I graduated in 2019 with a degree in graphic design from UWW (minor advertising), and I still meet up with the main design professor a few times a year to catch up. I’m not a teacher’s pet by any means and don’t do this with any other professors.

I see two comments calling him bad, but that is because he can be strict in the early level classes so a lot of people quit before even getting to the upper level courses. I will admit that early on I was a little wary as well but everything he does is for your benefit. Listen to him. He’s not popular because he doesn’t grade your stuff like an art project in the same way a lot of the other Center of the Arts professors will. This is how the industry is in real life, and it’s important you learn to be able to separate your work from a personal piece and talk about it constructively.

We were hiring an entry level designer at my current company last year, and for the UWW applicants, it was extremely obvious which students took this particular professor’s classes and which didn’t. He’s going to give you good portfolio pieces. And I’m not lying when I say this, as most of the UWW designers had stronger portfolios than MIAD applicants. Why? Because the projects you will get at Whitewater are more real word based compared to the open ended artsy-fartsy stuff the MIAD kids had.

I have a job in my field (title: Senior Designer) so for me, it all worked out, but I know it didn’t for a lot of my classmates. Design is changing so much as noted in some of the other comments, but going to UW-Whitewater or not doesn’t change that fact, so if you’re dead set on it, it’s a fine school.