Design program expands to equip students for dynamic fields
By Madison Fossa · Contributing Writer
In under 15 years, Grove City College’s design program has expanded tremendously. From the addition of a design and innovation major to the hiring of a new professor, the program continues to rapidly progress.
This year, the expansion has peaked as faculty look to refine and solidify the purpose and presence of design and innovation on the college’s campus.
Design and innovation was not always the robust and thriving major that students witness today. In an interview, Nate Mucha, design professional, entrepreneur, professor and founder of Grove City College’s design program, explained the history of design and innovation at the college.
“It formed kind of organically, about 12 or 13 years ago,” he said. “We have students who are highly talented, thoughtful and creative, and I (developed) this program because I thought it would do well at Grove City.”
First a part of Fine Arts and then grouped with the Communication and Visual Arts Department, the design program was always abiding under different titles. What excited Mucha the most was the creation of the design and innovation major at the college.
“I don’t know how many other majors on campus are really cross-disciplinary like that … it leverages marketing, entrepreneurship, design (and) communication … (the new major) really cemented design as a thing that’s here to stay, versus just classes we teach,” Mucha explained.
While other institutions have “legacy (design) programs” closely tied to the fine arts and are unable to evolve or develop, Mucha characterizes Grove City College’s program as innovation focused. The college cares about where design “is moving professionally, (which is) highly connected to the idea of innovation. And for us, that’s entrepreneurship,” Mucha concluded.
Developing a program that stands apart from legacy design departments “is a design problem itself,” according to Christopher Pacione, design professional and new professor at Grove City College.
Pacione revealed that, “there’s some things (Grove City College design) want(s) to do … that you can’t do at a lot of larger schools because there is a lot of legacy there.”
Pacione does not describe himself as a visual or fine artist when he works as a designer. Rather, like Mucha, he believes that designers can be categorized as problem solvers and innovators. Their students will be able to work with a wide range of professionals, including writers, CEOs, pastors, entrepreneurs, marketers and engineers, according to Pacione.
“I think the first thing we want to do is try to reposition design as more centered,” Pacione explained from his office in the college’s new building, Smith Hall. “In fact, it’s nice to be in this building because it’s more centered in the college.”
Pacione and Mucha have a vision that surpasses training designers to work in tandem with other professionals. They hope to see their students become multidisciplinary, bringing a unique edge to their skillset.
“I think one of our dreams is to see how design can also be attached to other degrees,” Pacione explained. “So, design and ministry or ministry and design … there’s a lot of opportunity for us to reevaluate what the role of design is … but also how it might link up and support other degrees (and) minors.”
Sophomore Grace Langworthy’s reflected on the major’s expansion demonstrated how Pacione and Mucha’s vision has impacted design learning. “They’ve opened a lot more design classes, especially for freshmen. So, I’m just seeing that people are able to take more design-specific classes at once,” Langworthy said.
She explained that not only does this help design and innovation students take their classes earlier, but it also allows other students to participate in the program through design minors, clearly reflecting the vision that her professors shared with The Collegian.
An entrepreneurial focus is not the only factor that sets the college’s design apart from programs at other schools.
“How is it that (the) education you get here (is) rooted and saturated in Scripture, saturated in faith? I think that’s what we’re looking for,” Pacione clarified, “and I don’t see that existing anywhere in the world.”
Design and innovation students feel a calling to honor God in their work, which contributes to the broader mission described by Pacione.
Zack Warrick, a senior design and innovation major, explained that “(through) communication as a designer or a design studio or whatever you do … (a design major’s) main goal is to reflect the Lord and give glory to God through that.”
Warrick also shared Pacione’s passion for making the design program and experience at the college the best it can be, advising underclassmen to work diligently as they pursue excellence in the design field. It is important to be a designer who, as well as coming from a prestigious design program, brings glory to God, Pacione explained. Mucha and Pacione hope to turn Grove City College into a beacon for young Christian designers.
“When you get here, you go through a unique education, and you come out a highly capable, Christian designer,” he said. “And so that’s the work we need to do … that’s the thing I’m excited about, (and) I think Nate’s excited about; where we take this thing next.”
With the excitement and devotion of students like Langworthy and Warrick, Pacione and Mucha can work diligently to further expand and refine the college’s design program. Campus excitedly waits to see what the next 15 years of design and innovation will bring to Grove City College.
