Response Letter Signed

Dear [student]:

I have conferred extensively with Theatre Program Chair Brian Kulick and my administrative team to prepare our response to the concerns and requests of First-Year MFA Theatre students as outlined in your email of November 30, 2020. Professor Kulick, in turn, spoke with each Concentration Head as well as with the production staff.

In regard to the Spring semester, the Theatre program will continue to offer remote and hybrid learning opportunities as determined by each Concentration Head. Due to safety concerns, only a few project and thesis level productions will be scheduled to occur on campus this spring. While a few students have elected to produce these remotely, most second and third year productions will be deferred and mounted on-campus in the Summer and Fall of 2021. We can also confirm that the First-Year Collaboration class will occur remotely for safety concerns; staff will ensure that all students have access to the necessary equipment to prepare and participate virtually.

While a detailed overview of each Concentration’s plan for core courses that covers all possible eventualities for instructional format (remote, hybrid or in-person) can only be provided given the current situation on a semester-by-semester basis, we can respond to many of the students’ overarching concerns. We can assure you that Concentration Heads are working together to develop opportunities to further maximize cross-concentration interaction, both in terms of future courses and the array of activities and projects in the second year and subsequently, and welcome your input into these discussions.

It is the faculty’s collective assessment that First-Year Students are still very much on track to fulfill each Concentration’s requirements. However, in recognition of the potential impact of deferred productions, onsite collaborations, internships, and experiential education into the second or third year of study, we have decided to extend to all First-Year students who matriculated in the Fall of 2020, regardless of Concentration, the option to request a fourth year of study following their Research Arts year. While University-wide fees and health insurance requirements cannot be waived, School of the Arts tuition will be waived for MFA Theatre students who register for a fourth year, in Thesis Completion status, in 2023-24; please refer to the attached information regarding Thesis Completion registration for further details. However, because the Thesis Completion option may not work for all students, each Concentration Head will also ensure that all students are provided the opportunity to fulfill their degree requirements in six semesters.

In particular regard to the loss of the experiential aspects of the program for First-Year stage managers, the Program is committed to finding time in the second and third year to circle back to these opportunities. This, of course, will depend on when New York professional theatres reopen and on the safety policies that these theatres will enforce for visitors, students, and interns. To compensate for the loss of viewing New York professional theatre productions in 2020 and 2021, the Theatre Program will extend its complimentary ticket program to all fourth-year students and to all Theatre alumni in the classes of 2021, 2022, and 2023.

In order to respond knowledgeably to the frustration students expressed regarding the inability to obtain federal work study positions, I asked my administrative team to look into the availability of these positions. There are currently 119 active listings for positions University- wide for which SOA students would be eligible to apply; of these 85 are remote, 11 are hybrid and 23 are on-campus. Sixty of the 119 positions have been listed since November 1st.

Staff also reached out to the University’s work study office to see if the concerns expressed by First-Year MFA Theatre students are shared by other students across the University. The work study office has not received complaints from other students regarding the availability of jobs, nor have they had inquiries from SOA students requesting assistance and/or concerns about the availability of positions.

Currently, two First-Year students, out of the nineteen who were awarded federal work study allocations, are employed and submitting time sheets, and only two others have applied for any open positions since the beginning of the year. Given this, I have asked my team to reach out to the seventeen students who are not working, and to encourage them to apply for available positions and check for newly listed positions on a regular basis. In addition, it is likely that there will be opportunities to work as student casuals over the summer to support deferred on-campus Theatre productions; Theatre staff will ensure students are informed of these opportunities.

The University and the School have felt the financial impact of COVID-19 across every aspect of what we do, and we are estimating even deeper financial challenges ahead as we make more significant investments to ensure safety, enhanced technology, curricular innovations, emergency relief funding, and opportunities for extended study without assessing additional tuition. Unfortunately, the School is not in a position to offer students a tuition discount, nor do we have the liberty to do so.

The International Services Charge of $110 is charged each term to international students enrolled at Columbia University and supports the University's services to international students. The International Students and Scholars Office (ISSO) has continued to support students through the pandemic, and this fee will not be waived. For information on the services they provide, please visit https://isso.columbia.edu/content/our-services.

In conclusion, we want to thank you and your colleagues for your thoughtfulness, and care for each other.

Sincerely,

Carol Becker
Professor of the Arts
Dean of Columbia University, School of the Arts