Assessment Details
Academic Year: 2020-2021 Level: Undergraduate
Campus Department: Morrissey College of Arts & Sciences [UG and Grad]
Program Type: Major [UG] / Program [Grad]
Program Name: Theatre BA (Link)
Description of Data Collection:
The faculty and staff of the Theatre Department evaluate whether learning outcomes are being achieved by the following means:
1) Empirical observation of student theatre artists at work on Theatre Department productions.
2) Use of an assessment rubric that measures student proficiency regarding specific skills and tasks.
3) An exit interview and/or survey of graduating Theatre majors in May conducted by the faculty members
4) The Theatre Department maintains a “Council of Majors & Minors”, a group of selected students who provide feedback and suggestions to the Chair. Meetings are held monthly through the academic year. The council is chosen through an application process and then selected by the Chair and the current council. The council must be comprised of representatives from the sophomore to the senior class and all areas of theatrical production.
Theatre Department productions are assessed on a continuing basis as they happen over the course of the academic year. The faculty assessment meeting is held in May sometime before graduation.
Review Process:
The full-time faculty and staff as a whole serve as the departmental assessment committee. Currently this includes 4 tenured faculty, 4 professors of the practice, and 3 staff members, two of these staff have teaching duties as well. A department meeting is set in May to examine the surveys, notes from the interviews, and faculty evaluations of students. The meeting will be held in May before graduation to interpret assessment data and consider programmatic changes.
Resulting Program Changes:
1. Our Monan Professor nominee was approved for next year. Summer L Williams, an expert ac director and educator with many high-profile awards, will teach two courses and workshops. There will be an increased focus on women and POC in theatre. Ms. Williams works regulary with arts organizations to help the understand how to be anti-racist.
2. We continue our mentorship program to connect working theatre alumni with students. Mentorship pairings continue to be added and they seem to be very successful overall.
3. We are looking into the possibility of creating an interdisciplinary minor on Theater and Health. This might include drama therapy as well as using theater methods as teaching tools for health procedures. There are many more applications for this area for us to look into.
4. We plan to continue with our professional development workshops to augment the theatre education for skills in safety, performance, technical and design which are very popular.
5. We plan to continue bringing in theater professionals to discuss the industry and how to start their careers in collaboration with the Career Center.
Date of Most Recent Program Review:
1. Our Monan Professor nominee was approved for next year. Summer L Williams, an expert ac director and educator with many high-profile awards, will teach two courses and workshops. There will be an increased focus on women and POC in theatre. Ms. Williams works regulary with arts organizations to help the understand how to be anti-racist.
2. We continue our mentorship program to connect working theatre alumni with students. Mentorship pairings continue to be added and they seem to be very successful overall.
3. We are looking into the possibility of creating an interdisciplinary minor on Theater and Health. This might include drama therapy as well as using theater methods as teaching tools for health procedures. There are many more applications for this area for us to look into.
4. We plan to continue with our professional development workshops to augment the theatre education for skills in safety, performance, technical and design which are very popular.
5. We plan to continue bringing in theater professionals to discuss the industry and how to start their careers in collaboration with the Career Center.
Attachments (if available)