RIVERSIDE CITY COLLEGE
PHOTOGRAPHY
PROGRAM REVIEW
2011
Riverside Community College District
Office of Institutional Effectiveness
Web Resources: http://www.rccdfaculty.net/pages/PR_status.htm
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Table of Contents
A. Mission and Relationship to the College
3
B. History
4
C. Data and Environmental Scan
6
D. Programs and Curriculum
8
E. Student Outcomes Assessment
9
F. Collaboration with Other Units
10
G. Outreach
11
H. Long Term Major Resource Planning
12
I. Summary
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J. Recommendations to the Program Review Committee
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RIVERSIDE CITY COLLEGE
PHOTOGRAPHY
PROGRAM REVIEW
2011
A.
Missions and Relationship to the College
The Photography Program provides a high quality educational experience to students
who wish to pursue photography as all or part of a satisfying career, and also to students
who wish to enrich their lives with valuable photographic knowledge and experience.
Our mission is to provide an excellent technical education that prepares students for entry
level employment and self-employment in a broad range of photographic career paths.
This is in concert with the mission statement of Riverside City College which states that
it empowers a diverse community of learners toward individual achievement, success,
and lifelong learning by providing comprehensive services and innovative educational
opportunities. It is also consistent with the District’s mission statement:
The District provides transfer programs paralleling the first two years of university
offerings, pre-professional, career preparation, and occupation and technical programs
leading to associate of arts degree, the associate of science degree, and a variety of
certificates.
The values promoted by the district, which consist of student centeredness, teaching
excellence, a supportive learning environment, and tradition, are also integrated into our
curriculum and pedagogy. The values in our program include:

Supportive teaching and learning environment in which students are encouraged
to develop their strengths and respect the strengths of others;

Practical, hands-on teaching and learning that is consistent with both traditional
and state-of-the art methods and, to the extent possible, with state-of-the-art
equipment

Curriculum and teaching methods that incorporate the values of professionalism,
superior quality, teamwork, ethical practices, problem-solving, and life-long
learning.
Goals
Over the past four years, the program’s goals have been to:

Integrate digital instruction with traditional film and wet lab instruction

Improve consistency and quality of instruction in courses taught by multiple
instructors
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
Expand the number of section offerings to meet the needs of the community

Improve the instructional facilities in order to enhance the traditional and digital
learning experience.
These goals are consistent with the District’s goals to:
B.

Utilize advances in information technologies to improve effectiveness of
instruction, services and administration

Tailor programs and services to meet the needs of the students and communities
served by the three-college District
History
Due to lack of documentation of the history of the Photography Program, the History
portion of the review is based upon conversations with three people who have been
associated with the program, as both students and faculty for approximately 35 years.
1. Program Development
The Photography Program focused on vocational education for the purpose of training
both photojournalist as well as those who would open their own photography-related
business. It also provided a strong introductory experience for students who wanted to
continue in a four year program elsewhere.
The Photography program began between the years of 1968 and 1969 as a facet of the
English Department. During the early 1970s the program was transferred to the oversight
of the Applied Technology Department. Along with this move, the course offerings
changed and expanded to Introduction, Intermediate, and Advanced Photography along
with Photojournalism. Color photography was later added between 1978 and 1979.
Originally, color transparencies and color negatives were addressed in two different
classes in alternating semesters, but were later consolidated into a single offering. Most
classes were offered both day and evening, with the exception of color. In 1980, the
program was placed on academic probation. That probationary status was later removed
in 1982. In 2005, the program slightly increased its number of sections. It has also
begun to integrate digital capture and post-capture production. Though the program
remains stable, many of the classes offered do not meet their caps.
Starting in the late 1970s an annual photography show, organized by the Art Department,
featured students’ work that was on display in the A.G. Quadrangle Art Gallery. The
invitation to the show was rescinded in 2002 but in the Fall of 2005 both Photography
and Art Department students participated in a show mounted by the Riverside
Community Arts Association at their gallery in Downtown Riverside. In 2006, the Art
Department again invited photography students to participate in an all-media show which
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is mounted each spring. The Photography faculty are also invited to participate in an Art
and Photography faculty show each fall. These shows are held in Quadrangle Art
Gallery. The photography Club, which existed from the mid-1980s until 2000, was
restarted once again in Spring of 2007 and continues with a range of activities from
community service to week-long photography field trips.
2. Course Offerings
In 1968-1969 there were two classes: Photojournalism and Publication Photography. The
Photojournalism course was geared toward training students who would become
Viewpoints newspaper photographers. At least four of these students went on to become
photographers for the Press-Enterprise newspaper and one remains there today as a photo
editor. The Publication Photography class trained students who were producing the
annual college magazine.
The photojournalism class was cross-listed with the Journalism Program in the mid1990s. The color wet lab processes were discontinued in 2002 due to enrollments that
didn’t justify large volume processes and the unprofessional inconsistency of color
reproduction in a low volume environment.
The course offerings, largely as they exist today, were developed in the 1970s. That is,
eight courses leading to a Certificate in Photography, and an Associate of Science degree
available to those who complete additional required and elective courses.
In the early 1980s a multi-media photography class that concentrated on the production
of multi-slide projector shows was included. The class was offered twice but
discontinued due to low enrollment. It was dropped from the curriculum about 1990.
Digital Still Photography was added around 1999.
Due to the predominance of the use of digital photography in professional environments,
the program has incorporated the use of digital capture and output in classes that
previously used and taught only film techniques.
3. Staff/Faculty






