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Tips for Success

Tips for Your Student’s Successful Transition to MIAD

  1. Encourage them to use campus resources. Your student has prepared to attend MIAD with the help of the Admissions staff. As students enter MIAD, it is important to direct them to the appropriate resources and staff and transition from the Office of Admissions as the primary source of information.
  2. Be prepared for your student’s – and your own – conflicting emotions during move-in, your departure and the first week of classes. Leaving home for school can be a stressful process.
  3. Discuss expectations about how you plan to communicate with each other. Will you email, text, call? How often? Keep in touch and send care packages.
  4. Encourage your student to be responsible for their learning. Encourage them to seek appropriate academic resources and set academic goals.
  5. Make a financial plan with your student. Openly discuss payment and spending expectations.
  6. Discuss personal choices your student will be making such as the use of alcohol. Encourage responsibility, but know you cannot control what happens.
  7. Encourage your student to get involved in a variety of student activities. College is a time for students to make connections with others and try new things.
  8. Inform your student before making major changes at home (e.g. moving, remodeling their room).
  9. Listen with an open mind and be supportive. If you have serious concerns about your student’s welfare, contact the Dean of Students’ Office.
  10. Be a coach rather than a problem-solver. Use the information in this guide to refer your student back to on-campus resources.

News

MIAD Task Award: Alum pays it forward with generous mentoring

Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) alum Amy Cannestra ’06 (Communication Design) believes in giving back, in mentoring and in the supportive nature of the Milwaukee art and design community. By founding Task Creative and the MIAD Task Graduate Award, the incredibly busy creative exemplifies all three beliefs. The Task awardee, Ashley Osorio ’26 (Fine Art + New Studio Practice), will receive five consecutive days to use the Task Creative space for a project of their choosing this summer.

Meet Michaela Prischman and 2026 Senior Exhibition Project Cloth

Michaela Prischman ’26 (Communication Design) is a President’s (Honor) List student from Tinley Park, Ill. She created “Cloth,” a tool to help guide young professional women to find and organize alternative work attire through a personalized style subscription box.

Flagship Madison museum features exhibition by FYE faculty

The First-Year Experience (FYE) at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) blends contemporary and traditional techniques, an approach embraced by FYE faculty David R. Harper in Good Morning Sweetheart, a solo exhibition on view at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art (MMoCA) through August 30, 2026.

Illustration seniors land NASA and Disney internships

Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design seniors Grace Weisner ’26 and Allison Stras ’26 have landed the internship of their dreams: Weisner at NASA and Stras at Disney. Both are Illustration majors with minors in Communication Design.

Meet Kas Cook and 2026 Senior Exhibition Project Mcallaster’s Special

Cas Kook ’26 (Animation Track in Illustration) is a Dean’s List student from the Greater Chicago area and a recipient of a 2026 Alumni Thesis Award. “Project Calvin Sazerac” is about Calvin Sazerac, a seasoned barkeep, who creates new cocktails for his favorite regulars. When he is challenged to meet the demands of a picky saloon patron, he creates something life changing.