GPA - Mount Royal School of Art

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General purpose: Graduate Program Assistants (GPAs) support their Program Director to ensure the effective operation of their program. GPAs serve as graduate student leaders and work collaboratively with each other and the Office of Graduate Studies to promote dialogue, the exchange of information, and timely communications between students, directors, and the Office of Graduate Studies.

Mount Royal School of Art is seeking four (4) GPAs to begin Spring 2026 (see additional details below), with the expectation that hired candidates commit to at least one semester of service.

Summary of Essential Functions 

• Responsibilities are outlined below in Essential Duties & Responsibilities and Program-Specific Duties.

• As student leaders in the graduate community, GPAs are required to uphold graduate policies, procedures, and standards. 

Essential Duties & Responsibilities: 

• Attend GPA Training, Graduate Student Orientation, SVA Graduate Student Council Meeting,s and Town Halls, and regular check-in meetings with the Office of Graduate Studies

• Support the Office of Graduate Admission during Graduate Admission Open House and Visit Days

• Communicate important information from the Program Director and Office of Graduate Studies to students

• Resolve student and programmatic issues, concerns, and solutions in dialogue with the Program Director

• Monitor your program’s shared spaces to ensure they are being used, cleaned, and shared in a responsible way; report any issues to the Program Director, Operations Coordinator, and/or MICA Facilities

• Support Program Director with an annual series of programmatic activities including lectures, dinners, and hosting visiting artists and critics on campus. Related administrative duties including documentation of activities and updating the program’s social media and mica.edu website pages may apply

• Support Program Directors and the Office of Graduate Admission with various tasks related to the admission process including arranging for prospective student visits of the facilities

• Report technical issues to Technology Systems and Service (TSS)

• Report maintenance issues to the Operations Coordinator and/or MICA Facilities

• Collaborate and coordinate with other GPAs on various other tasks

Program-Specific Duties:

ADMINISTRATIVE GPA

• Send administrative communications and Mount Royal news to students, including weekly schedule + announcement reminders about Visiting Artist (VA) lectures, VA/Visiting Critic (VC)/Artist-in-Residence (AIR) crits, deadlines for phases of the Written Thesis, submission of notes after group critiques, and other critical information (e.g. campus events, registration, grants, exhibitions, and other opportunities)

• Set up and maintain the Mount Royal Google Drive

• Distribute sign-up sheets via Google Drive for Program Director’s critique schedule 

• Distribute sign-up sheets via Google Drive when Program Director confirms VA/VC and AIR schedules, and notify volunteer students to meet and grant access to VA/VC and AIR

• Maintain the program calendar and update it based on potential changes

• Circulate and collect attendance sheets for Mount Royal lectures and seminars—role should rotate among all GPAs

• Supervise VA & VC lottery at the beginning of Fall and Spring semesters

• Make sign-up sheets for location and schedule for Group crits, Final reviews, Thesis presentations.

FACILITIES GPA

• Report studio and equipment issues for maintenance, repair, and proposed replacement to Facilities Management and the Office of Graduate Studies

• Provide a patch-and-paint demo and health and safety overview for all Mount Royal students at the beginning of each Fall semester

• Provide a demo on how to properly move lights on tracks in hallway and installation rooms at the beginning of each Fall semester 

• Send reminders or emails to Mount Royal students as needed with regard to maintaining shared spaces, such as the Seminar Room, spray booth, large install room, etc. 

• Ensure that Mount Royal students are in code compliance in hallways and in studios

• Facilitate pick-up, mounting, delivery, and distribution of Mount Royal event posters (to be shared with Communications GPA).

• Supervise and coordinate studio selection and move-in process for incoming students as well as studio reassignments for rising second-year students

• Work with the Office of Graduate Studies to facilitate studio move-in and -out process 

• Common space management for - should be checked the sign-up sheet and maintenance.

• Work with Facilities Management and the Office of Graduate Studies on any studio-related issues between students and help to facilitate communication and problem solving. 

• Organize and maintain all shared studio maintenance supplies (i.e. studio paint, rollers, ladders, panel carts, etc.) and coordinate submission of work orders to replenish supplies with the Office of Graduate Studies and Facilities Management.

• Fall show/ Grad show management with committees- The Exhibition’s Timeline Notification, Support installations, movable wall, vinyl, label.

• Every after use of common space, check all the wall patched and painted.

• Supervise the organization and set-up of dinners for VAs and AIRs (in collaboration with Communications)

• Payments & order- dinner/facility/ Visitor’s snacks, etc.

• Final Review faculty committee’s meals

• collect and request Guest Parking permit + assign hospitality committees (in collaboration with Communications and Video GPAs).

