Art Center . . . is

As THE educational leaders of the Art Center College of Design, we would like to respond to the article “Uproar at Art Center” (by Mike Boehm, June 11), which we find selective in its sources and unbalanced in its perception. While there is indeed a passionate debate about many important issues at Art Center, we are a creative community engaged in the ongoing improvement of our education and facilities, and we expect and encourage different opinions about our future direction.

However, the article paints an incomplete portrait of the college that is simply not accurate. Specifically, we strongly reject the article’s implication that educational standards have fallen at Art Center and that our graduates’ portfolios are less compelling to employers.

By focusing on only a few examples, exclusively from the industrial design field (we offer 14 different majors), the article overlooks the tremendous support we consistently receive in the form of internships, sponsored educational projects, scholarships and employment of our recent graduates. Nor does the article consider the international recognition of our art alums, the numerous awards our students win in international competitions, nor the top rankings we receive in every art and design school survey. Art Center’s job placement record remains as strong as it ever was -- a statistic The Times failed to investigate.

Wendy Adest

associate chair, Foundation Studies

Mark Breitenberg

dean of Humanities and Design Sciences

Laurence Dreiband

chair, Fine Art

Fred Fehlau

dean of Academic Affairs

Ann Field

chair, Illustration

Jeremy Gilbert-Rolfe

chair, Graduate Fine Art

Nik Hafermaas

dean of Communication Design

Dennis Keeley

chair, Photography & Imaging

Ross LaManna

chair, Film Department

David Mocarski

chair, Environmental Design

Robert Peterson

chair, Broadcast Cinema

Stewart Reed

chair, Transportation Design

Marty Smith

chair, Product Design