<p>When looking at the bios of professors and the different colleges, what should a person look for?</p>
<p>Ideally, the faculty member’s bio should indicate that he or she has been involved in professional theatre work over the years (acting, directing, designing, dramaturgy, choreography, etc) in addition to teaching. </p>
<p>Somebody can be a good teacher without very many connections to the professional world, but having teachers with those connections is a tremendous plus for students.</p>
<p>Also look at what degrees the individual has, and from where.</p>
<p>In regards to certain techniques, if a bio says the Professor “specializes” in a technique, you may want to see if there is an option to be certified in that technique. I have seen bios that use the word specialize and I know that a certification actually indicates a higher level of expertise. With some techniques you can only be certified by the creator of the technique or their protege.</p>
<p>If a BFA program had professors that on paper don’t have as extensive a resume as the professors at a
BA program would you still go with the BFA?</p>
<p>My son extensively studied the faculty of each program, he reached out to the deans when he had questions and he wanted to be in a program where the faculty was still currently relevant. He looked up their work to see if he could relate to their styles.</p>
<p>Bisouu, it depends so much on the program. Some BA programs are very strong, with excellent faculty. Some BFA programs are startlingly weak. You have to weigh a number of factors.</p>
<p>I recently looked at faculty members for a BA theatre program. The department head had a long bio that seemed impressive at first glance, but closer examination revealed that he had a PhD in literature and had apparently never studied theatre. In addition, he apparently taught advanced Shakepearean acting using a “psychological” approach that he seemed to have developed on his own. Kind of made me wonder…</p>
<p>NJ you have been beyond helpful! I am rethinking things completely and I will bring this info to my D’s attention. She has been concentrating so hard on other areas of college admissions that it seems we have missed a very important piece.</p>
<p>Great question. I think NJTM answered it very well. My D’s program JUST last year started offering a BFA acting option, but only acting - and she had switched to design so she’ll get a BA anyway as they don’t have a BFA for design at this point. But it’s one of those VERY strong BA programs in a school with a reputation for excellent productions, and the professors are all you would want - excellent degrees, and a long history of professional work outside of academia, and good contacts. I was beyond thrilled when they brought in a costumer design professor last year who went to Carnegie Mellon and Yale and who has strong connections with Suny Purchase (which I think are probably among the very tippy top best places in the country for design) and who has an impressive work history with everything from big ballet companies to Broadway and good regional shows. Since my D is definitely looking at grad school at some point, and since this professor gave her a personal introduction to a professor running one of these programs at USITT this year, which thrilled her to death, I think that these connections are important to look at.</p>
<p>But in yet another of the list of ironic things that happened in our school choice journey, not only was this professor not even there yet when we chose it (and she was looking at MT at that time anyway) but when she made the choice, they had a very well known MT professor there at the school who, right as she started her freshman year, made a surprise move and left that school and went to a different school! Had we picked that school ONLY on the strength of that professor it would have been pretty damn upsetting. And it did derail the new MT program. The few who did start out the year under an MT designation are being allowed to keep it and knowing the school they will do what they can but I wouldn’t be happy with that if she’d stayed in MT. We probably would have transfered her. They decided to start a BFA for acting program option instead (and I have no idea what the decision was based on for sure, but I suspect it’s hard to suddenly recruit a good MT professor up to the standards they wanted) and I have a feeling they won’t have the problems they did with the MT in getting it to take root. (In the meanwhile, the design and tech bunch just keep plugging along being excellent and not getting a lot of attention from anyone except other design and tech people, lol. But we know this!)</p>
<p>So you do have to look at the choice keeping in mind that some of these factors can suddenly change, and if one does, is the rest of the school still enough of a win for you that you won’t need to consider having to transfer.</p>
