Academic Services
Academic Services at MIAD are a vital part of student experience. From academic advising to using MIAD’s library to planning study abroad experiences, MIAD’s academic support team is ready to help you succeed.
Academic Advising
MIAD’s academic advising program integrates academic and career advising from the First-Year Experience (FYE) through the senior experiences with a primary focus on the relationship a student develops with their academic advisors, creating a partnership that assists the student in the self-directed planning of their creative future. MIAD’s academic advisors are faculty and staff who are informed and resourceful, and many of them are practicing artists, designers, writers, historians, scientists, and more. They will challenge and support students as they navigate through their time at MIAD. Individual and group advising sessions and workshops (along with integrated curricular and co-curricular activities focused on personal and professional growth and development) will be opportunities for students to take advantage of throughout their education. Our primary goal through MIAD academic advising is to guide students in their endeavors to become the creative professional they hope to be.
MIAD Philosophy and Mission of Advising
Academic advising at MIAD is a holistically focused, dynamic partnership between a student and an academic advisor. At the center is a shared responsibility for a coherent educational plan that partners students and academic advisors in the integration of personal, professional, and creative growth.
Student Accessibility Services
MIAD provides reasonable and appropriate accommodations for students with documented disabilities. Accommodations are determined on an individual basis through the Student Accessibility Coordinator. For more information regarding polices and procedures, explore Student Accessibility Services in the Student Handbook.
Students with support needs, whether physical, academic, sensory, or psychological, are encouraged to contact the MIAD’s Student Accessibility Coordinator, Nichole Uecker. Nichole’s office is located near the Library and Academic Success Center in Room RL95B. Students must meet with the Accessibility Coordinator before they can obtain accommodations for their disability.
While students may apply for accommodations at any point during their time at MIAD, they are encouraged to notify the Student Accessibility Coordinator in a timely manner so that appropriate accommodations can be provided.
Work by Mary Hoffman ’24 (Product Design)
English as a Second Language
English language instruction/tutoring is available in the Academic Success Center, Room RL70. For more information on our ELL services, please contact Lisa Floading, Coordinator of Tutoring Services.
International Programs & Services
MIAD is dedicated to serving the needs of prospective international students, as well as currently enrolled MIAD students. The Admissions office provides individual advising to prospective students about the admissions process from application to acceptance. Additionally, Student Services provides an array of services for enrolled international students including new student orientation, individual advising regarding federal immigration regulations and procedures, cross-cultural challenges and personal matters.
The Registrar’s office also advises both international and domestic students regarding opportunities to study abroad. We invite you to ask questions and seek assistance at any time. Please contact us by telephone, e-mail, individual appointment or simply stop by the office at your convenience. The office environment is generally informal and you are welcome to call us by our first names.
Library
The Library is a curated center for information access and retrieval and is an integral part of MIAD’s learning experience. Students, faculty, staff and alumni have on-site access to 19,000 books and DVD’s, 82 current periodicals, online databases, reserve items, and an impressive and up-to-date collection of career materials. The library collection supports MIAD’s curriculum, and is extensively focused on art and design. In general, library materials circulate for a period of 4-weeks, with the possibility of two renewals. The MIAD I.D. serves as a library card. The library is a member of the SWITCH Consortium, one of seven area colleges sharing their library resources. Using the online catalog, TOPCAT, students are just a click away from more than 600,000 additional books and DVDs that can be requested online and delivered to MIAD the next school day.
Special Programs
An essential part of your growth as designers and fine artists is your increased understanding of the larger community to which we all belong. MIAD offers you many opportunities to expand your educational experience through study abroad travel and international exchange programs, a cross-registration program with nearby Marquette University, the AICAD Mobility Program and many others.
Work by Shelbey Renae ’26 (Fine Art + New Studio Practice)
Tutoring Services
MIAD acknowledges and supports the diverse and creative learning styles of art and design students by providing tutoring and mentoring services to meet individual academic needs. This support includes writing, reading and college study strategies, research assistance, time management, as well as transitioning and getting to know MIAD.
The Academic Success Center (ASC) is an integral part of MIAD’s student services. The ASC staff can provide a listening ear for your ideas, share reading and learning strategies, help you shape your ideas on the written page, and offer research suggestions and assistance. In the Academic Success Center, you can work with a peer tutor in individualized tutoring sessions. Peer tutors/mentors are knowledgeable and experienced in the MIAD community. They are student advocates and caring role models, possess strong academic and problem-solving skills, are good listeners, patient, compassionate, responsible, and dedicated to helping other students discover their potential to succeed at MIAD.
Tutors are available Monday – Friday. Students may schedule either a virtual or in-person appointment, or they may choose to stop in the ASC when they have a question or an assignment.
Work by Seth TerHaar ’23 (Fine Art + New Studio Practice)
News
Recollection Wisconsin digitizes Guido Brink collection
Thanks to the Recollection Wisconsin Digitization Initiative, the Guido Brink collection at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) will soon be digitized and available for public access. Current UW-Milwaukee graduate student Ceceilia Loeschmann is digitizing and cataloging the collection during summer 2025.
Student commission celebrates previous MIAD board chair
Deanna Tillisch, outgoing chair of the board at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD), received a student-commissioned monotype print in recognition of her service. “Deanna Dancing” was made by Anna Louise Barr ’26 (Fine Art + New Studio Practice).
MIAD elects new board chair and three new trustees
MIAD elects new board chair and three new trustees: Amanda Singh to board chair; Abim Kolawole, Lauren Hurley, and Bob Schwartz as trustees.
Meet AJ Schramek and Senior Exhibition project Life is a Drag!
AJ Schramek ’25 (Animation Track in Illustration) is a President’s (Honor) List student from Villa Park, Ill., who received a 2025 MIAD Alumni Senior Thesis Award.
Bronzeville initiatives by MIAD alums garner state and local awards
Community advocate, business owner, writer and editor Lexi S. Brunson ’14, an alum and assistant professor of Writing and Humanities at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD), recently accepted two awards: Best Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging Initiative (Business) at the 34th annual Wisconsin Main Street Awards and Historic King Drive Business of the Year.