This morning the Provost sent out an email stating the following: "Dear Members of the Pratt Community, We thank you for sharing your concerns and perspectives since the announcement was made on January 21st regarding the change in format of the Institute's annual show of design department work by some graduating students. First, I'd like to extend a formal invitation to all members of the community to join Pratt's Student Government Association in an open community forum on February 24 at 12:30 PM in the Library's Alumni Reading Room on the Brooklyn Campus to hear an update on the status of the various end-of-year shows being planned and to voice any concerns. I will be in attendance along with the Vice President for Student Affairs Helen Matusow-Ayres, Acting Dean of the School of Design Anita Cooney, and Director of Career and Professional Development Rhonda Schaller. In the meantime, I've heard that some misinformation is circulating and just want to take a moment to clarify how the Institute is moving forward. The Institute is not cancelling the year-end event known as Design Show. The venue and format of the show are simply changing. Our collective shows will be promoted as a series of shows titled Pratt Shows 2015, which follows how the Institute effectively promoted all shows in 2014. Pratt Shows 2015 will be promoted to the same audiences as the Design Show was in the past. Those audiences include industry/prospective employers, alumni, friends, and press in addition to all members of the Pratt community. After many years of consideration and at the request of many department chairs, we have decided to allow the leadership of each department to determine what venue, format, and location will work best for their respective departments within appropriate budgets. Most Pratt departments have these plans in place already and for others the planning is still underway. Each department will organize an end-of-year show; the only difference is that the various departmental shows may choose not to share the same venue. The Provost's Office is working closely with the deans to ensure an appropriate and effective communication of the work of graduating students for a global audience. As I noted before, many departments over the last few years have taken the step to pull away from the previous Design Show shared show format and to host shows in other venues. We are confident that departmental and school-based venues, E-based outreach, and print-based promotional activities reaching beyond New York City will promote the global reach and influence of our scholars. Once again, Vice President for Student Affairs Helen Matusow-Ayers, Acting Dean of Design Anita Cooney, Director of Career and Professional Development Rhonda Schaller, and I look forward to sharing perspectives, data, and pathways forward on February 24, 2015. Pratt's Student Government Association is hosting this event and we look forward to a full discussion regarding all of Pratt's departmental shows for 2015. Sincerely, Peter Barna, Provost"