Students move in for orientation week at Savannah College of Art and Design

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - It’s a record enrollment year for Savannah College of Art and Design, which will see 16,000 students returning to class this fall between their Savannah and Atlanta campuses.

It’s orientation week at the Savannah and Atlanta campuses of Savannah College of Art and Design and with a lot of parents helping their new SCAD students get settled in, some emotional goodbyes are sure to come.

“Well, you’re gonna make me cry in a second, but I’ve been good...I haven’t cried yet. Excited, because this is the best place for her,” said Alice Saucier.

The Saucier’s are helping their daughter, who’s studying interactive game art and design, move into her dorm. They shared what stood out to them about SCAD while taking a short break from pulling the move-in cart back to their car.

“Love it. And the security is amazing.”

“Oh yeah, it’s the first thing I checked out was the security. It’s awesome. There’s cameras everywhere,” said Shawn Saucier.

“There’s absolutely nothing that’s bad...it’s perfect.”

And student safety and their health, whether around town, in the classroom or in the dorm remains a top priority for school leaders.

“Student safety is very important to us at SCAD. We put that at the forefront of what we do. The majority of students, faculty and staff at SCAD are vaccinated and boosted. SCAD continues to follow CDC guidelines, ensuring that we have a safe community within SCAD, and the larger Savannah population,” said Darrell Naylor-Johnson, the vice president of SCAD Savannah.

Another top priority for the school is making sure their students have the tools they need to be at the top of their chosen profession when they graduate.

One way they’re doing that is creating even more learning opportunities this year, introducing four new schools centered around animation, film and creative technology.

SCAD is also creating another degree program, partnering with Google to focus on user experience.

“This program is unique because it’s Google, but it’s also exciting because it follows the trends of what we’ve been doing at SCAD.”

Another highlight SCAD leaders are looking forward to is the 25th anniversary of the SCAD Savannah Film Festival.

“The festival, as many people in Savannah know, brings notable people from the film industry, from all areas. From the acting side of film, to directing and producing. And so we will continue that this year in the tradition of SCAD where it will be an exciting event for the community to participate in.”

Tickets for film screenings and festival passes will be available beginning October 1 online and at the Trustees box office.

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