INTRODUCTION TO ME AND MY DOCUMENTATION
Hello. My name is Lorrie Frear.
Thank you to all of the external reviewers who reviewed my credentials for consideration to promotion to the rank of Full Professor at RIT.
I have been granted promotion, which is the culmination of a long and adventurous journey. I would like to thank you for your time and effort to review this site and my other documentation materials.
For those of you with whom I have had the pleasure of working, thank you for your collegiality. For those of you who I do not know, I am especially appreciative of your generosity.
I TEACH IN THE
Graphic Design Department / School of Design / College of Imaging Arts and Sciences / Rochester Institute of Technology.
When I came to RIT in the spring quarter of 1990 as a Visiting Assistant Professor as a sabbatical replacement, it was a homecoming of sorts. Both of my degrees are from RIT: I received a BFA in 1978 and an MFA in 1981. Between my degrees, during and after graduate school until 1990, I gained experience as a graphic designer in a number of different capacities and positions in several types of design organizations large and small. I have worked in corporations, a small design firm, large consultancies, advertising agencies and as an independent designer. This experience was obtained while working in Rochester, Boston, San Francisco and Buffalo before returning to Rochester in 1990.
So, when I returned to RIT, I had a broad and diverse professional background as a graphic designer to share with faculty colleagues and students. This experience has made me a versatile and valuable member of my department, and over my twenty six years of teaching at RIT, I have taught every course in the Graphic Design curriculum at least once, with the exception of the Interactive and Web Courses. In addition, I have taught in or in conjunction with Foundations, The School
of Art, The School of Photographic Arts and Sciences, The School for American Crafts, Extended Studies, (now ITDI),
The Industrial Design Department and the College of Applied Science and Technology. (CAST)
During this time, I have held adjunct, extended part-time, administrative, visiting, and tenure-track positions.... until finally receiving tenure in 2011. It has been a long journey, and each of these steps has prepared me for this opportunity to seek the rank of Full Professor.
For me, the connection of scholarship and teaching is synergistic and symbiotic. What I do in the classroom moves into my creative work, scholarship pursuits and service activities. What I learn in those experiences is then brought back into the classroom.
For example, my professional experience as a designer has greatly influenced my scholarship focus in collaborative learning experiences from my years as a team member or leader. The manner in which I conduct projects, critiques and courses is directly related to my professional design background. My classes are based on current design practice focused on professional examples and expectations.
My creative activity focus on lettering and calligraphy is also greatly influenced by years of working with letters, words, typefaces, messaging and all kinds of visual communications for a wide variety of clients, audiences and objectives.
The passion I have for wordplay, writing, lettering and typography inevitably enters every project, course and conversation.
Community service has always been a focus in my life and consequently in my courses. Some of the most rewarding projects for me as a student, designer and teacher have been for not-for-profit organizations. I make this experience a priority for students to have before leaving RIT. My service commitments for RIT are directly related to student success, my scholarship and creative work interests, and my commitment to mentorship.
These experiences are all interwoven, interconnected, overlapping and layered upon one another; making each stronger and more vital in the process.
It is all interconnected...
and I am very grateful for and appreciative of every step of the journey.
I am a teacher. Everything I do is for the benefit of my students.
THANK YOU AGAIN FOR YOUR TIME.
MY COMMITMENT TO COLLABORATIVE LEARNING EXPERIENCES
From the beginning of my teaching career, I have been dedicated to collaborations with other professors, classes, departments, schools and colleges within RIT, other universities and external organizations in order
to give students the most realistic, challenging and competitive experiences to prepare them for the
design professions.
MY LOVE OF LETTERS AND WORDS
My objective in teaching all of my courses is to make letters and words come to life for students and to instill
a life-long passion for and appreciation of letterform design, typographic selection and application and wordplay that will assist them in their professional and personal lives.
KEYS TO LEARNING AND TEACHING / TEACHING AND LEARNING
I have found these qualities to be critical to effective teaching:
A passion for the subject matter
A sincere interest in the students
A commitment to the individual growth and development of students
A thoughtful and clear teaching approach
A love of learning, re-learning, research and personal development
A fair and objective method of evaluation
A commitment to excellence