Save the Jewelry and Metal Arts Program at the University of Iowa
The Issue
The University of Iowa’s Board of Regents and the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, Sara Sanders (sara-sanders@uiowa.edu), have decided to reallocate funds away from the School of Art, Art History, and Design’s Jewelry & Metal Arts program. Despite the continued growth of the program, this withdrawal of funding has resulted in the closure of the program. This has directly impacted many students who were on track to complete their degrees in the program.
With no official announcement, this decision was made quietly, giving existing students very limited time to change their degree paths and applicants attempting to join the program no indication of its closure.
We call upon the Board of Regents and the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, Sara Sanders, to reverse the decision to close the program.
Add your name to this petition and share to show your support to the Jewelry & Metal Arts program and show Dean Sanders and the Board of Regents how impactful this program’s closure is to the community around it.
To further support our cause, contact Dean Sanders at her email, sara-sanders@uiowa.edu or her university phone number, 319-335-2079.
*Statement from petition Co-Creator and former JMA MFA Alum, Amanda Shepard:
“As a 2025 MFA graduate of the JMA program University of Iowa, I was there for the calm before the storm. I was there for the promises being made that the program will continue after our tenure track professor retired. I graduated with the hope that those promises would be kept and a solution would be found for the program that I love and found a community in with fellow students and faculty. However, the solution that was made from the dean and the board of regents, only a year after my graduation was to close the doors of the program. I have remained close with the faculty and the incredible BFA and MFA students. These students who have become my friends after the last 4 years felt like they had no voice and no way for people to listen.
With hearing these issues and not wanting to see this program disappear and be swept under the rug like it felt like the university is trying to do, we took action. Through my investigation to the reason the program is being shut down, I received answers that I think are not enough of a reason. That due to the tenure track professor retiring and a program must have a tenure track position in order to continue, the program is closing instead.
“Why not hire another tenure track position then?”
The JMA program was not in line to get another tenure track position. Instead of reallocating funds to get another position available, those funds are being put towards other programs that need it more.
“How is this program not in need?”
We had multiple students wanting to be a part of the BFA program, but we had to turn them away because of this closure. The program was told to not advertise or offer any MFA spots despite interest and applications being paid and sent by interested students.
The university is not only taking away a program but also amazing opportunities for students not just from the SAAHD. The program provides opportunities for engineering students to get to create objects with their hands and get real experience outside of the classroom. I also had so many students as a TA that were in predental that were recommended to take JMA course because it gave them the opportunities to start working with the materials and techniques they would need to know later on. That is only a small amount of the other majors that had to wait till their junior or final year of college in order to enroll in the intro level courses for non-art majors. That is how popular these courses are with non-art majors. It is not only the art students losing this program it is the other colleges as well.
If the Jewelry and Metal Arts Program closes, students, no matter what program, major, or college will lose the opportunity to learn skills in an endangered craft. As more and more Jewelry and Metal Arts programs face closure across the country and around the world, we need to preserve the knowledge and expertise that we can.“
1,196
The Issue
The University of Iowa’s Board of Regents and the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, Sara Sanders (sara-sanders@uiowa.edu), have decided to reallocate funds away from the School of Art, Art History, and Design’s Jewelry & Metal Arts program. Despite the continued growth of the program, this withdrawal of funding has resulted in the closure of the program. This has directly impacted many students who were on track to complete their degrees in the program.
With no official announcement, this decision was made quietly, giving existing students very limited time to change their degree paths and applicants attempting to join the program no indication of its closure.
We call upon the Board of Regents and the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, Sara Sanders, to reverse the decision to close the program.
Add your name to this petition and share to show your support to the Jewelry & Metal Arts program and show Dean Sanders and the Board of Regents how impactful this program’s closure is to the community around it.
To further support our cause, contact Dean Sanders at her email, sara-sanders@uiowa.edu or her university phone number, 319-335-2079.
*Statement from petition Co-Creator and former JMA MFA Alum, Amanda Shepard:
“As a 2025 MFA graduate of the JMA program University of Iowa, I was there for the calm before the storm. I was there for the promises being made that the program will continue after our tenure track professor retired. I graduated with the hope that those promises would be kept and a solution would be found for the program that I love and found a community in with fellow students and faculty. However, the solution that was made from the dean and the board of regents, only a year after my graduation was to close the doors of the program. I have remained close with the faculty and the incredible BFA and MFA students. These students who have become my friends after the last 4 years felt like they had no voice and no way for people to listen.
With hearing these issues and not wanting to see this program disappear and be swept under the rug like it felt like the university is trying to do, we took action. Through my investigation to the reason the program is being shut down, I received answers that I think are not enough of a reason. That due to the tenure track professor retiring and a program must have a tenure track position in order to continue, the program is closing instead.
“Why not hire another tenure track position then?”
The JMA program was not in line to get another tenure track position. Instead of reallocating funds to get another position available, those funds are being put towards other programs that need it more.
“How is this program not in need?”
We had multiple students wanting to be a part of the BFA program, but we had to turn them away because of this closure. The program was told to not advertise or offer any MFA spots despite interest and applications being paid and sent by interested students.
The university is not only taking away a program but also amazing opportunities for students not just from the SAAHD. The program provides opportunities for engineering students to get to create objects with their hands and get real experience outside of the classroom. I also had so many students as a TA that were in predental that were recommended to take JMA course because it gave them the opportunities to start working with the materials and techniques they would need to know later on. That is only a small amount of the other majors that had to wait till their junior or final year of college in order to enroll in the intro level courses for non-art majors. That is how popular these courses are with non-art majors. It is not only the art students losing this program it is the other colleges as well.
If the Jewelry and Metal Arts Program closes, students, no matter what program, major, or college will lose the opportunity to learn skills in an endangered craft. As more and more Jewelry and Metal Arts programs face closure across the country and around the world, we need to preserve the knowledge and expertise that we can.“
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Petition created on October 9, 2026