Rudy McDaniel ’99,’01MA,’03,’04PhD, director of the School of Visual Arts and Design for five years, has been reappointed.
The decision follows an assessment of McDaniel and the school under his leadership. The process included feedback from faculty and staff from inside and outside the school.
The committee that oversaw McDaniel’s five-year assessment found him to be a steadfast leader and an academic role model, noting that “he has demonstrated great diplomacy in addressing both operational as well as strategic concerns of the School of Visual Arts and Design.”
Jeff Moore, dean of the UCF College of Arts & Humanities, said: “Rudy continues to have an excellent record of success through his administrative roles, the director of SVAD being his latest. Leading and coordinating such a diverse school is challenging and Rudy does it with careful consideration and thoughtful advocacy. Him being levelheaded, open to ideas and willing to listen helped the school undergo a major transition in the last few years. SVAD continues to thrive under Rudy’s leadership.”
Since 2016, McDaniel has served as director of the School of Visual Arts and Design, a school that offers academic programs and courses of interest to designers of all varieties, from studio and digital art to art history and architecture. In addition to his work as director, he has continued to pursue his own research interests focusing on technical communication, digital ethics and video games.
Along with McDaniel’s strategic vision for the School of Visual Arts and Design, he has placed a focus on inclusivity, student success and data-driven decision making. Despite the challenges raised by leading a school with a wide variety of students, faculty and staff, he has earned a reputation as an effective advocate and fair, clear communicator.
During McDaniel’s tenure, he oversaw the unification of seven units within the School of Visual Arts and Design, the subsequent split of two units to the College of Sciences, and the curriculum concerns that these transitions raised.