1968-1969 – The first Photography teacher was a full time English teacher.
Early 1970s – The first full time faculty member dedicated to the Photography
Program was hired.
1979 – The full-time faculty member retired. One was hired.
1981 – The full-time faculty member resigned. One was hired. Up to six part-time
faculty per semester eventually taught courses.
From 1982 through approximately 1992, the program had, for all practical
purposes, two full-time faculty. During that time one part-time faculty member
taught enough classes and handled enough organization and paperwork to constitute
full-time status until a collective bargaining agreement limited part-time hours to a
60 percent load.
2002 – The full-time faculty member retired. Program was coordinated by a part5

time faculty member.
2004 – A full-time faculty member was hired. Up to eight part-time faculty
members are teaching courses.
4. Facilities/Equipment

1968-1969 –Photography had two enlargers and a ground-level lab in the A.G. Paul
Quadrangle that has been described as being the size of a mop closet. The college
provided twin-lens Yashica D cameras that used 120 millimeter film to the students.

1969 – Two wet-lab darkrooms with adjacent film loading/wet processing rooms
were built in the east basement of the A.G. Paul Quadrangle. They held up to 24
black-and-white and color enlargers. Those labs, a classroom, an 8x8-foot storage
room and one faculty office became the main location of the program. Classes of up
to 80 students were taught in shared classrooms in the Quad.

Early 1970s – The program began teaching 35 millimeter photography. Students
supplied their own cameras. Advanced classes used medium and large format
cameras provided by the college.

1980-1998 – The program maintained a dedicated photography studio on the
ground level of the Quad. A dearth of general classroom space led to its conversion
into two lecture rooms.

August 2005 – Photography moved to the Lovekin Complex. A wet lab that
includes a film loading room, film and print drying room, and storage room/shared
faculty office, was constructed in a single-wide portable building in the Lovekin
Complex. A second single-wide is used for lecture, studio, computer lab, photofinishing, and storage. A third shared-use single-wide is used for lecture and studio
work. The original intention was that these were to be temporary facilities. Shortcomings such as lack of temperature controlled water, lack of internet connections,
and space considerations that include students using folding chairs that are moved
and stacked while accessing studio equipment and taking studio photos, were
thought to be temporary.

