TAD Administrative News on November 23, 2010

Dear Theatre Arts and Dance Faculty and Staff,

I hope this note finds you well. Please take a moment to read this email. Contact me with your questions or concerns.

Topics covered below:

• Welcome Arfasse!


• TAD Transitionary Producer's Advisory Group


• Rarig space scheduling procedures are changing


• Thanksgiving hours


• Meet your colleague Bill Healey


• All TAD Faculty and Staff Meeting Minutes


• Winter closure


• Mark your calendar

Welcome Arfasse!
I am happy to announce the Dance Program has officially hired Arfasse Gemeda as the Dance Program Office Specialist. Arfasse has been working in the dance program temporarily since last spring but now she is official. Among many other talents, Arfasse brings University experience and community organizing expertise to the position and in a few short months has already proven to be an invaluable asset to our Department. Welcome Arfasse!

TAD Transitionary Producer's Advisory Group
Dear Faculty, PAs, Staff and Students of the DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE ARTS AND DANCE:
It is with great pleasure that I announce TAD Leadership's approval of the Transitionary Producer's Advisory Group. Below, you can read the proposal as presented and approved.
This email is a call for nominations for candidates to fill the following positions on the Group:

1. Three (3) faculty/PA members from the theatre arts discipline. These individuals need not specifically represent a degree program affiliation (i.e.: there in not a quota from BFA, BA, MA/PhD. Or MFA Design.
2. Two (2) faculty/PA members from the dance discipline.
3. Five (5) student representatives. These students will each be programmatic representatives: one representative from each of the BFA Theatre, BA Theatre, MFA Theatre, MA/PhD and Dance programs.
4. Additional members of the advisory group are the Producing Director and, in an ex officio capacity, the department chair.

Faculty members may be nominated by other faculty members or may self-identify their desire to serve on the advisory group. Students may be nominated by faculty members, other students or self-nominate to serve on the advisory group. PLEASE SEND YOUR NOMINATIONS TO ME AT tcproehl@umn.edu. The deadline for all nominations is DECEMBER 1, 2010 (NO EXCEPTIONS!) The slate of potential group members will be reviewed by the TAD Leadership Group on December 17, 2010. FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE READ THE PROPOSAL HERE: https://docs.google.com/a/umn.edu/document/d/1EIZKG0Z5ghpBfK1Bh3mdfLaJO3OMEUrcV5Ang0hHLHM/edit?hl=en&authkey=CP6N3dID. Thank you for your interest and support of this plan. Let the nominating begin!!!! Best, Tom

Rarig space scheduling procedures are changing
Please be aware the procedures for scheduling space in Rarig Center are changing starting in Spring Semester. Ginni Arons, theatre course scheduler extraordinaire, will be taking over all Rarig Center scheduling, continuing her role as course scheduler and incorporating other room scheduling using the R25 Web Viewer system. This system will remain, though processes are certain to change - for example, the process by which you communicate last-minute space needs, or changes to existing space requests, etc. These details are still being finalized and will be communicated with you before the transition is final in January. Watch for more information!

Thanksgiving hours
Thursday November 25 and Friday November 26 are University holidays. Building hours are as follows:
Rarig Center: CLOSED Thursday November 25 through Sunday November 28, re-open Monday November 29 at 7 AM
Barker Center: CLOSED Thursday November 25 through Saturday November 27, re-open Sunday November 28 12 PM - 7 PM
Note: those who have card access may enter the buildings during closed hours as usual.

Meet your colleague Bill Healey
Wm. P. Healey (Lighting Supervisor): Bill is a recent addition to the Design/ Tech
program at the University of Minnesota. He has worked widely throughout the
Twin Cities as a lighting designer, production manager, production electrician,
and equity stage manager for the past 23 years, and is a proud member of IATSE,
Local 13. So, what has Bill learned about life in the world of Hire...I mean, Higher Education? Well, the first thing he has learned is that pedagogy has nothing to do with feet! He has also learned that this new position of Lighting Supervisor is more technological archaeology than Tier 1 research and education, but that's why he is here. He loves the challenge. Married, white male. Was once in his 30's. Addicted to the creative process. Fiercely enjoys family time, fur kids, moped-ing, travel, and Irish Whiskey. Looking for open and honest dialogue regarding TA&D vision / direction.

