VCU's graduate Sculpture program receives top ranking by U.S. News and World Report

By Malorie Burkett

Virginia Commonwealth University's graduate Sculpture program has moved ahead of Yale University and the School of the Art Institute in Chicago, which ranked second and third respectively, to become the number one graduate sculpture program in the nation.

While VCU's graduate Sculpture program has ranked among the top five since 1998 in U.S. News and World Report's "America's Best Graduate Schools," this is the first time VCU has reached the number one spot.

"It isn't something that happened over night," said Joe Seipel, associate dean of academic affairs and director of graduate studies for VCU's School of the Arts. "It's an interesting combination of a whole series of factors that contributed to this, such as the seven faculty members with impressive resumes, the quality and success of the alumni and the great support from the university."

VCU's Sculpture Department is the largest in the nation with over 100 sculpture majors from around the world. The two-year graduate Sculpture program offers a Master of Fine Arts degree. Twelve students are enrolled -- six first-years and six second-years. The department also features an active visiting artists program that represents a variety of directions and philosophical attitudes related to the making of sculpture.

Since VCU's graduate Sculpture program has appeared among the top five in the nation, their pool of applicants has increased. Seipel said that the size of the applicant pool is important in that it allows the program to be very selective, admitting only the best applicants.

"As a result of this number one ranking, the amount of applicants to the program will again increase and make us stronger and more competitive," said Seipel.

Every year since 1994, U.S. News has ranked graduate programs in the areas of business, education, engineering, law, and medicine. This year, U.S. News also produced rankings of graduate programs in selected health fields and the fine arts, surveying nearly 2,000 faculty and administrators. The rankings in these areas are based solely on the ratings of academic experts such as deans, program directors and senior faculty who judge the overall academic quality of programs in their field on a scale of one-marginal, to five-outstanding.

Alumni of VCU's graduate Sculpture program continue to make a name for themselves as well as the program at VCU by appearing with their work at competitive venues around the world and major art galleries in New York.

"I don't think we'll change too much about the program this year, because we must be doing something right," said Seipel.

The department's full-time instructors include Seipel, Myron Helfgott, Sculpture Department chair, Charles Henry, Elizabeth King, Carlton Newton, Harold North and Lester Van Winkle.

This year, twenty VCU programs rank in the top 60 of the U.S. News & World Report 2004 rankings of "America's Best Graduate Schools," including VCU's Nurse Anesthesia program, which is also ranked best in the nation.

For more information on VCU's Sculpture Department and the graduate program, visit
http://www.vcu.edu/artweb/Sculpt/, and for a complete list of the 2004 rankings, visit http://www.vcu.edu/ranking/.