SNOW'S THEATRE ARTS DEPARTMENT ACHIEVES NAST ACCREDITATION
Snow is one of two Schools in Utah that are NAST-AccreditedEPHRAIM, Utah—April 13, 2005-Snow College today announced that the department of theatre arts has been awarded
full accreditation and membership in good standing by the National Association of
Schools of Theatre. Mike Helms, Snow's department chair for theatre, and Dr. Kim Christison,
former dean of performing arts at Snow, learned of the accreditation at the 40th annual
conference of NAST held in Louisville, Ky.
"This tells educators, students and parents that we're deeply committed to, and serious
about the curricular and production aspects of our program," commented Mike Helms.
"Eighty-one institutions applied for NAST accreditation this year. Snow was one of
eight to achieve it."
NAST, founded in 1965, is an organization of schools, conservatories, colleges and
universities. It has approximately 143 accredited institutional members. It establishes
national standards for undergraduate, graduate degrees and other credentials. Snow
College joins Brigham Young University as the only other NAST-accredited institution
in Utah and is one of only four junior colleges to achieve NAST accreditation.
Dr. Christison led Snow's efforts toward NAST accreditation, which comes after 2
½ years of preparation. Accreditation is a process by which an institution periodically
evaluates its work and seeks an independent judgment by peers that it achieves established
educational objectives and meets the standards of the body from which it seeks accreditation.
Typically, the accreditation process includes: