By Emer C. Walsh

Staff Writer

A teach-out process is underway for Delaware County Community College photography students following an announcement that the associate of fine arts program will close permanently in June 2027. The decision was made official earlier this semester when students received a Feb. 13 email from Terri Amlong, the Dean of Communications, Arts & Humanities. Dean Amlong declined to speak on the record regarding the program’s closure.

The news did not come as a surprise to many photography students, who already had some of their spring 2026 classes canceled on short notice. Just one week before the semester began, two required major courses were canceled due to low enrollment, according to an email notification from the division office.

Dr. Marian McGorry, Vice President of Academic Affairs, stated in an interview that the photography AFA is one of six programs to be deactivated in the first round of “viability reviews,” which examined 14 programs at the college. She disclosed that each of the college’s 100-plus programs will go through this process, and the Workforce and Economic Development division is up next for review. “We are looking at every program,” said McGorry.

These Program Viability Reports (PVRs) rely on data from a third-party company, Hanover Research, including the number of available jobs in the local area, the number of DCCC graduates of the program, and DCCC students who transfer to four-year universities. This data is used to determine if the school can afford to run a program, “because it is costly,” according to McGorry.

She further explained that Pennsylvania has a list of high-priority occupations, and that “it is strongly recommended that programs align with the high-priority occupations to prepare folks for jobs in the region,” but low enrollment is the largest factor in the decision to deactivate a program. “There might be a need in the industry for a particular job, but if you don’t have enough folks enrolled in the program, that’s a problem.”

Professor David Yox, a tenured professor and coordinator of the photography program, argued that the job market data used for the report may not be completely accurate, stating that many photographers do freelance work that might not be reported in the data.

“I don’t believe that they’re even looking at the idea that a photographer might show their work in a gallery, and that can be a viable form of employment,” he explained.

Yox has been a professor at DCCC for nearly 25 years. As the coordinator of the photography program, he is responsible for overseeing the curriculum and each required course for completion. Yox speculated that the COVID-19 pandemic affected enrollment numbers “because the darkroom had to be closed during those periods.” However, he believed that program numbers were beginning to increase again.

McGorry shared that Pennsylvania has stopped fulfilling budget requirements for the college. “We do not receive as much from the state as we did several years ago,” she said. “We do not have the funds to be as generous as we were at one point.”

DCCC’s Board of Trustees is also aiming to reduce spending. “We’ve been asked to cut our budget by 10 to 20 percent throughout the college. We were asked to do that last year, and we’ve been asked to do it again,” McGorry said. “It’s really a difficult time to be in higher [education].”

Finding substitutions for canceled courses is part of a “teach-out,” an approach that uses the college’s existing curriculum to replace program-specific courses before a major can be officially deactivated. The teach-out is meant for students who want to receive their photography degree before its deactivation in spring 2027.

“We have a list of courses,” McGorry said. “If a course was deactivated or canceled, there are courses that are recommended for the student to take related to their field.” She confirmed that course substitutions have already been listed to ensure that the college meets its accreditation requirements.

For spring 2026, Digital Photography II (ART 239), a second-level course, was recommended to be replaced by Intro to Video (ART 105), which does not require prerequisites. Students were given multiple options to substitute Medium and Large Format Photography (ART 240), which was also canceled.

One student, William Hazard, registered for Principles of Marketing (BUS 230) in order to graduate with a photography AFA in spring 2026. Hazard said the business course was still helpful for his career, and that Professor Jamie Treadwell played a role in finding this course replacement. Two other photography students, Chevy Murphy and Ruairi Devlin, will be taking English Composition II (ENG 112) in summer 2026 to meet the requirement to receive their degrees.

“Medium and Large Format Photography is the one class that feels irreplaceable. My transfer school [Drexel University] closed their photography department too, so now this is a class I’ll never get to take,” said Charlie McFlea, a photography student who changed his major to General Studies AAS to graduate in spring 2026.

“My entire life path changed,” McFlea answered when asked how the program closure affected his career aspirations. “I’m thankful to have found what really speaks to me, but I know some of my peers still feel lost and cheated,” he concluded. He has been the president of the DCCC Photo Club since 2024 and was a photographer for The Communitarian in fall 2025.

McGorry stressed the importance of communication between students and their advisors to ensure they are still receiving credit for replaced courses. Her biggest message to students is “connect with the faculty of your major. It’s immensely important.”

What shocked Yox and his students was the sudden closure of the darkroom photography lab, a space where students collaborate and work on their assignments under the supervision of faculty and student proctors. The day before spring classes started, the darkroom locks were changed, denying access for both the professor and his students. “It interrupted my class for the first three weeks of the semester quite entirely… it was very disruptive,” he stated.

McGorry commented that “[the chemicals] are dangerous and expensive, that’s why they were locked up,” and that it has since been reopened for students under supervision.

Yox discussed how the closure of the photography program will not only impact photography students but also limit students in other concentrations from exploring different subjects and trying new art forms.

“You shouldn’t be cut off from looking at other things, opening other doors,” he said.

Both Yox and his students mourn the loss of the darkroom, a place where much of their time on campus has been spent. William Hazard described its social environment as a positive one. He discussed his formative experience with Professor Dafna Steinberg in Photography II (ART 134), the second-level darkroom course. “The community that me and the other students formed while being in [Steinberg’s] class was unforgettable. It was one of the best times I’ve had here,” said Hazard.

Auriol Azzara is a fellow spring 2026 graduate of the AFA program who valued her time with Professor Steinberg in Photography II. While she is building a portfolio of digital photography, she found the analog film courses to be important to her decision to pursue photography as a career. “It’s nice to know where everything started,” said Azzara.

Murphy and Devlin reflected on their time in Photography I, when students shared supplies, experimented together, and made time to assist each other with their artwork.

“The darkroom was really a space for collaboration. We were like a family in there,” Murphy shared. When asked how the closure affected her personally, she continued, “it has actually really messed with my mental health. I love the darkroom. It is a safe space, so losing that was really difficult.” Devlin remembers the darkroom as “a second home.”

Both students held work-study positions on campus that reflected their passion for photography. Devlin was a monitor of the photography and digital labs, while Murphy was a photographer and graphic designer for The Communitarian in fall 2025. They are also leaders of the Photo Club.

After talking about her experience as a photographer, Murphy concluded: “I wouldn’t be doing any of that if I did not take a photo class here. I discovered [my] love and passion for the art in that darkroom that is being taken away from me.”

William Hazard believes future students will be missing out without learning the traditional methods of darkroom film development. As a photographer, Hazard says that the analog film courses, Photography I and II, taught him to slow down and take his time, which improved his digital photography work. “Instead of taking so many pictures… I had to take the right picture in the right moment.”

Emma Boohar is a photography AFA student who will graduate in spring 2027, the final semester before the program’s official closure. “A lot of the classes I had left were hands-on photography courses that would’ve helped me expand my skill set,” she explained. “I was so excited to have that hands-on experience, and now I have to replace those classes with things that I am not as interested in,” Boohar said.

The news of future PVRs raises concerns for the arts at DCCC. “It’s troublesome in many ways,” said Yox. “Art has always been a part of culture, and we have to be careful about that, that it’s a necessary thing on campus.” He warned that there is a possibility that closing the program could result in at least one faculty member losing their position at DCCC.

“Film photography is magic. It’s different from digital. We’re losing something that can’t be replaced,” stated adjunct professor of digital photography and video, Robert Szatmari, as he expressed his worries for the future of professional artists. “The more impersonal image-making gets, the more important the artist becomes. The artist is the one true way of expressing individuality,” he finished.

As the spring semester approached its final weeks, Yox and a committee of faculty were dedicated to writing four new courses for a digital photography certificate, which is expected to require 30 credits for completion. The new curriculum includes a second-level video course, a smartphone photography course, a lighting course for photos and videos, as well as a photography business and ethics course as a final capstone. McGorry stated that Hanover Research’s data will also be used to form these new courses.

The new curriculum will also contain preexisting courses like Digital Imaging (ART 211) and History of Photography (ART 116). As a coordinator, Yox plans to finish writing the course outcomes for the certificate before fall 2026. The new program and its courses will go through multiple stages of review through the College Advising System, which is made up of several faculty committees. It will land on McGorry’s desk before moving up through the president’s cabinet, then to the Board of Trustees for finalization.

There is one section of the first required major course for the AFA, Photography I (ART 133), on the schedule for fall 2026.

Regarding the future of the arts at DCCC, Vice President McGorry is not worried. “At this time, the art courses are running with strong enrollment,” she said. “[Graphic design] is on the high priority list of occupations needed in the area.” Both of these factors are good signs of a viable program.

“I don’t want the art students to worry,” she expressed.