August 2011 – As of this time the Photography program remains in the Lovekin
Complex.
C.
Data Analysis and Environmental Scan
1. Data
Riverside City College enrollments as of fall 2010 indicate that 79% of Photography
students attended during the day and 21% attended at night. However, due to budgetdriven section cuts, as of Fall 2011 the Photography program will offer only one night
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class and ten day classes. One to two classes are offered during the day in summer and
winter sessions. In order to make a certificate or degree available to all students, classes
that are offered only once per year are rotated from day to night. Using this schedule,
students may complete a photography certificate or degree in four semesters.
Regarding trends in the discipline of photography: The Bureau of Labor Statistics’
Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition reports that more than half of
photographers are self-employed; growth of internet versions of publications will create a
demand for professional photographers; demand for portrait photographers should
increase as the population grows; successful photographers are likely to be adept at
operating a business and to be among the most creative; and few fine arts photographers
are successful enough to support themselves solely through their art.
2. Environmental Scan
Photography student enrollments rose 11 percent between 2007 and 2010. During the
same years retention rates rose from 75 percent to 79 percent and success rates rose from
54 percent to 68 percent. The fill rates throughout these years has remained at 95 to 97
percent.
The skills and knowledge required by employers, and by our students who will become
self-employed, include a thorough understanding of the nature and capture of light in the
form of a photograph whether on film or by a sensor. To properly do so, our students
must understand the relationship of aperture, shutter and focal length and their
mathematical relationship. A further understanding of point-of-capture filtration as well
as post-capture filtration – whether analog or digital – is necessary for the best possible
representation of the image. An understanding of reflective and artificial lighting
techniques is required for most professional photography, both on-site and in the studio
environment. Most photography also requires an understanding of color transmission via
light as well as the emotive values of color to communicate to the viewer. Understanding
color theory is essential in both capture and photo finishing, whether analog or digital. An
understanding of photography business practices strengthens our student’s ability to
practice photography as a business. Learning to work with photographic subjects is
important in both studio and non-studio environments. The study and practice of the
unique approach to photographic capture taken by the photojournalist benefits not only
those students studying photojournalism, but also empowers non-photojournalism
students to become more confident in their approach to their subjects.
3. Assessment
Along with the rest of the college, the Photography program has had to cut classes,
including most evening and intersession classes, in response to California State budget
cuts.
Digital photography is now well integrated into the curriculum. Our students and faculty
continue to gain community visibility through campus tours, photography shows,
competitions, and presentations at high schools and public career planning events.
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Trend forecasts reinforce our decision to support film photography while continuing to
integrate digital photography into the curriculum.
Our faculty are delivering media rich lectures to stimulate the interest of a student
population largely raised with this kind of communication.
D.
Programs and Curriculum
The Photography Program offers an Associate of Science and Occupational Certificate in
Photography.
Photography Certificate
Required Courses (24 units)
Units
PHO-8 Introduction to Photography
3
PHO-9 Intermediate Photography
3
PHO-10 Advanced Photography
3
PHO-12 Photojournalism
3
PHO-13 Advanced Darkroom Techniques
3
PHO-14 Basic Studio Portraiture
3
PHO-17 Introduction to Color Photography
3
PHO-20 Introduction to Digital Still Photography 3
Associate of Science Degree
The Associate in Science Degree in Photography will be awarded upon the completion of
the requirements for the certificate, plus completion of the graduation requirements as
described in the catalog, as well as electives totaling 60 units of college work as required
for the Associate Degree.
Planned Curricular Changes
Plans to expand Photography course offerings to prepare students for work in
photography and photographically-related industries has been delayed by budget-driven
course cuts. Faculty and advisory committee members will be weighing the wisdom of
making certificate changes that would eliminate courses such as PHO-13 Advanced Lab
Practices in order to make room for Photography Business Practices and Wedding and
Special Event Photography. Portfolio Development, formerly planned as an independent
course, will have to be integrated into existing curricula.
The course outlines of record have been reviewed both by the full-time faculty member
and by the adjunct faculty members who teach the courses. Refinements were made to
statements of course content, methods of instruction, methods of evaluation, and student
learning outcomes. As currently articulated all of these are appropriate.
Regarding entry skills/competencies in current courses: Introduction to Photography
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(Photo 8) and Digital Still Photography (Photo 20) do not require entry skills.
Intermediate Photography (Photo 9) and Photojournalism (Photo 12) require a Photo 8
prerequisite. The remainder of the classes, Advanced Photography (Photo 10), Advanced
Darkroom Techniques (Photo 13), Basic Studio Portraiture (Photo 14), and Color
Photography (Photo 17), require a Photo 9 prerequisite. Review of the expectation of
most classes concludes that the skills/competencies are appropriate. The exception is
Photo 17, which could reasonably be completed by students with Photo 8 skills. We will
take appropriate steps to change the prerequisite of this course.
The current course sequences are well defined and reasonable. However the Photography
program anticipates revision of current courses to accommodate a more digital
environment. Revisions and expansion are limited due to lack of physical space and a
limited budget to fund hardware, software and professional studio equipment. All
improvements in the last four years have been made with Perkins grants funds. The
Photography program will not be receiving any Perkins funding in 2011-2012. Thanks to
past funding Photography has 30 digital cameras available for limited-time loan for
student use. The budget does not provide money for maintenance, repair or replacement
of these cameras
E.
Student Learning Outcome Assessment
In Fall 2010 and Spring 2011, students completing Photography courses were asked to
complete a self-assessment survey. Presented with a list of the student learning outcomes
for the course, they rated their perception of success for each by indicating their new
abilities as “poor, good, very good,” or as appropriate “not well, reasonably well, very
well.” In the entry-level Photo-8 courses 62 percent of students rated their perception of
success as very good or very well, 35 percent rated it good or reasonably well, and 3
percent rated it poor or not well. In the entry-level Photo-20 courses 74 percent rated their
perception of success as very well, 23 percent as reasonably well, and 3 percent as not
well. Intermediate and advanced course assessments are still being calculated.
The surveys indicate that Photography has a substantial student satisfaction and success
rate and should continue to inspire and improve student learning through:





