Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project (SNAAP)?
Why and how was SNAAP initially developed?
Why is SNAAP important now?
Who in general will benefit from SNAAP?
How will key groups benefit from SNAAP?
Who will be surveyed?
What kinds of questions will the SNAAP survey ask?
How will SNAAP data be collected?
What institutions are participating in 2008?
How can my institution participate in the 2009 Field Test?
What products will be available to participating institutions?
Who will own the collected data and how will it be used?
What is the SNAAP Lifemap?
Who is supporting SNAAP?

What is the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project (SNAAP)?

SNAAP is an online survey system to collect, track, and disseminate national data about the artistic lives and careers of alumni who trained as visual, performing, or literary artists at both the high school and college levels. As an ongoing research system, it will allow education institutions, researchers and arts leaders to look at the systemic factors that help or hinder the career paths of alumni, whether they chose to work as artists or pursued other paths. SNAAP will be administered as an annual survey of alumni at specified junctures at 5, 10, 15 and 20 years following their institutionally-based arts training. Once fully operational, SNAAP findings will allow for national and other comparisons and can be disaggregated in various other ways so that institutions can better understand, for example, how students in different majors use their arts training in their careers and other aspects of their lives.

Why and how was SNAAP initially developed?

SNAAP grew out of the Surdna Foundation's response to needs articulated by arts training institutions across the country. Significant milestones in the project's evolution have included the following:

• Early Indicators of Need: Beginning in 2002, more than 25 of Surdna's arts training grantees individually approached Surdna for help in gathering information about their alumni. A critical mass of interest appeared to be forming, but of the few who had taken initial steps, surveys were weak and organizational capacity to analyze and act on the results was lacking.
  
  
• Preliminary Research: Following up, Surdna surveyed its arts grantees in 2003 to better understand the nature and scope of alumni tracking needs. An analysis of over 80 surveys revealed that across all institutional types and artistic disciplines there was strong interest in alumni tracking, driven by programmatic, institutional, and advocacy concerns. The surveys also highlighted obstacles – lack of technical expertise, insufficient staffing and inadequate financial resources. The findings suggested that economies of scale could be achieved through collaborative survey development.
  
  
• Confirming Data: Concurrently, at annual meetings of the Duke/Surdna Talented Students in the Arts Initiative (TSAI),[1] issues of alumni tracking became an increasingly prominent focus of discussion and action. At the request of grantees, expert speakers were brought in to share knowledge about best practices (spring 2004). Soon thereafter, a subgroup of TSAI participants formed to further explore the issue.
  
  
• The Working Group: A working group of 20 Surdna grantees (TSAI participants and others) began intensive work on survey development in fall 2004, joined by Steven Tepper, an arts policy researcher (then Deputy Director of the Princeton University Center for Cultural Policy and now the Associate Director of the Curb Center for Art, Enterprise and Public Policy at Vanderbilt University). Two pilot surveys were developed and tested during 2005: one for arts high schools and arts colleges/ conservatories; and a second for afterschool and intensive summer institutes. Subsequently, Surdna and colleagues determined to include only the survey for arts high schools and arts colleges and conservatories in the project's launch.
  
  
• Field Input: From 2005-2006, through focus groups and ongoing discussions, an increasing number of field leaders, researchers, and arts training institutions and their alumni voiced interest in the survey and the potential impact it could have on the quality of future training. Over 170 alumni and their organizations tested survey questions for content and style and provided feedback on other issues. This R & D phase revealed that data collection could best be done online, increasing the potential to create a field-wide system. Consultants with relevant technical expertise joined the working group and began the design of prototypes. August Development Corporation created the initial technical capacity for SNAAP - confirming that the online system could work as envisioned.
  
  
• Planning for Launch: In early 2007, the OMG Center for Collaborative Learning team[2] was engaged by the Surdna Foundation to assess market demand and resources, and develop a business plan for SNAAP's launch. Its work has included: objective testing of market interest; exploring start-up requirements through research on similar large-scale survey systems; identifying potential hosting or survey administering organizations (SAOs); and development of a business plan.
  
