Multicultural Affairs

The ultimate objective of the Multicultural Affairs (MA) Office is student success as well as to promote a culturally rich learning environment. Partnering with other student support services, the MA office is part of a critical network that includes Academic Advising and Registration, Student Life and the Student Success Center. Together these offices form a vital “safety net” of academic support systems and resources for all students, but specifically students who find themselves academically at-risk.

For new and current students, the MA Director provides academic advising as a means of tracking their academic progress as long as they attend CCS. In addition, this academic monitoring process forges a connection that students often rely on when they are confronted with academic, creative, and occasionally, personal challenges. Through academic advising and counseling referrals students receive the direction they need to fulfill their academic goals.

As a world-renown art and design institution, CCS maintains a commitment to being a premier school for drawing. Students of CCS, as well as alumni, faculty and staff are invited to attend free figure drawing clinics virtually every Saturday during the fall, winter and now summer terms. These four-hour informal drawing “clinics” provide a stress-free environment where attendees can elevate their rendering skills without the pressures of the structured classroom setting. Instruction is still available, upon the student’s request, from the MA director or any other drawing faculty members in attendance. Models, space and opportunity are furnished by the MA office so attendees can satisfy sketchbook requirements, complete class assignments, explore various techniques and media or simply draw because they enjoy drawing the human form.

Cultural identity, cultural awareness and social inclusion are also important to student retention. These issues particularly impact the retention of students of color. The MA office works with the aforementioned campus network as well as professionals nationwide to build the socio-academic bridge many in our under-represented populations need to succeed. The MA Director serves as administrative advisor to the CCS student group Black Artists Researching Trends (BART). Founded in 1984, BART continues to help students of color adjust to college life and to appreciate the diversity of the CCS community, immersing themselves in the cultural richness of the CCS campus. To further the sense of community CCS programming includes events like “Culture Shock” where the entire CCS campus is invited to celebrate various cultures through unique food, ethnically diverse music and a culturally charged atmosphere. Another campus event, “Color of Success,” invites students from local high schools to attend a panel discussion on career options in art and design fields. Panelists include professionals in the showcased field and the program is traditionally moderated by a local television news personality. Both the “Color of Success” and “Culture Shock” provide vehicles for CCS students and potential CCS students to clearly identify their goals and to develop the necessary artistic and social skills to achieve academic success.

For additional information, please contact 313.664.7403 or charris@collegeforcreativestudies.edu.