Any acceptances/rejections?

Plaidman
Thu, 05 Apr 2007 22:10:34 +0000

to rpallante,

I think Sue (5pants) has given you some good information. The “Cuts Question” does pop up every once and a while and I do wince each time I see it. Your information is a bit incorrect. We do not take in a large class and reduce it down to a specific size for graduation. I have very real questions about the validity of such a concept. I truly believe the each student we accept we accept with the intent and hope they will graduate. We know that is an unattainable goal for a lot of reasons, but that is the reason we are very careful in our selection process and do not have a wait list. We do choose a class with care and look forward to welcoming all that choose us in return. I belive you are one of those.

We do review our students progress regularly. That is important. Growth, good work and professional discipline are very necessary ingredients for a sequence of training. Each student has a meeting with all of the Performance faculty at the end of each semester commencing with May of the First Year. That evaluation and discussion (slight) session is recorded and a transcript of that process is made available to the student. At one of those sessions, if there is concern about growth in an area of training (Acting, Movement or Voice and Speech) the student is placed on Probation and enters into a mentorship relationship with the faculty of that area. The goal is for the student to use the upcoming semester to make appropriate inprovements to remove the Probationary Status. If that is not achieved, then the student would not be able to continue in the program. However, it is impossible for a student to be told not to continue without going on Probation for a semester. This is clearly outlined in the Departmental Handbook. There is no formula, there are no quotas, we try to work with each student individually. We prefer success to failure.

Perhaps I am being a romantic. However, I am absolutly convinced our faculty strive for each student’s growth and that is a real and true value of our approach to develop young artists.

I hope this is helpful.

Plaidman