  
• Leadership Team: In late 2007, the Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research became the survey administering organization, with its key partner, the Vanderbilt University Curb Center for Art, Enterprise and Public Policy.

Why is SNAAP important now?

Arts training institutions have articulated an urgent need for objective data. The information that SNAAP will provide is especially timely given the changing environment in which arts training institutions operate: career opportunities are shifting, competition for both students and resources is on the rise, and a generational shift in leadership is underway. Institutions require data to respond and plan effectively. Accreditation requirements also include data regarding alumni paths.

Who in general will benefit from SNAAP?

Information gathered through SNAAP will benefit arts training institutions, policy makers, and arts leaders, as well as parents and students considering intensive arts training. The information will provide the first national profile of how artists prepare in this country and allow for deepened understanding of what constitutes artistic success and contribution. In addition, data gathered through SNAAP will assist government entities, funding organizations, and arts leaders in making investment decisions in education, training and resource allocation.

How will key groups benefit from SNAAP?

For arts high schools, arts colleges and conservatories, SNAAP will provide information to:

• improve institutional hires, address alumni needs and enhance development efforts
• strengthen curriculum by tracking what striving young artists need to advance in rapidly changing arts fields
• clarify what students learned and how it has been used in both arts and non-arts contexts
• compare their work to that of similar institutions to identify strengths and gaps
• learn more about the institutions from which their students came to create more productive learning links and better match students to institutions

For policy makers, community development professionals, and funders, SNAAP will provide systemic information about:

• what led artists to pursue careers in the arts and other fields, including financing and other resource factors
• local and regional arts workforce issues and market patterns for community developers and planners
• how students who have trained intensively in the arts contribute to the creative economy nationally and by specific locale
• gaps in the arts training ecology, across disciplines, at different training junctures and across various geographic locales
• support mechanisms and resources needed to encourage and sustain artists in their most vulnerable five years after school and beyond

For parents and students considering intensive arts training, SNAAP will provide information about:

• arts career paths
• educational resources
• the roles of professional relationships, and
• obstacles to achieving arts training and professional goals

Who will be surveyed?

SNAAP's primary clients are all arts high schools, arts and design colleges and conservatories, and arts schools and departments within comprehensive colleges and universities. We will survey alumni who graduated 5, 10, 15, and 20 years earlier from the arts training programs that participate in SNAAP.

What kinds of questions will the SNAAP survey ask?

• early interests and training as well as current involvement in the arts
• types of art practiced and how often
• current and past careers and education
• relevance of arts training to work and further education
• turning points, obstacles, critical relationships and opportunities
• support and resource needs post graduation
• experiences as teachers
• current family situations
• unions and other professional affiliations
• income and support, student debt, other fiscal issues
• career impact and influence of faculty and staff, other artists, classmates, family, friends, co-workers, and other arts professionals

Click here for sample screen shots of the SNAAP Survey.

Click here for an overview of the Questionnaire.

How will SNAAP data be collected?

SNAAP is a web-based survey that collects data from alumni through questions that make use of drop-down menus and check boxes. A unique feature of the survey instrument is that it creates a "Life Map" for each respondent upon survey completion, which provides a visual representation of the impact of various professional, educational and personal experiences on career development. The survey has been specifically developed to reflect the non-linear nature of arts training and careers and to be user-friendly. Without influencing responses, respondents can obtain real-time comparisons between their answers to specific questions and those of other survey respondents.

What institutions are participating in 2008?

Approximately 40 randomly selected institutions are participating in the 2008 SNAAP field test. The number will increase to approximately 50 for the 2009 field test. In 2010, with field testing concluded, the first national administration will be launched and all arts training institutions throughout the country will be eligible to participate.

Click here to view the institutions participating in the 2008 Field Test

How can my institution participate in the 2009 Field Test?

