National accreditation for the UA art department moved one step closer to reality yesterday as a team of national art education evaluators concluded its three-day visit to campus.

"This is the first time they (the art department) were reviewed for accreditation," said Maurice J. Sevigny, dean of the College of Fine Arts. "Art was the only department (in the college) that had never formally gone through accreditation. It was never pressured to, never was asked to. It was an elective process."

Art Department Head Andrew W. Polk said the three-person review team from the National Association of Schools of Art and Design was comprised of the University of Illinois art school director, a provost from the Rhode Island School of Design and the dean of the University of Cincinnati's art college.

The three evaluators have toured the art facilities and library since Monday and met with faculty, students and others in and outside the art department, Sevigny said.

"They asked questions about curriculum and students," photography Professor Harold H. Jones said after the group toured his lab.

Prompted by Polk, the evaluation coincided with the university's academic program review of the department that occurs every seven years, Sevigny said.

"What we really want is a national perspective and to be sure that our program review is in keeping with national trends," Sevigny said.

Polk said the total cost of accreditation has not yet been determined.

Polk said the accreditation comes at the beginning of a several-year-long process during which the UA art department hopes to expand into an independent school of art within the university.

"We would like to have the university and the rest of the country acknowledge us for what we are - a large program that deserves to be a school," Polk said.

While no university department is required to be nationally recognized, such accreditation highlights the program, said Joanna Y. Mahon, an art department administrative associate.

"National accreditation puts your school in a different sort of arena," she said, stressing NASAD's "rigorous" standards. "It looks good for the university and it is very good for students because it brings recognition to the program."

The reviewers looked at the quality of curriculum, facilities, equipment, faculty and student work, Polk said.

"They want to make sure that the program that we offer is consistent with the level of standards with all other accredited programs nationwide," he said.

NASAD also realizes that art programs across the country are different, Polk said.

"It wants to make sure that each program is taking advantage of its strengths," he said.

Steven K. Hedden, associate dean of the College of Fine Arts, also emphasized the visit would not be used to rate the art department against others nationally, but only to accredit it.

The team planned to review its findings with Polk yesterday afternoon, but final results from the national evaluation will not be available until early next spring, Polk said.

"Thus far, we've gotten some preliminary reports and the team's been very impressed," Sevigny said.

The UA art department has 600 undergraduate majors, 100 graduate students and a faculty of 40.

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