i. institutional support and commitment to continuous improvement

I. Institutional Support and Commitment to Continuous Improvement
D) Institutional financial issues
The School’s preliminary plans project positive operating and cash flow results over the next 4 years
supported by flat to marginal enrollment increases. Operational adjustments and cost containment
initiatives were implemented in FY10 in anticipation of an enrollment decline due to the national
economic conditions. However, this anticipated enrollment drop did not materialize and many of the
containment initiatives were re-instated.
Overall, the school is in a strong, stable financial condition. It has had operating income and cash sur-
plus the last 7 years, along with declining debt and a recovering endowment that had declined some
23% in 2008 due to the unfavorable economic climate. Fortunately, endowment income only accounts
for approximately 7% of total revenues.
Last year marked the completion of Stage One of the Strategic Planning Process in which the School
identified core values and major strategic initiatives. In conjunction with the next phase, action groups
will be established for each strategic initiative. These groups will assist in identifying priorities and
alternative funding models to be considered.
I. INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT AND COMMITMENT TO
CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
I.2. RESOURCES
I.2.5 Information Services
Students in the MArch program have access to a world-class museum, two excellent libraries, a visual
resources center, and a number of extraordinary special collections on the AIC/SAIC campus. The
AIC’s Ryerson and Burnham Libraries comprise the second largest art museum library in the country,
presenting non-circulating, scholarly collections on the art and architecture of all regions and time pe-
riods. SAIC’s John M. Flaxman Library is the primary library for the college: a circulating library that is
open seven days per week during fall and spring semesters, with collections tailored specifically to the
curriculum of the School. Many of these information resource centers have collections with specializa-
tions in Architecture and Interior Design. For example, there are 48,760 titles in architecture cataloged
(Library of Congress NA or Dewey 720-729) between the Flaxman and Ryerson libraries, as of the Fall
2010 semester. Further details are provided below.
A) Administrative structure and assessment of information resources
The essential value of the libraries and special collections to the educational goals of SAIC is well
recognized within the institution. Among the many collections held at the Art Institute, The John M.
Flaxman Library and the MacLean Visual Resources Center serve the School most directly. The Flax-
man and MacLean staff is fully integrated into the work of SAIC, showing a keen appreciation of the
interdisciplinary nature of the curriculum, which guides all collection development decisions. Collec-
tions not only support the curriculum on a daily basis, they also reflect the aesthetic, theoretical, and
critical investigations of the campus community members over time. In this sense, they document the
progressive history of teaching and curriculum development at SAIC and facilitate the absorption and
use of that history by each new generation of artists, architects, designers, and writers.
The libraries’ collecting profile and vendor contacts are well established. The acquisitions staff has
been enormously successful at locating requested essential materials anywhere in the world and in
105 | Spring 2011
SECTION I Institutional Support and Commitment to Continuous Improvement