Theatre - Letter to All Students

Dear Students,

First and foremost, I hope this letter finds you all well.  As you know, we’ve been continuing to work out the details of how to move forward with your training during this COVID-19 crisis.  We recognize the particular issues this poses to the Theatre Program are particularly challenging.  This is perhaps even more true for the Acting Concentration which, as I have mentioned before, is undergoing the most extensive rethinking.  I will discuss these structural changes to the Acting Concentration toward the end of this letter so that everyone understands the ramifications of these changes in relationship to their own Concentrations’ work.  Much of what follows has been covered in the various Zoom meetings that have transpired over the past several weeks, but we thought it would be helpful to put the broad strokes of all these in-depth conversations into one document.  

One of the recurrent and essential themes that has come up in all our recent conversations with students, faculty, and staff is the issue of safety.  We want to reiterate that safety remains our number one priority.  Everything that has been outlined in our plan for next year is predicated on our students, faculty, and staff feeling that the proper safety protocols are in place.  Many of these protocols are still being hammered out and I will share them with you all as soon as they are finalized.  I want to thank everyone for their input in this area, your questions, concerns, and recommendations have been instrumental in how we are moving forward.  Should a student, at any point, feel that circumstances are such that they do not feel safe to participate in-person, they can explore other options for fulfilling their coursework or service position requirements in consultation with their Concentration Head. Please keep this in mind, as you make your way through the body of this document.

Fall classes will resume on September 8th via Zoom and follow the University’s Academic Calendar 2020-21.  All courses will remain accessible online for the Fall semester and select courses will transition into a low density on-campus hybrid model while remaining accessible via Zoom. Whether one wants to take advantage of these in-person opportunities will be up to you.

By the second semester, which begins on January 11th, we expect there will be more opportunities to return to campus for in-person instruction and productions, while maintaining the University’s strict safety guidelines. With this as a basic framework, let’s walk through the specific issues on a class by class basis, beginning with:

THE CLASS OF 2020

We have an outstanding Playwright’s Festival and two Directors’ Thesis which were interrupted by the COVID-19 crisis.  These, as we have said, will be completed in 2020/2021. For those of you who graduated in May, or who wish to graduate in October, you will be invited to participate in these staged productions as alumni. If you did not graduate in May, you may participate by registering for Thesis Completion. 

Thesis Completion is a special status created for students whose thesis level productions were interrupted or delayed due to COVID-19; it grants students full-time status with access to thesis advisement and production resources. The details of Thesis Completion registration, provided by the Dean’s Office, are as follows:

• Tuition and the thesis fee will be waived. University-wide fees cannot be waived. 

• As with any other registration, to be eligible to register for Thesis Completion, a student cannot have a balance of over $999.99, as such balances result in the placement of a registration hold by the University’s Office of Student Financial Services.

• Students must be registered continuously until graduation (students who have withdrawn from the program are not eligible to re-enroll for Thesis Completion status).

• The University requirement to maintain health insurance cannot be waived. Students who wish to request a waiver from being enrolled in health insurance through the University must do so through Columbia Health. Waivers require proof of comparable insurance.

• With full-time status, US citizens and permanent residents will be eligible for federal loans

• Students will not be eligible for service or instructional (Teaching Assistant or Teaching Fellow) positions. 

• Students will remain eligible to apply for casual positions at the University as usual.

THE CLASS OF 2021

There are a series of 2nd year projects that were interrupted by the COVID-19 crisis.  These projects include left over productions of Playwright’s work, Shakespeare Projects, and Material Projects for Directors.  These have been slated for the spring/summer of 2021. Some students have expressed the need to forgo these requirements in order to concentrate solely on their third-year thesis requirements. We want to be sensitive to the needs of each specific student and so these decisions will be made on a case by case basis by your Concentration Head in consultation with me as needed. 

If required production related projects are further postponed due to COVID-19 production and safety restrictions, they will be moved to the next available open slot.  Current openings in our production schedule begin in the late summer of 2021 and can extend into the fall and spring of 2021/22 if need be.  If such interruptions occur and projects are postponed into the following academic year, 3rd year students will be granted Thesis Completion status for the semester or year.

THE CLASS OF 2022 & 2023

Theatre Program classes will begin on Zoom in September for both first year and rising 2nd year students. The School of the Arts is planning to offer select hybrid courses at the start of the semester in order to serve students who wish to take these as electives, as well as for international students whose visas require in-person participation. Hybrid courses are those that are accessible via Zoom and in-person, while adhering to low density requirements. Theatre faculty who wish to offer a hybrid course may do so as safety, scheduling and space allow. 

All in-person course related presentations and productions are planned to begin in January at the start of the spring semester following the health and safety guidelines of the University and the School of the Arts.  If this work is interrupted due to COVID-19, these presentations would need to be postponed and scheduled either for the late summer or Fall of 2021. 

THE ACTING CONCENTRATION

Given the level of intense day-to-day intimate proximity that is involved in all aspects of actor training, it has been decided by both the Acting faculty and their students that they must drastically rethink the nature and phasing of their training.  This has resulted in the following plan:

The Acting Class of 2020 will be participating in a virtual Alumni Actor’s Showcase this fall; the Class of 2021 will be moving the production elements of their Research Arts year to 2021/22; the Class of 2022 will be working with their faculty via Zoom in 2020/21, resuming the traditional second year of training in 2021/22, and completing their thesis related production work in 2022/23.  The incoming class of 2023 is being deferred until the 2021/22 academic year. This is, in a nutshell, what we are doing with the Acting Concentration.

IN CONCLUSION

Again, I would like to thank you all for your input into these plans, which has been invaluable.  I would also like to acknowledge how much we all appreciate your grace and patience as we worked out the broad strokes of this plan. Please direct whatever questions you might have regarding the curriculum and production related work to your Concentration Head or me. Questions regarding Research Arts or Thesis Completion registration, fees, or status should be directed to the Office of Student Affairs at [email protected].

I hope you will be able to use these remaining weeks of the summer to rest and prepare yourself for the work ahead.  I look forward to seeing you all both on Zoom and eventually back in the rehearsal room and on the stage where you all belong.

Sending you my very best,

Brian