Today (October 12), SCAD students received an email detailing SCAD's intent to open hybrid classes for Winter 2021. This email informed students that the Savannah and Atlanta campuses will be opening for limited in-person instruction depending on your major and year. What this email made glaringly obvious is that the school is catering towards retaining freshmen and sophomores, rather than supporting the upperclassmen.

None of the classes SCAD has chosen to make on-ground go above the 200 level, except for the SCADPro 540 class. There are no major classes at a junior or senior level which have been chosen to be in-person. None of the classes offered address the upperclassmen who have had to postpone or alter their education in order to stay enrolled in SCAD during the pandemic. Because many of the juniors and seniors require studio space with in-person help from professors and faculty members and in-person collaboration with fellow students, many of our classmates have either taken elective courses they did not need or paused their education altogether. 

Of course, the freshmen and sophomore's classes are just as important as the upperclassmen, however, most of them successfully translate to an online platform. Teaching general lecture classes such as Culture in Context in-person should not be prioritized over the needs of those who require access and hands-on instruction for technology and studio resources.

Industrial design, fibers, film, fashion design, for example - these students all REQUIRE a studio space and in-person faculty instruction to produce the quality of work SCAD is so well known for. Without this collaborative space, technology, and hands-on instruction from their faculty members, they are not able to fulfill portfolio needs or successfully execute projects. Yes, select studio spaces are open, but without the level of hands-on learning SCAD advertises many students don't know how to use the technology and resources these spaces offer.

We, the students of SCAD, ask that SCAD reconsider the class offerings for Winter 2021 and turn their attention to supporting the students who require direct, hands-on learning for the technology and studio resources we pay for.