(s) outside of Ireland (perhaps as an exchange student)?
    yes | no
    If so, how did it / they compare?:
    it was / they were far worse it was / they were far better
    Any comments?:
    
18. If you could go back in time, would you do the course again?
    definitely not definitely
    Any comments?:
    
19. Would you recommend to a child of yours (once the appropriate age) that s/he do the course?
    definitely not definitely
    Any comments?:
    
20. Any other comments?
    

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Part B: You

This section is about you. Some of the questions here are obvious - age, gender - but some will be more surprising. The logic is as follows. Every student is different. Each brings to an art department traits which will in part affect how the conditions they find in the department impact on them: a person with one configuration of traits might find very stimulating conditions which another person with different traits could find distressing. If departments are to make improvements, one way they might do this would be to factor in the personalities of their students, by taking into account how different personalities may react to situations quite differently. Smart departments would tailor their behaviours, to the extent they could, to take into account such differences among students. Please note: all trait questions relate to how you were at the time you were doing the course, not to how you are now if you have finished the course. Please fill in as much as you wish of the questions below. Honest answers will be the most helpful!

> YOU <

1. What is your age (now)?:
   If you have left college, at what age did you leave?:
   Your gender?: male | female
2. What is your e-mail address (optional - see note at top of page)?
3. How well are you doing / did you do on the course? First, please rate your subjective impression:
   very badly very well
   Second, how well are you doing / did you do on the course, according to the department?
   very badly very well | don't know yet
   Any comments?:
   
4. How well were you performing academically before coming to college - eg in secondary school?
   very badly very well
   And, specifically, how were you doing in art?
   very badly very well
   In terms of 'smarts', where would you have positioned yourself before coming to college - eg, at secondary school?
   at the bottom at the top
   In terms of written verbal ability, where would you have positioned yourself before coming to college - eg, at secondary school?
   at the bottom at the top
   Any comments?:
   
   
5. How would you rate yourself on the following traits (at the time of doing the course)? (It is helpful with these scales if you try to use the full range of values, rather than hovering around the middle ones.)
   
   Perfectionism? : very low very high
   
   Optimism?: very low very high
   
   Impulsiveness?: very low very high
   
   Assertiveness?: very low very high
   
   Emotional self-awareness?: very low very high
   
   Ability to cope with stress?: very low very high
   
   'Outgoingness' / extraversion?: very low very high
   
   Anxiousness?: very low very high
   
   Need to achieve?: very low very high
   
   Impatience?: very low very high
   
   Leadership?: very low very high
   
   Enjoyment of challenges?: very low very high
   
   Commitment to what you're doing?: very low very high
   
   Awareness of emotions in others?: very low very high
   
   Depressiveness?: very low very high
   
   'Social fit' - in general?: very low very high
   
   'Social fit' - among fellow students?: very low very high
   
   Emotional support (available to you)?: very low very high
   
   Opinion of yourself?: very low very high
   
   Independence?: very low very high
   
   Flexibility?: very low very high
   
   Happiness?: very low very high
   
   Ability to solve challenges?: very low very high
   
   Frustration with life?: very low very high
   
   Ability to concentrate?: very low very high
   
   Control over your life, excluding emotions?: very low very high
   
   Control over your emotional life?: very low very high
   
   Forgetfulness?: very low very high
   
   Resilience?: very low very high
   
   Adaptability?: very low very high
    
   Sense of humour?: very low very high
   
   Self-confidence?: very low very high
   
   Tendency to daydream?: very low very high
   
   Ability to persist?: very low very high
   
   Any comments on this part of the survey?:
   

Thank you for taking the time to fill out this survey. Don't forget to click on the 'Submit' button below!

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