• Circulate and collect attendance sheets for Mount Royal lectures and seminars—role should rotate among all GPAs

WEB/COMMUNICATIONS GPA

• Manage the Mount Royal blog and Instagram account to promote alumni and student achievements, exhibitions, Visiting Artist lectures, and other events

• Assist with alumni outreach to promote their exhibitions and other achievements on the program blog

• This should be done through committees. I would rather have communication GPAs manage entire committees in collaboration with Admin.

• Assist with hospitality for Visiting Artists, Visiting Critics, and Artists-in-Residence during their visits to MICA

• Collaborate with Program Coordinator to gather and publish information on the official Mount Royal website, including: biographies and images for new Visiting Artists; list of upcoming Visiting Artists and lectures; biographies and images for Artists-in-Residence; selected images/video clips from recent classes.

• Facilitate pick-up, mounting, delivery, and distribution of Mount Royal event posters (to be shared with Facilities GPA).

• Interface with faculty to coordinate and distribute readings for seminars

• Assist with collecting high-quality images from students as suggested by the Program Director. Format images for slideshow on Mount Royal website or other venues as requested; submit images to Office of Strategic Communications for archiving

• Assist with Fall Show/Grad show installation and documentation: create and print gallery maps for FALL Show; collect titles and brief descriptions from each student; layout works in gallery floor plans for brochure; create and place labels; shoot and edit video documentation (in collaboration with Video GPA); submit video compilation to the Office of Strategic Communications

• Update MtR alumni contact info

• Circulate and collect attendance sheets for Mount Royal lectures and seminars—role should rotate among all GPAs

VIDEO GPA

• Assist faculty and visiting faculty with presentations, lectures, seminars etc., including testing Powerpoint and all image/video presentations in the Lazarus Auditorium before each lecture

• Check out camera, audio recorder, charged batteries, video cards, tripod, and other equipment for recording lectures, group critiques, seminars, workshops, and anything other Mount Royal-related programs and events that need to be recorded

• Routinely upload and download the video cards recording Visiting Artist lectures and group critiques into the corresponding folders on Mount Royal hard drives

• Distribute video release forms to VAs and Visiting Critics to sign; collect and return to Program Director

• Sync audio and video recordings from all lectures and burn DVDs for Mount Royal archive

• Assist in the coordination of grad students’ presentations at the beginning of the semester

• Shoot and edit video documentation of Fall Show/ Grad show (in collaboration with Web/Communications GPA)

• Arrange audio recordings with all students describing their work in the Fall Show/Grad show; edit and insert audio into the Fall Show Video Compilation for the Mount Royal website

• Assist other GPAs for other events if they need help when the video task is completed

• Circulate and collect attendance sheets for Mount Royal lectures and seminars—role should rotate among all GPAs

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities 

• GPAs will communicate clearly and courteously and respond quickly, maintaining sensitivity to the needs and cultures of individual graduate programs.

• GPAs will have a strong work ethic and must be prompt, focused, self-motivated, and flexible. Must respond well to feedback and work towards a stress-free environment. 

• GPAs will be able to work both independently and collaboratively. 

Minimum qualifications: 

• Enrollment as a student in the Mount Royal School of Art

Student Performance Policy

The Office of Graduate Studies and Program Directors evaluate individual performance and attendance at required GPA events throughout the semester. Continuation in the GPA Program requires your consistent adherence to the roles and responsibilities listed above. The Office of Graduate Studies expects GPAs to participate in all required events and activities. Inconsistent participation can lead to dismissal from the GPA Program. If you are dismissed from your role as a GPA, your status as a student in your graduate program will not be affected. 

Physical demands and work environment: The physical demands and work environment characteristics described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Physical Demands: While performing the duties of the job, the employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel objects, tools, or controls; reach with hands and arms; balance; stoop; talk or hear. The employee must occasionally lift up to fifteen (15) pounds. Specific vision abilities required by the job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus. 

• Work environment: While performing the duties of the job, the employee is exposed to weather conditions prevalent at the time. The noise level in the work environment is usually minimal.

• Required training: GPA training and orientation, Anti-Harassment, Hazard Communication, Emergency Plans & Fire Prevention, Personal Protection Equipment. 

Maryland Institute College of Art is committed to its policy of providing equal opportunity regardless of race, color, creed, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, age, disability, or veteran status (disabled, Vietnam-era, or otherwise). Furthermore, the College does not tolerate any form of sex discrimination, including sexual harassment or sexual violence. This policy applies to all programs, facilities, and activities provided by Maryland Institute College of Art, including but not limited to admission, educational programs, and employment.

Applicants must apply online for each job in which they are interested. You will not be considered for any job for which you have not specifically applied. We do not accept applications via email, U.S. mail, or fax. Successful candidates for any staff or faculty positions will be subject to a pre-employment background check.

MICA provides reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities on a case-by-case basis. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please contact Human Resources at 410-225-2363.