ALUMNI ACCESS

The VFL is committed to the continued support of SVA students’ work after graduation. While the needs of matriculated students are the VFL’s priority, access can be granted to MFA alumni at the discretion of the director as outlined below. Some restrictions apply.

  • Recent graduates are allowed access throughout the Summer of the year of their graduation until the VFL closes for maintenance in that August. No access fee is required; all material fees apply per usual. A proposal must be emailed to the VFL director, Sinclair Smith for approval.

  • Alumni of SVA graduate programs may gain access to the VFL for $500 per semester. Additional material fees apply per usual. A proposal for intended work must be emailed to the director for approval. Proposals submitted after the 7th week of the semester will not be considered until the following semester. Alumni access is for SVA MFA alumni only and is not offered after completion of an SVA Continuing Education course.

  • All alumni work must be for the benefit of the individual alumnus’s own creative and/or entrepreneurial development.

    In no case may alumni access the VFL to work on behalf of an employer or third-party organization, whether or not the alumnus is being compensated.

    Any corporate inquiry must be proposed to the director as such and may require compensation to be negotiated on a case by case basis.

    The VFL allows alumni access in balance with the needs of matriculated students. If the needs of alumni are seen to exceed the VFL’s capacity and impinge on the VFL’s ability to serve students, VFL staff can refuse access to alumni without explanation. Explanation can be provided by the director.

    Alumni who access the VFL will be held to the same behavioral expectations that they were as students under the SVA Student Code of Conduct. Violations of these basic expectations may result in immediate loss of access privileges.

    All alumni access will be granted by the director with specific consideration for time required, impact on matriculated students, the number of engaged alumni, tools needed, and most importantly, the type and purpose of the work being done. Use of the VFL as a place to prototype a post-graduate, business opportunity is a privilege. Efforts to exploit this privilege by using the VFL as an affordable factory for mass-production and profit will result in loss of access.