<p>Perhaps the lesson in our experience to be gained is that although researching all this stuff is still mandatory and important, there is absolutely nothing in life that comes with any guarantee and the best way to make God laugh is to make plans. That doesn’t mean not to make plans…but I guess, to learn how to be flexible and deal with the reality that <em>stuff</em> happens, and you can’t let changes which are outside of your control, derail your process…you have to roll with the punches. I mean, what other choice is there? lol!</p>
<p>sdf - That is one of the best posts ever! I hope all college searchers - and incoming freshmen - will read it. You are so right about faculty, and even programs. Things change, and there is no way of knowing how things will be for the next 4 years. I believe every entering college student should keep in mind that they might transfer, and that they should transfer. Huge numbers of people do it. Or that they may end up with a different major, different favorite profs, different interests, by the time they graduate. Or 10 years down the road. Or 30. This is how life is.</p>
<p>It is useful to look at profs when evaluating schools. It gives you an idea of what the program might be like. But going to a school because of a certain prof is like going to college as a recruited athlete in order to work with a certain coach. If that coach leaves during your first year - which I have personal experience seeing happen - you had better have a lot of other things that you like about the school. So much is fluid, and you have to be prepared for that. </p>
<p>On the other hand, you should be sure that the things that aren’t fluid - the location, size, etc. of the school - are aspects that you are fundamentally OK with. No matter how much you wish they would change, they’re not going to. But there are always students who claimed they never wanted to be at a small school in the middle of nowhere who end up loving colleges exactly like that.</p>
<p>bisouu, it’s difficult to assess the importance of faculty bios without reading a lot of them. My advice would be to go to the website of one of the larger programs, e.g., Tisch and spend some time reading. The faculty is large and varied and it will give you an idea of the different experience/degrees/awards, etc. that faculty can, and should, have. </p>
<p>A few things you may want to look for would be what degrees they’ve earned, and from where, what courses they teach, if they are published, both their past and current participation in the theatre world and where; are they NEA recipients, Tony or Drama Desk nominees/winners; have they received prestigious fellowships or grants; if relevant, what performance experience they have, what shows, what roles, and where. Always keeping in mind that it is a rarity that a bio includes everything about an individual. </p>
<p>So, here is a link to Tisch’s faculty page:</p>
<p>[Faculty:</a> Tisch School of the Arts at NYU](<a href=“http://drama.tisch.nyu.edu/page/faculty.html]Faculty:”>http://drama.tisch.nyu.edu/page/faculty.html)</p>
<p>and, just to give you an idea of how different these faculty members can be, here are links to three faculty members whom I know but who have very different experiences and talents. For interest’s sake. :)</p>
<p>[Bradley:</a> Tisch School of the Arts at NYU](<a href=“http://drama.tisch.nyu.edu/object/ebradley.html]Bradley:”>http://drama.tisch.nyu.edu/object/ebradley.html)</p>
<p>[McElroy:</a> Tisch School of the Arts at NYU](<a href=“http://drama.tisch.nyu.edu/object/mcelroym.html]McElroy:”>http://drama.tisch.nyu.edu/object/mcelroym.html)</p>
<p>[Ross:</a> Tisch School of the Arts at NYU](<a href=“http://drama.tisch.nyu.edu/object/RossT.html]Ross:”>http://drama.tisch.nyu.edu/object/RossT.html)</p>
<p>Researching faculty is just one small piece of the puzzle, probably more important at a smaller program than at one with a large faculty, and always with the caveat that people do change jobs.</p>
<p>Thanks all for your input…I realize that education is fluid…I am an educator myself and variables play into every aspect of the college selection process. I was inquiring more as a faculty as a whole rather than looking at one professor’s bio. I have learned a lot and have read every school’s faculty bio page that my D is interested in. She won’t make the decision solely on that one piece, but it has helped to narrow the field a bit.</p>
<p>A funny aside…one of the colleges my D was considering was on the news this evening. One of their 9 theater professors was just fired…Times are a changing :)</p>
<p>Great thread. Keep your eyes and ears open on department tours, and if your guide is an upperclass student, ask questions. They generally “keep it real” about the program and professors, even though they are doing a work study job. Our experience was that they won’t get negative (or they wouldn’t have the job), but they will answer questions in a matter of fact way.</p>
<p>I couldn’t agree more CollegeDad, it was on our tour that the student guide told us that the MFA students were the ones who were cast in most of the productions at one of the schools my D was considering and that the underclassmen were not cast very often. She changed her mind about this school because of that.</p>