Instruct students in a hands-on learning environment to reinforce information
communicated in traditional lecture, required reading and required project
assignments
Instructors using PowerPoint presentations to visually stimulate and engage
students who have grown up in a multimedia environment
Use of grant-funded remotely-powered indoor/outdoor studio lighting equipment
for advanced portraiture and product photography
Photojournalism and Color Photography classes incorporating the use and
manipulation of digital images into the curriculum to make them more relevant to
today’s professional photographer
Loaning grant-funded digital cameras and tripods to students to give them a
professional-level experience, raise their camera buying expectations, and impress
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
F.
upon them their expanded photographic options through the use of tripods
Loaning donated film cameras to students who do not have one or whose cameras
are not functioning properly
Collaboration with Other Units
The Art Department has invited Photography students and faculty to participate in joint
exhibitions open to the entire community.
Photography has extended open invitations to Applied Graphics and Art students to
attend guest presentations on the subject of photography.
Photography, Air Conditioning, Applied Graphics, Auto Technology, Culinary,
Multimedia, Telecommunications and Welding have worked jointly, and on a volunteer
basis, to promote student participation in regional, state and national Skills USA
competitions for personal and professional development of the student.
The program works with the Occupational Education Office to develop grant proposals
for Perkins Grant funds. Thanks to a 2006-2010 grants our students are able to work with
professional-level digital cameras, tripods, and professional studio lighting equipment in
order to develop an understanding of why they should make the investment in
professional equipment.
Photography accepts every opportunity provided by the Occupational Education
Transfer/Career Center as well as the Outreach office to give program tours and speak
about careers in photography. These opportunities total about a dozen per semester.
The program welcomes speakers from the Viewpoints campus newspaper at the start of
each semester, distributes materials and encourages photography students to join the
newspaper staff either as an enrolled student or as a contributing photographer.
The Photography Club works with other college clubs and organizations to successfully
execute three annual community service events: Halloween Town, Reindeer Roundup
and Bunny Hop.
The full-time faculty member is a member of the Photography Advisory Committee for
the California School for the Deaf.
Interdepartmental Cooperation
Our full-time faculty member served on the hiring committee for a new Culinary
Academy instructor. In addition, several of the above-listed activities interact with other
departments.
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G.
Outreach Activities
Encouraging students and faculty to participate in shows this year has resulted in two
shows in the Landis Art Gallery and three at the Riverside Community Arts Association
Gallery in Riverside which resulted in increased public awareness of the program.
Photography students are encouraged to participate in competitions for practical exposure
to opportunities that are available to both professional and amateur photographers. Many
students have received local and national recognition. In Spring 2011, one of our students
was awarded a national 4th place by the Journalism Association of Community Colleges
and another placed third in California State SkillsUSA photography competition. In 2010,
one of our students won the grand prize for photography at the Del Mar State Fair. Also,
in 2009 one of our students won Journalism Association of Community Colleges awards
for his sports and feature photography. With RCC support he became a photographer for
the San Bernardino Sun newspaper, and continues to work there on weekends while
attending Art Center in Pasadena where he studies photography.
Two of our students and Photo Club members teamed up in Spring 2010 to photograph
adoptable dogs and cats for the local rescue group website.
One of our student’s powerful photograph of a wild mustang has been hung on permanent
display at Norco College’s library and is being used in the college’s promotional
materials.
In Spring 2011, our full-time faculty member acted as a contest judge for both the
Redlands Camera Club and the Corona Public Library annual photography competition.
One of our part-time faculty members served as a judge for the annual Riverside Seniors
Photography Competition. Both our full-time faculty member and one of our part-time
faculty served as judges at the annual Riverside School for the Deaf student art
competition which included photography.
In Spring 2011, our full-time faculty member became a member of the newly-formed
California School for the Deaf Photography Advisory Committee.
Our full-time faculty member continues to coordinate the annual California State
SkillsUSA Photography competition.
Photography participates in a variety of outreach activities including high school
visitations, campus displays, career nights, speaking to community groups, competitive
and non-competitive photography shows, and scheduling guest speakers in presentations
open to all students.
The Photography Club maintains an online component at www.flickr.com that is
frequented by current and former students. The online presence enables participation by
students unable to attend weekday meetings, allows us to see a far greater range of
student work than is required in class, and makes it possible for the general public to see
our students’ work and involvement in photography.
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We respond to requests from the community to hire student photographers on long-term,
short-term or a one-time basis. Recent opportunities have included an indefinite 10-hourper-week job with a studio photographer, a one-time-a-month opportunity with a
