About KCAI's Faculty & Students
Full-time & adjunct faculty
The majority of studios are taught by core faculty to provide a cohesive curricular vision. The full-time faculty's significant professional experience and excellent academic credentials provide a breadth and depth of expertise. The faculty are highly invested and make themselves available to students outside of class time. In addition, carefully chosen adjuncts (currently 1 or 2 per semester) offer professional perspectives and a bridge to the local design community.
Faculty research & publishing, academic community participation, AIGA
Engagement in research, publishing and the academic community is highly valued and encouraged, providing high-level intellectual stimulation and informing the classroom experience. Faculty maintain active design practices, hold positions on the Kansas City AIGA board and frequently present at and attend design conferences.
Studio space & faculty offices
The Graphic Design Department's dedicated building provides an inclusive, highly collaborative and creative atmosphere. Students each have their own designated space within an open studio. With the laptop initiative each student purchases their own Macintosh and Adobe Software to use throughout their three years of study. The adjacent faculty office provides a collaborative environment for curricular development and mentoring.
Program size
A maximum of two sections of 12 to 18 students in each level is the department goal to best serve students and faculty. Generous one-on-one faculty-student communication is an essential advantage that KCAI's class size offers prospective students in these economically challenging times. In addition to the increased quality in teaching, working environment and student output, two sections per year is also the maximum occupancy for the current Graphic Design facilities.
Student recruiting
KCAI seeks serious and motivated students from diverse geographic locations, both nationally and abroad, who are willing to take creative risks and are committed to becoming leaders in the graphic design profession.
Student awards and published work
Every year several student’s projects are selected for the Kansas City AIGA awards programs. Other recent honors include the Adobe Design Achievement Awards selection to final round of judging, a cover of CMYK design magazine, a 2008 AIGA Worldstudio Student scholarship winner, and the 2008 National Program Director's Prize for Undergraduate Literary Magazines from the Association of Writers & Writing Programs.
Internships, KCAI publications design
While not a requirement, summer internships are highly encouraged, with a high percentage of students experiencing at least one internship before graduation. A faculty-sponsored student design team creates promotional materials for KCAI. Recent internships include Converse (Andover), Interbrand (Moscow), Pentagram (New York), Payless Shoes, NCSU Design Tech summer research position (Raleigh), and Gravity Tank (Chicago). Students also find internship opprortunities at leading Kansas City design firms and organizations including Bernstein-Rein, Blacktop Creative, Bungalow, Design Ranch, Eisterhold Associates, Hammerpress, The Nelson-Atkins Museum, The Kansas City Star and the WWI Museum.
Graduate success
Our goal is to place future leaders into the breadth of the profession. KCAI students are employed locally and regionally at Barkley, Bernstein-Rein, Cerner, Garmin, Hallmark, VML and many other firms. Graduate school placements include MICA, University of the Arts and Pratt.