Launching Milwaukee’s Creative Professionals

Art and design practice is rapidly changing in a world defined by emerging technologies, an entrepreneurial spirit and new ways of communicating. MIAD’s programs and experiences hone the top skills employers worldwide demand. Students ask “What’s Possible?” and then develop real solutions to meet real needs.

Nowhere are these top professional skills more needed than in Milwaukee, and nowhere is a college more poised to provide them.

MIAD is growing its enrollment, integrated academic programs and student and community experiences. Unique applications of emerging technologies are flourishing through the MIAD Innovation Center.

All these achievements help students excel on a professional journey that begins from their first moments on campus.

At the midpoint of our strategic plan, the college already has exceeded many of our aggressive goals – growing enrollment 40% over the past five years and retaining 80.5% of first-year students from their first to second year. Out of state enrollment is approaching 50%, and many of our graduates remain in Wisconsin after graduation for at least their first job.

Through this strategic plan, MIAD is launching the programs and creative professionals who are transforming our community.  

Five-Year Strategic Plan Goals & Objectives

1. Recruiting – Seeking future artists and designers

• Increase new student enrollment to 274 (14 percent) by fall 2022.
• Provide scholarship and grant aid at appropriate levels to maintain affordability of, and access to, MIAD’s education.
• Diversify enrollment of new students demographically and geographically.

2. Retaining – Promising our students a four-year professional journey

• Increase first-time, first-year student retention 2 percent annually, to reach 82 percent by 2022.
• Increase sophomore-to-junior retention rates in the majors to 90 percent by Fall 2022 (i.e., sophomore attrition no higher than 10 percent).
• Increase retention rates of various groups such as first-generation students, minority students and commuters, among others with identified needs, by fall 2022.

3. Learning – Launching new and compelling curricular programming

• Create new curricular tracks to respond to students’ evolving interests in contemporary design and art programming and careers.
• Energize student learning through increased role of digital technology in studios, classrooms and courses.
• Build inclusivity and diversity in our curriculum and academic experiences (Adopted April 2019).

4. Making – Revitalizing the campus to transform learning

• Create a compelling physical and external presence that invites the community to engage with MIAD’s galleries, programs and facilities.
• Establish our brand throughout the campus to reinforce the MIAD experience.
• Create an engaging learning environment to transform student learning.
• Promote MIAD’s distinctive strength in professional preparation (Adopted April 2019).

5. Living – Building a life of purpose in the professions and the community

• Develop a center to foster innovation and entrepreneurial thinking.
• Strengthen the college’s commitment to Service Learning to continue to distinguish our students’
  roles in the community.
• Develop programming to increase the economic, cultural and societal role MIAD plays in the region.
• Strengthen the college’s commitment to inclusivity by making visible, educating about and celebrating diversity (Adopted April 2019).

For more information about the Strategic Plan, contact President Jeff Morin at jeffmorin@miad.edu or 414-847-3210.

(Updated September 2019)