Vince Pitelka on wed 7 may 97
Clayart Friends -
I have reports from a number of people about replies they are receiving from
Tennessee officials in response to their letters and email. Many of the
replies contain the same old misinformation which we have been fighting
since the Tennessee Tech administration began disseminating their smear
campaign when this crisis errupted last spring. In support of their attack
on our facility and programs, the Tennessee Tech administration has claimed
the following about the Craft Center:
> 1. $1.1 million maintenance cost,
> 2. Low BFA enrollment,
> 3. $55,000 budget deficit, and
> 4. Failure to produce 10 BFA graduates per year over a 5-year period.
The fact that they are still disseminating this misinformation is appalling.
#1 is based on a standard formula used in approaching parent organizations
for government funding. It has absolutely nothing to do with the reality.
Our facility was way over-built in 1979, and is in excellent condition. #2
is an outright lie. TTU is experiencing declining enrollment, but our
program has experienced significant increases in enrollment for the last
five years, and is now larger than ever before in the 17-year history of the
place. #3 is also a lie, based on a very convoluted evaluation of
administrative spending at the Craft Center. Our director, Ward Doubet, has
never overspent any budget lines. #4 is a statistic of convenience for the
TTU administration. 70% of the programs on the TTU main campus do not meet
this criteria. We are now graduating in excess of 10 BFAs per year, and are
still growing. It is true that when they take an average over the last five
years it does come out to less then ten per year, but this is a pretty
chicken-%$#& thing for them to say. In otherwords, they are inventing
criteria to support their stance in this crisis. I am embarrassed for them.
I know that I have explained the above on Clayart, but I wanted to make sure
that you all understand that we have been the victims of a brutal smear
campaign. That is the greatest tragedy here - we are in great shape, and we
are growing (at least we were when this thing started a year ago). They
have been spreading lies, and they have more credibility than we do. It is
very hard to fight such a force of misinformation. You all are helping more
than you know.
- Vince
Vince Pitelka - vpitelka@DeKalb.net
Phone - home 615/597-5376, work 615/597-6801
Appalachian Center for Crafts
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
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