SNAAP is currently developing a list of schools to invite to participate in the 2009 Field Test. Participating institutions will be required to submit an up-to-date spreadsheet of names and current email addresses for their graduates of the classes of 2004, 1999, 1994 and 1989. For more information, or to express your interest in participating in the Field Test, contact Sally Gaskill, SNAAP Associate Director, at the following address: gaskill at indiana dot edu.

What products will be available to participating institutions?

1. Reports that summarize the lives of alumni since graduation for:
   • comparisons and analysis of the national aggregate group, and peer group, of respondents on key indicators (e.g., graduation rates, percentage pursuing arts careers, non-arts career paths, income levels)
   • confidential internal institutional analyses of their alumni
2. Access to data files for individualized institutional research

Some typical examples of SNAAP reports by graduation year:

• early arts interests and training as well as current involvement in the arts
• types of art practiced and how often
• current and past careers and education
• relevance of arts training to work and further education
• turning points, obstacles, critical relationships and opportunities
• support and resource needs post graduation
• experiences as teachers
• current family situations
• unions and other professional affiliations
• income and support, student debt, other fiscal issues
• career impact and influence of faculty and staff, other artists, classmates, family, friends, co-workers, and other arts professionals.
• percent of alumni currently working in the arts, by discipline and most common types of jobs
• percent of income earned from arts-related employment, sources of support and amounts of student debt
• percent of alumni working in non-arts jobs that say their arts training is relevant/important to what they do, and percent of non-working time they spend making art
• types of non-arts jobs that draw most heavily on artistic skills and training

Who will own the collected data and how will it be used?

SNAAP data will belong to Indiana University and participating institutions according to the following principles:

• Participating institutions will receive a summary report and a file with respondent raw data to permit additional school-specific data analyses.
• Participating institutions can use their SNAAP data for institutional purposes, based on guidelines recommended by the national advisory board.
• SNAAP project staff will use the data in the aggregate for national and sector reporting purposes and other educational improvement initiatives. SNAAP may also make data, in which individual institutions and students cannot be identified, available to researchers interested in studying the career paths and experiences of arts alumni.
• SNAAP results specific to institutions and identified as such will not be made public by SNAAP except by mutual agreement between SNAAP and the respective participating institution.
• SNAAP survey administration protocols will adhere to federal regulations pertaining to the protection of human subjects (45CFR46). The SNAAP survey protocol will be approved annually by the Human Subjects Committee (HSC) at Indiana University Bloomington (IUB). Any changes to the survey protocol by participating institutions must be approved by the IUB HSC.

What is the SNAAP Lifemap?

Each survey respondent will develop an interactive, personalized Lifemap. We know that graduates of arts training programs may hold multiple jobs, work in and outside of the arts, and work in arts-related fields, though not necessarily as artists. We believe that the careers of many arts graduates are "boundary-less." The initial testing of the SNAAP questionnaire indicated that arts alumni were frustrated because the survey assumed a linear career, and suggested that all events and experiences were equally important.

An interactive graphic interface, the SNAAP Lifemap will allow survey respondents to tell their stories and to indicate the relative importance of events and experiences to their careers, whether they work in or outside of the arts. The SNAAP Lifemap is designed to be personal, visually engaging, interactive and even fun.

Click here to download a sample of the Lifemap.

Who is supporting SNAAP?

To launch SNAAP, in 2008 the Surdna Foundation provided a five-year $2,500,000 leadership grant to Indiana University in partnership with the Curb Center for Art, Enterprise and Public Policy at Vanderbilt University. The Houston Endowment awarded $600,000 over three years, and the Cleveland Foundation granted $100,000 for two years. A foundation that wishes to remain anonymous gave $450,000 over three years. The National Endowment for the Arts committed $60,000 for 2008-2009 with an invitation to submit proposals for additional future funding.

Support from other organizations is anticipated to support the various phases of the project and insure widespread participation. SNAAP is expected to become self-sustaining by 2014 by institutional participation fees.