professional photographer who works from Las Vegas to Los Angeles, and
photographing several local weddings. Volunteer opportunities were also arranged to
photograph a new, local home supply store and assist the photographers at Riverside City
College’s spring 2011 commencement exercises.
H.
Long Term Major Resource Planning
1. Facilities Suitability
The long-term success of the program calls for an appropriate, dedicated photography
studio that the program has not had since 2005, when Photography program moved into
portable buildings in the Lovekin Complex. One portable contains the wet lab, storage
room/common office, and film and print drying/student work area. A second portable
serves as a lecture room/studio/computer lab/print finishing area and studio equipment
storage area. A third multi-use portable provides expanded lecture scheduling options and
modest alternative photo studio options.
2. Staffing
Currently the program employs one full-time faculty member and eight adjunct faculty.
Approximately 25 percent of FTEs are taught by the full-time faculty member. In
addition to teaching, the full-time faculty member is responsible for scheduling,
purchasing, advising the Photography Club, organizing, meetings (faculty and advisory),
maintenance, promotion, and program development. It is reasonable to anticipate the
need to hire a second full-time faculty member.
I.
Summary
Two interdepartmental issues continue to need to be addressed.
The first issue:
Some faculty in the Riverside City College Art Department believe that the Photography
program should become part of the Art Department. Indeed, many community college
and university photography programs are part of their respective art programs. However,
Riverside City College’s photography originated as a vocational education program and
remains focused on educating students to become excellent photographers in every
respect with the ultimate goal of teaching them skills and sensibilities that will serve them
well in their careers, whether dedicated to or supported by photography.
Under the current vocational education philosophy, our photography faculty are hired not
only for their academic achievements, but also for their first-hand knowledge and
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experience working in the industry. All faculty teaching in the Art Department must
have a Masters in fine arts degree. A reorganization putting Photography under Art
would de-emphasize the working professional experience.
In addition, the Photography Program relies upon equipment funding available only to
vocational education programs. Alternate sources of funding would have to be developed
to compensate for the potential loss of money.
On a related note, the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Outlook Handbook, 201011 Edition reports that few fine arts photographers are successful enough to support
themselves solely through their art.
The second issue:
Norco College and Moreno Valley College each offer a PHO-20 course with Norco’s
course scheduled by their Art Department and Moreno Valley’s course scheduled by their
Computer Information Systems Department. Each is staffed by an instructor selected by
those respective departments.
The faculty for the Norco and Moreno Valley classes are not observed or evaluated by
any member of, or supervisory personnel associated with, the Photography Program.
Photography does not know if these classes are adhering to the course outline of record or
are aware of refinements and changes being made to the course outline.
The Academic Senate has been made aware of disciplines introducing courses closely
related to those of other programs and has said that it will appoint a committee to study
the matter but to our knowledge has not done so.
Related to other matters: (additional space needed)
The Photography program looks forward to participating in the development of the
Riverside School for the Arts. Interacting with many other programs in a vocationally
oriented environment should reinforce the program as well as serve the community.
Enrollment growth over the last fourteen years has caused the college to reallocate
Photography program space to other disciplines. The program lost its photography studio
as well as a classroom and four eight-by-eight-foot multipurpose rooms. The economy of
space and visibly aging facilities and equipment has had a negative impact on the ability
to conduct professional-level instruction and fostered a negative public perception of the
program. Space is the primary need starting with a dedicated photography studio.
Additional Resource needs:
With digital expansion the program has developed a computer-based post-capture
classroom. A budget to support software licenses and upgrades, as well as replacement
of aging computers, scanners, printers and cameras is essential.
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Another goal is the development of a Photography program web page. This would serve
as both a public relations and marketing tool as well as provide web enhancement for
photography classes.
Finally, the college needs to anticipate long term budget allocation for the replacement of
aging equipment, some of which has served the program for up to 30 years: enlargers,
studio lighting equipment, print washers and dryers, dry-mount presses, and a variety of
smaller pieces of support equipment.
J.
Recommendations to the Program Review Committee
1.
2.
3.
Timely notification of report due dates (at least 1 year in advance). The
SON did not receive notification that the CPR was due until 1 year after the
required submission date.
Departments/programs that are mandated to complete extensive reports to
external accrediting agencies should be allowed to submit the self-study
reports in lieu of any additional comprehensive program review documents.
Offer periodic workshops on completion of the CPR document for new and
continuing department chairs.
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