Program Handbook

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Admissions

  • All applicants are required to submit a Cornell Graduate School application which must include the following: the application form, a statement of purpose, a minimum of three letters of recommendation, undergraduate transcripts, and a slideroom portfolio consisting of no more than twenty examples of recent work.
  • An undergraduate degree in any discipline is a pre-requisite for the M.F.A. In Creative Visual Arts program. It does not have to be a B.F.A. The GRE is not required for admission to the Department of Art.
  • All applicants must meet the English Language Proficiency Requirement.
  • A student must attend as a full-time matriculated student.
  • Transfer credits are not accepted in either the program's art component or the elective/university credit component.
  • An on-campus or an online, web-based interview may be a part of the admissions process.
  • Admitted students are responsible for fulfilling all of the formal Cornell University matriculation requirements as stated in the offer of admission letter.

M.F.A. Shop Training

  • One week before the start of classes, all incoming M.F.A. In Creative Visual Arts, students are required to complete shop training on campus. Shop training includes safety training and equipment training for Rand Hall, Sibley Hall, and Tjaden Hall facilities. Incoming M.F.A. students will be notified of the shop training schedule and the date they are required to be on campus by the beginning of August. Completing the M.F.A. Shop Training is required for the teaching assistantship position.

Academic Requirements

  • The M.F.A. In Creative Visual Arts program is a two-year, full-time program of study. Students are required to be in residence for the duration of the program.
  • A total of 60 credit hours of coursework at Cornell are required, including:
    • 36 credit hours of studio work, nine each semester, for a letter grade to be determined by a final grading review at the end of each term.
    • 12 credits of M.F.A. Graduate Seminar, three each semester for a letter grade.
    • 6 credit hours in elective courses at the graduate level. Students can choose electives from a wide range of graduate course offerings across the university and within the college, including the Art and Architecture departments. All courses must be taken at the graduate level, 5000 or higher, to count towards degree completion (beginning fall 2021). Students may enroll in one independent study course (at the graduate level, 5000 or higher) to count towards their elective credits once the independent study is approved by the DGS. The DGS will review the syllabus of the independent study for final approval. The independent study course must be taken for a letter grade.
    • Six credits of professional practice and fieldwork in contemporary art, three each spring, for a letter grade.
  • Audited courses do not count toward degree completion. Students are permitted to audit a course but must be enrolled each semester in the M.F.A. Graduate Seminar, Graduate Studio Course, and either an elective course or professional practice course.
  • Cornell's Satisfactory Academic Progress policy stipulates that students in research degrees must maintain a minimum GPA of 2.25 to be in good academic standing or to be eligible for federal loans. The M.F.A. In Creative Visual Arts program stipulates if a student falls into poor academic standing, defined as a grade lower than C- in studio work or a GPA of less than 2.7, the M.F.A. Thesis Committee will review the student's progress and make specific recommendations for the student to improve their performance within a specified period of time not to exceed one semester. These specific recommendations and time limits will also be clearly stated in a letter to the student from the Advisor of Record with a copy of the DGS and Department files. At the end of the specified period, the student will be reviewed again by the committee, and if satisfactory, the student may proceed with the M.F.A. program.
  • If student progress remains unsatisfactory, the Advisor of Record will resign immediately in a letter to the student with copies of the DGS and Department files. This will terminate the student's attendance in the M.F.A. in Creative Visual Arts program, and all financial support will cease. If the M.F.A. Thesis Committee unanimously fails a student on an end-of-semester or thesis exhibition grading review and refuses to allow further review, the student may not continue in the graduate program. The student can continue in the program only if the majority of the Art Faculty approves their petition to do so.

Financial Support

  • Partial tuition support, when available, is given to all M.F.A. in Creative Visual Arts students.
  • Part-time Teaching Assistantships, a component of the program, will provide a stipend to all M.F.A. in Creative Visual Arts students. Students work 7.5 hours per week for their teaching assistantship (stipend). The assistantship may include in and out-of-classroom responsibilities. The student is required to keep track of their teaching assistant hours.
  • Each semester, graduate students may work up to 20 hours per week, as employed by Cornell.
  • In the event that a student must stay past two years to complete the degree requirements, no financial support or studio space will be provided.

General Information

  • Studio space will be provided for each graduate student based on the available space in the college.
  • Students must comply with all departmental and university rules and regulations regarding and maintaining this space.
  • Requests for extensions, leaves, or any other deviation from departmental requirements are handled as follows:
    • Requests and supporting statements must be submitted in writing to the thesis committee. All committee members must approve and sign the request; such requests will be kept on file with the AAP Registrar. The student's committee may consult with the Art Department faculty in an advisory capacity regarding the conflict.
  • The graduate student is responsible for keeping track of and completing all program requirements.
  • The M.F.A. in Creative Visual Arts candidate must comply with all AAP and Cornell University requirements, including, but not limited to, timely filing of appropriate forms and requested information.

Program Requirements

M.F.A. Thesis Committee

  • Each graduate student will have at least a three-member M.F.A. Thesis Committee composed of an Advisor of Record from the Department of Art's general graduate faculty and an additional graduate faculty member. Students may have up to four members of their Thesis Committee. One of these additional members must be from the Department of Art's general or divisional graduate faculty; the other may be graduate faculty from outside the Department but must be on the list of Graduate Affiliate Faculty.
  • In the first fall and spring semesters of study, the Director of Graduate Studies will serve as the student's temporary Advisor of Record, and students will have weekly studio visits with art faculty members. At the end of the spring semester, the student will select a different Advisor of Record and additional members by applying the requirements above.
  • A student must have a complete Thesis Committee and cannot make changes at the start of their 2nd year (unless a faculty member takes a leave). In the event that a committee member takes a leave, the student is required to choose another grading member as a replacement. This replacement must be a general or divisional member of the Cornell Graduate Faculty.
  • M.F.A. students must meet with their M.F.A. Thesis Committee members individually a minimum of one time per semester and should schedule additional meetings during the semester as needed, exclusive of the end-of-semester grading reviews. 
  • Any member may resign at any time from an M.F.A. Thesis Committee; failure to reconstitute an M.F.A. Thesis Committee precludes a student's further registration in the graduate program.

Thesis Exhibition and Artist Statement

(Refer to the corresponding M.F.A. in Creative Visual Arts Schedule & Deadlines handout for due dates.)

  • Each year, the Director of Graduate Studies will establish the due dates and deadlines for the thesis work. Students are responsible for submitting completed work to their committee by stated deadlines. The Art Department establishes dates for completion of the degree requirements. It is the student's responsibility to be aware of these dates and comply with stated deadlines. 
  • During a student's 4th and final semester, they will create their thesis exhibition. The thesis exhibition must consist of work that furthers and/or exemplifies the student's ongoing creative production. The final critique with your Thesis Committee should verbally address both the artist's statement and visual thesis during the time of the exhibition. The M.F.A. Thesis Committee will direct the thesis review, which is open to all interested faculty members.
  • The artist statement must deal with the aesthetic, conceptual, and/or art historical issues of the student's creative work. The M.F.A. Thesis Committee must approve of the content, approach, and length of the statement.
  • The format and length of the artist statement should be determined by the student's M.F.A. Thesis Committee and must be completed and delivered to that committee following their final review. 
  • After a student has successfully completed their final review, they must submit their committee-approved thesis document (artist statement and thesis exhibition images) by May 15th to eCommons in order to complete a May conferral. The Art Department uses an online database for electronic submission.
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