OPINION
Graphic Communications Technology student in the lab at PCC (Photo – D.C.)
Pasadena City College Administration plans to cut the Graphics Arts program, but faculty are asking questions and want to save the program.
By Melissa Michelson
Pasadena City College policy states that the decision to discontinue a program should be in writing and be supported by the majority of the faculty who have taught in the program. That policy was not observed in the case of the Screen Printing and Computer Graphics Program.
The last time a graphics class was offered was Spring 2020 before the pandemic shut down. The decision to shut down the program appears to have originated from a single memo from the office of Vice President Laura Ramirez with no accompanying data. Visual Arts and Media Studies Dean Lynora Rogacs placed dissolution of the program on the agenda for the department meeting occurring the last week of the Spring 2021 semester; expensive screen printing equipment and 30 Mac desktops were removed even before the decision was finalized, but the studio space and other equipment are still intact.
Supporters of the Screen Printing and Computer Graphics Program have asserted numerous Brown Act violations without response from PCC, and PCC policies have been violated as well as campus participatory governance. Importantly, removal of this program from PCC eliminates a viable and popular program attracting many low income/first time college students and students of color, a program which permitted these students to earn certificates and increase earnings through self-employment.
PCC must account to the faculty and student body of PCC for its decision.
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Sucks!!!