By DeJuan Baskin
The Scene staff
The associate’s degree in graphic design is no longer offered on the Forest Park campus, as of this semester. Students can still pursue it at Meramec or Florissant Valley.
Forest Park continues to offer three classes in the program — computer art studio and graphic design I & II.
Administrators said not enough students have been enrolled in the program to offer it on all the campuses.
“The district attempts to place the programs offered by St. Louis Community College where they best fit the student demand for the program,” said Ame Mead-Roach, dean of humanities and social sciences. “This is a district decision.”
Students who had expected to complete the graphic design program at Forest Park were disappointed by the decision.
“If it were convenient for me to attend another campus, I would have enrolled there instead of Forest Park,” said Kourtney Pollard, 28, a mass communications student. “There is no reason I’m driving between three different campuses in my last semester, because of schedule conflicts and classes not being offered at campuses.”
Ying Xue-Zou, chairman of the graphic design department from 2009 to 2013, said he does not support the change.
“I don’t believe the decision to move was the right decision to make according to the community college’s mission statement,” he said. “It restrains the students’ opportunity to study. The people who made the decision to move the program off the campus probably have no vision for the future of the art program.”
Alex Molitor, 21, is also a student at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, who commutes between the campuses.
“I’m taking graphic design I at Forest Park because UMSL does not offer it in the spring, and I have to take the class in order to even start the program at UMSL,” he said. “The drive isn’t bad. I just have to make sure I leave early to prepare for traffic.”
Graphic communications student Rich Foy, 47, said he can understand the decision but said it could have messed up his last semester.
“I’m glad I did all my major classes first,” Foy said. “Otherwise, it might have been a new adjustment for me. I have a car, but traffic or scheduling could have made me change some things.”
Foy said other students pursuing the graphic design degree have given up altogether.
“I know someone who had to change their major because they couldn’t commute to another campus,” he said.
This spring, Forest Park combined several departments — photography, art, theater and graphic design – into the Performance and Visual Art Department, headed by Jamie Kreher, former chair of photography.
A part-time instructor, James Brunger, recalled the days when the program was popular and classes were overflowing.
“I graduated in ’96, and when I graduated, there was a higher demand,” he said. “The classes were filled to capacity.
“I hope in the near future, we get a full graphic design program,” said Bruenger, a digital designer and part-time instructor at Forest Park. “But we have to have student demand.”
Alex Molitor said he remains positive.
“I enjoy taking the class here,” he said. “It’s a small class and a great professor.”