Art majors who want to help their fellow students learn more about the intricacies of the human form must do it with their clothes on, under a new UVSC policy. Other students can pose nude for the sake of art.

Brigham Young University on the other hand, if you couldn't guess by the Honor Code, doesn't allow for nudity -- whether an art student or not. Its models wear swimsuits, according to visual Arts department chairwoman Linda Sullivan.

UVSC Art and Visual Communication Department Chairman Steven Bule says there was no controversy that led to the no-nude policy. Instead, it happened when he was reworking all the department's policies and discovered there wasn't one for models.

So for two weeks there were no models, naked or clothed, while the school created a policy that outlines who may model and how they should be treated. The new policy went into effect in February.

Bule said he just wanted to eliminate any possible embarrassment for students who see each other every day. He said many schools have that rule.

"It can maybe just be awkward," Bule said.

"It's not that things were being done inappropriately. It's just that we needed something in concrete. It just makes it more professional," Bule said.

Students at UVSC study figure drawing on nude models to get a better grasp of the human form.

"So much of what artists do involves the figure. Then the better you can understand the figure, the better you are going to be able to represent it artistically," said UVSC art professor Bob deWitt.

Art students also study human anatomy under the skin to understand why the body is shaped as it is.

• Brittani Lusk can be reached at 344-2549 or at blusk@heraldextra.com.