Orange Alert

SU launches Janklow Arts Leadership Advanced Certificate Program

Provides students with 'broad perspective' of organizational leadership

July 30, 2013, by Rob Enslin

Mark Nerenhausen
Mark Nerenhausen
Syracuse University’s College of Arts and Sciences is pleased to announce the establishment of the Janklow Arts Leadership Advanced Certificate Program. Designed for recent college graduates and experienced practitioners, the 15-credit-hour program provides additional training for students pursuing leadership positions in the arts or allied fields.

The certificate program is administered by the Janklow Arts Leadership Program, housed in The College’s Department of Art and Music Histories, and may be used to complement other graduate programs on campus. For more information or to receive an application for Summer ’14 admission, call 315-443-0367.

“Frequently, people go into arts leadership by way of a specific discipline, such as marketing, development, or finance,” says Mark Nerenhausen, professor of practice and founding director of the Janklow Program. “But as they climb the corporate ladder, they sometimes find they don’t have the necessary skills or training needed for general management. The Janklow Arts Leadership Advanced Certificate Program bridges this gap, giving students the broad perspective they need for organizational leadership.”

Nerenhausen says the certificate program draws on The College’s interdepartmental relationships, as well as its close association with other units on campus, including the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Whitman School of Management, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, and College of Visual and Performing Arts.

“Already, there’s considerable interest in combining the certificate with a master’s degree in art history [from Arts and Sciences] or museum studies [from VPA],” says Nerenhausen. “This gives aspiring art historians and curators an expanded skill set and, ultimately, a competitive edge in the marketplace.”

Other options include pursuing the certificate concurrently with a master’s degree in public administration and public affairs from the Maxwell School or upon receipt of a bachelor’s degree in real estate from Whitman.

“The possible combinations are many and varied,” says Nerenhausen. “Our relationship with the Maxwell School, for example, gives us a strong public administration presence. As a result, students going into urban planning, economic development, or cultural diplomacy see the value of arts leadership training.”
Alexandra Rachelle Siclait
Alexandra Rachelle Siclait

Alexandra Rachelle Siclait is one such student. The inaugural member of the Janklow Arts Leadership Advanced Certificate Program, she hopes to parlay her management training into a career with an arts organization or a cultural affairs bureau.

“I want to combine my business skills with my passion for culture and the arts,” says Siclait, a native of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. “I want to shape public, private, nonprofit, and community sectors around arts and cultural activities.”

Siclait, who recently served as a cultural intern with the Community Folk Art Center in Syracuse, is pursuing the certificate as part of the public diplomacy program, offered jointly by the Maxwell School’s Department of Public Administration and International Affairs and the Newhouse School’s Department of Public Relations. She earned a paralegal certificate and bachelor’s degree in political communication from George Washington University.

Students in the Janklow Arts Leadership Advanced Certificate Program, such as Siclait, are required to take nine credits in three core courses and then select six credits from a list of electives. The curriculum encompasses coursework in entrepreneurship and leadership; marketing and public relations; financial accounting and budgetary planning; operations; strategic planning and analysis; financial and audience development; education and outreach; and legal, ethical, and public policy issues in the arts.

Applicants must have a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university, possess strong GRE test scores, and demonstrate knowledge of the arts or business management or both. Limited financial aid is available for qualified applicants.

“Our work lies at the nexus of social entrepreneurship and arts administration,” says Nerenhausen. “The rising quality and diversity of our students indicate that the word is getting out about us.”

The Janklow Program is a 15-month, 39-credit hour master’s program that trains leaders of nonprofit and for-profit organizations in the creative and performing arts. The program is named for Morton L. Janklow ’50, one of the country’s most powerful literary agents and arts advocates.

The Janklow Program enjoys close partnerships with some of the nation’s leading arts organizations, including Broadway Across America, the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, Classical South Florida, the Luminato Festival, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and Webb Management Services. Janklow students currently intern at Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City Center and Seattle Art Museum.


Media Contact

Rob Enslin