sweetclyde

In case anyone's curious, the University of Arizona released their cut letters yesterday, and 11 people were cut from the Sophomore class (leaving their current graduating class at 10 people). I don't know the exact number from the Freshmen, but I believe it was at nearly as many.

Just another FYI and word of warning about a program that, now by nearly any measurement, is irresponsible with its power over kids' lives.

holly06

Unbelievable. I was so hoping that someone in administration would gain some control over the University of Arizona's theatre department.

Thanks, sweetclyde for sharing these horrifying numbers.

hushinfazen

wow! I'm speechless....What happens to all those kids?

holly06

hushinfazen- It is so sad what is happening at Arizona. The letters go out too late to audition for the next school year. As to what happens to all those kids, I can only speak about my own D. who was able to recover and reaudition with positive results. Of course, the year (two years for the sophomores who are cut) of theatre credits most often will not transfer. It can be financially crushing.

My heart breaks for those students. I hope they know that there are schools out there that actually nurture and help young aspiring performers grow and develop.

What a sad and pathetic practice. Please do not allow your child to audition there.

nfgguy0220

There were 11 acting majors and 11 musical theatre majors in the freshman class.

3 MT's were cut. Leaving with this class with 8 original MT majors in the 2011 class.

4 acting majors were cut, and 2 chose to leave the program and one was switched to the MT program. Leaving this class with 4 original acting majors in the 2011 class.

The remaining acting/musical theatre majors will undergo another audition process at the end of their sophomore year.

AZMT

That's why they do encourage people to apply to different programs even if students are already part of the Arizona program. Additionally, they have "exit interviews" for every student as you "exit" or complete the fall semester to give input and guidance on how they feel each individual is progressing in the program.

Often some clues are given during this exit interview- and very rarely are people cut for "no reason." Yes- cuts are harsh- but ultimately, if you cannot face rejection in an educational setting, will you be able to face it in the highly competitive real world? I'm not defending the process - I know it's harsh- but simply trying to add another view point. Also, those who are cut can still graduate from Arizona with a B.A. in theatre which their B.F.A. credits do count towards so all is not completely lost.

NotMamaRose

I am pretty sure that those who are hardworking and who attend class and do what they are supposed to but are still cut feel that all *is* completely lost.
Also, and forgive me for being blunt, but one would hope that, in an exit interview, the faculty would do more than give "some clues" as to why a person was cut: they should tell that person directly.
In addition, there is a vast difference between facing rejection in the real world (going to an audition and not being cast) and paying tens of thousands of dollars for an education and suddenly finding oneself out of a program. I am puzzled why people on this board continue to use that analogy. It doesn't work/is not apt/is meaningless. Not being cast in an audition and losing an ongoing educational relationship are not in any way commensurate. I am puzzled why the folks here defending Arizona continue to insist they are!
To me the big question here is: what does U of Arizona offer in its MT BFA that is so wonderful and amazing (and that is not offered at other schools that doesn't cut) that makes it worth a student taking the chance? I wish someone would answer that question. I think the answer goes to the heart of the matter.
I also would love to have the Arizona faculty/administration answer defend the system by telling all of us here how it benefits the STUDENTS. It's clear how it benefits the program. But a college/university is supposed to be about education and the students.
Lastly, the fact that so many kids are cut makes me wonder what Arizona is doing wrong in their audition process. In other words, why is the faculty there so often wrong about the students they choose?

MichaelNKat

NMR, you are exactly on point about the vast difference between audition rejections in the work world and the severance of an educational relationship in which a student has invested 10's of 1000's of dollars. If one reads all of the posts on this issue carefully, what becomes clear is that the problem is not some deficiency in the school's audition process but rather an operational philosophy that gives priority to the program's institutional interests over the educational interests of the students. There is no other rational explanation that reconciles the sheer volume of cuts, the fact that students who are earning very respectable grades in their performance classes are cut and the response offered by the faculty who have posted that since the showcases garner such accolades and commendations by casting directors and agents that the school must be doing something right.

There in lies the rub. While no one is contending that the school does not offer high quality training and education, every thing posted points to the inescapable conclusion that how the program is presented and received by those professionals who attend the showcases, how many students can be placed with agents, is more important than the students themselves. So if a new student comes along who is perceived to be more "marketable" than an incumbent, as far as the school is concerned, there is nothing wrong with cutting the incumbent to make room.

There is nothing wrong with a program having demanding standards for a student to remain as long as the standards are clearly defined, articulable, published and fairly applied. That's why schools that have minimum grade requirements in the major classes, mandated minimum GPA's, regular periodic juries where students get feed back on where they stand and have opportunities to take corrective action, provide a fair and effective way of maintaining quality within the program while still serving the educational mission that a school should have. That's not what appears to be going on here. Instead, students who have expended a mini fortune and committed their educational career to a school, who all along have been led to believe they are doing fine by their grades and daily classroom performance, suddenly find themselves knocked out and replaced by someone who is deemed to be more marketable based on a short audition. In other venues, that would be tantamount to consumer fraud.

NotMamaRose

Amen, Michael!

sweetclyde

Very good points, NotMamaRose and MichaelNKAT.

AZMT, I think you're missing several points. First of all, if I may be blunt, the BA program at the University of Arizona is a joke that has nothing to offer anyone interested in performing. It offers two beginning level acting classes (that anyone in the BFA will have already taken), no musical classes and no opportunity to participate in mainstage productions or musicals of any kind. The classes offered amount to surveys of scenic, costume and lighting design plus theatre histories. So please do not tell someone who's cut that "all is not lost" because they have the opportunity to take courses towards a BA.

Secondly, the major problem as I see it is not the results of this years auditions. The faculty has established an ongoing pattern of admitting people whom they obviously do not think have the requisite talent to graduate from the program, all in order to fill ensemble roles in their productions. Not only is it irresponsible to toy with the lives of kids in this way, it's downright immoral. There is SUCH a lack of accountability on the part of the majority of the faculty that it boggles the mind. Do these professors really want to teach and help kids, or are they there because of a steady paycheck and a chance for power?

Perhaps some people who were dropped from the program deserve it, but when (every year) those same students who were cut move onto higher profile programs (Carnegie Mellon, BoCo and UArts being three recent examples) or even directly to professional jobs, doesn't that beg the question of what exactly they lacked in talent or motivation at the UA that they immediately regained upon being cut?

There are certainly fantastic graduates and students the University of Arizona, and many of them are my friends. And if you want to judge the program by those select results (most of whom don't credit the faculty with too much of their development, btw), then by all means do so. However, if you look at the overall picture of how the students are treated you get a much harsher picture of the program.

sweetclyde

As an additional note, the BFA Musical Theatre program has no director next year because the current one is retiring, the school was not able to hire a replacement, and they don't have the funding to continue the search until after the next school year.

Just FYI.