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COFAC eNewsletter Welcome Welcome to the COFAC electronic news! What an appropriate time to begin our electronic newsletter—we are celebrating 40 years of tradition as the College of Fine Arts and Communication at Western Illinois University. Who would have thought 40 years ago in 1968 when the college was founded that we could have a celebration dinner and program on a Friday night—April 11, 2008 — and on the following Monday have images and a way to get the word out to our over 6000 alums with the click of a button—see the COFAC 40th Anniversary story. See a slideshow of the 40th Anniversary Celebration.
But that's where the world has brought us in 40 years. We have a College instead of a school, and I am proud to be the third Dean of the College following Forrest Suycott, Jim Butterworth and a couple of stints as interim Dean by Gene Kozlowski.
Please enjoy this first issue of the COFAC electronic news. We always have news to share with you. We want you to know what our dedicated faculty and talented students are doing. We also hope to hear from each of you so we can share what you are doing. We'd love to report what our alums are up to—maybe writing and producing a new play as a couple of our recent alums have done in the Quad Cities, or being part of the NBC sports/news team for the Beijing Olympics as a couple of our current Broadcasting students will do this summer, or being selected as the winner in the national finals of the MTNA (Music Teachers National Association) Young Artist Woodwind Competition as Hillary Brunner of the School of Music students has done recently—see all these stories in this newsletter!
And we continue to grow. We will shortly add a Masters in Museum Studies in collaboration with the Figge Museum in Davenport, Iowa and the Department of Recreation Parks and Tourism—see that story here as well. As always, these are exciting times at COFAC.
If you care to see almost daily updates, you can visit the Dean's Blog at
http://www.wiu.edu/cofac/Dean/Blog.
This will bring you daily news about student, faculty and alumni success. Please remember, whether it is the e-newsletter or the blog, we can only publish what we receive so send us your news. Have a great spring!
We're waiting to hear from you! Fill out the Alumni Programs Update page or email me directly at PK-Kreider@wiu.edu
COFAC and Figge Announce Museum Studies MA [Pending Approval by the Illinois Board of Higher Educations]
The Western Illinois University Board of Trustees approved a new Masters Degree in Museum Studies at their December 10, 2007 meeting. The program will be based in the Quad Cities and, pending final approval by the Illinois Board of Higher Education, will begin offering courses in the fall semester, 2008. This is a unique program that will be administered through the College of Fine Arts and Communication and will offers course work through the departments of Art, and Recreation, Parks, and Tourism Administration, at Western Illinois University, working in conjunction with museum professionals at the Figge Art Museum in Davenport, Iowa. Some of the courses will be taught at the museum as it serves as a dynamic laboratory for Museum Studies students. 
The M.A. program requires 34 graduate hours of coursework which full-time students will be able to complete in 18 months. It is anticipated that regional museum professionals, teachers, docents, and undergraduates from Art and Recreation, Parks, and Tourism Administration, as well as other disciplines, will be interested in taking courses and/or completing the Masters Degree.
"The College of Fine Arts and Communication is pleased that the Board of Trustees has approved the MA in Museum Studies, and we also look forward to approval by the Illinois Board of Higher Education. This degree, taught in partnership by the WIU's Department of Art, the Department of Recreation, Parks, and Tourism Administration, and the Figge Art Museum, will be an attractive blend of curriculum that will serve the many professionals from the vast number of museums in the region. We are also hopeful that our interdisciplinary curriculum will attract students from across the country with its unique focus and blend. We are also very fortunate to have the professionals from the Figge Art Museum as part of the teaching faculty in the program. The expertise and involvement in the program is sure to provide multiple opportunities and benefits to the students," according to Dr. Paul Kreider, Dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communication.
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