Watkins College of Art, Design & Film Granted SACS Accreditation

College officials announced on Thursday, June 24, that the Commission on Colleges of the
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS-COC) has granted initial regional
accreditation to Watkins College of Art, Design & Film.

Watkins began this process in early 2007. An Application for Membership and Compliance
Certification were prepared and submitted, and peer review committees from SACS-COC
have made two separate site visits to the campus. The purpose of these visits was to review
the College’s compliance with the standards of the Commission, as specified in the document
Principles of Accreditation: Foundations for Quality Enhancement. Following a careful review
of the submitted documents and the reports of the various committees, the SACS-COC Board of
Trustees, at its June 24th meeting, granted initial accreditation status to the College.
“We are very proud of this accomplishment,” says Ellen L Meyer, President of the College. “We
recognize that this distinction carries with it the responsibility to continue to maintain the highest
quality in all our educational programs and services.”

Watkins College of Art, Design & Film offers the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Film, Fine
Art, Graphic Design, Interior Design, and Photography; the Bachelor of Arts degree in Art, and
the Certificate in Film. The Community Education programs of the institution have provided
educational opportunities for Nashville residents for many years. All degree programs are
nationally accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD), and
the BFA program in Interior Design is accredited by the Council for Interior Design Accreditation
 (CIDA).

“The ultimate beneficiaries of this rigorous accreditation process will be our Watkins students –
past, present, and future,” says John M Sullivan, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean
of the Faculty. “When evaluating credentials, employers and graduate schools often look for
applicants who have earned their degree from a regionally accredited institution.”

SACS is one of the six regional accrediting organizations recognized by the United States
Department of Education and accredits schools, colleges, and universities in the eleven
Southern states and in Latin America. Information about SACS accreditation and concerning
the accreditation status of Watkins College of Art, Design & Film may be obtained from their
website at www.sacscoc.org. The Watkins website can be accessed at www.watkins.edu.