All TAD Faculty and Staff Meeting Minutes
Friday November 19, 2010, 8:15 - 9:15 AM, Room 1-105 Hanson Hall
Present: Arons, Bergeron, Berstein, Channer, Crary, Dilliard, Flink, Gemeda, Germain, Grotting, Gwinup, Harris, Healey, Jenneman, Johnson, Kinney, Kobialka, Larasati, LeFebvre, Pearson, Pettigrew, Proehl, Roach, Seifert, Smith, Sommers, Taylor, Thompson, Willer

1. Ivonne Barriga Dissertation Project. Michal Kobialka presents. This is a vote for graduate faculty. Ivonne is a global studies fellowship recipient, working in Peru. The topic is Performing Indigeneity. See the abstract sent over email earlier this week. Kobialka states the work is very innovative. Margaret Werry is the dissertation advisor. Moved by Kobialka. The motion passes.
2. Course proposal on behalf of Sonja Kuftinec. Presented by Martin Gwinup. TH 5183 Critical Literacy, Storytelling, and Creative Drama. This is a course taught in the summer. It has been offered in previous years as a topics course. The students work with K-12 students in workshops. The course is cross-listed with Cultural Studies Comparative Literature (CSCL) and is an elective. Bill Healey has personal experience with the course and states it is very effective and amazing. Kobialka suggests the course be consistently funded. Pearson moves, Kobialka seconds. Motion passes.
3. Constitution. Jessica Crary explains a proposal to remove the word "continuous" from the definition of Faculty Council P&A members that appears in the department constitution. This change makes it "legal" for P&A employees with an appointment 75% or above to vote, which has already been the practice. This change formalizes the practice. Moved by Gwinup. Second by Kobialka. Motion passes.
4. Drew Gordon and Alice Flink Memorial Scholarship for Dance. Michelle Kinney announces a new scholarship in honor of former Dance Musician in Residence Drew Gordon who passed away in 2006 and Alice Flink, Carl Flink's mother, who passed away this summer.
5. Dean Jim Parente. Last year the Dean did not visit departments. This year he wants to share what is changing and also to hear from people first hand. The Legislature has changed and will make things more difficult to secure resources for the University. The University hopes to ask for the same base of $642 million instead of the $591 figure per Pawlenty's "un-allotment" (which was later over turned by the courts.) The University is operating on a $591 base for FY10 so $642 would be very positive. This approach is idealistic. There is some desire to reduce the University's base, to address the state's $6 billion deficit. The Dean believes there will be a decline in state support to the University, the question is how much, and what impact will it have on undergraduate student tuition (and graduate students).

In general the University is more reliant on tuition dollars than state support, which is a reminder about the obligation to students. The University has a new President, Eric Kaler. The Dean is impressed with his command of the major issues facing higher education today. Issues he talked about include e-learning, research compliance and cost, and graduate education. Also he was impressed with the CLA 2015 report and looks forward to work collaboratively with the College. The Dean talks about the new President's disappointing response to the question about his interest in the arts. The Dean says we have an opportunity to educate the new President about the arts. He hopes to appeal to his engineering background. The President wants to visit each department. The Dean wonders about how the arts exist at coordinate campuses. The President is not indifferent to anything; he is interested and educable. David Bernstein points out that the community partnerships with TAD are not revenue-generating.

The CLA 2015 Report. Undergraduate education, clustered administrative support of units, community engagement. The department is working on the community partnership. The report is in an open comment period. Ideally there will be a timeline presented at the beginning of the year. The college has 31 departments offering 74 majors, 74 minors and 145 tracks. In some cases there are 15 tracks within an individual major. There are some that have no enrollment, yet courses are offered to support the programs. There will be less money, so there may be creative revenue generation. The College is supported in the most part by tuition. If the College is serving fewer students, it generates less revenue. ⅔ of departments are serving fewer students. The budget was reduced and was to be enrollment-neutral but this did not occur.

On the topic of graduate education transition, yesterday central released a dollar figure for FY12 a transition year. Block grants, new graduate student fellowships. The Dean will be looking at this as quickly as possible to distribute the funding to departments. Allocations will be communicated soon after Thanksgiving. Central allocated fellowships plus tuition. The approach is to allocate the total amount for units to do with what they may. This will provide flexibility to move dollars from one student to another. Central did not allocate dollars for doctoral dissertation fellowship. They've retained dollars to make it competitive. They have no staff to run the process. Dove fellowships will be run by the Office of Equity and Diversity. The Dean is unsure of the parameters of the doctoral dissertation fellowships. He imagines it will be more intensely competitive. Michal Kobialka asks if the College will decide the value of the fellowship. The Dean wants the amount to be $22,000, consistent with past practice, though the units can decide. Commitments may only be made for one year because there is only information available for FY12. There are no commitments for multiple-year fellowships. The Dean suggests possibly holding some funding aside for the future. He does not anticipate the support of this nature will change, but what may change . . .

The Dean opens the floor to questions.

Marcus Dilliard states the MFA could be a revenue-generating program. He asks about the limits of the matriculation goal. The Dean talks about the charges the College has to pay per graduate student, $4,000 per student to Central. A group is exploring the idea of revenue-generating Professional programs. Each Professional Masters Program would have a number where revenue is generated. There is a group now working on a business model to serve as a template. The courses in the professional masters should be the same courses that are already offered. Essentially there are more students in the classroom. The Dean wants to be sure if the matriculation goal is unlocked that true revenue will be generated. The real problem is the "tax" that is paid per graduate student.

Michal Kobialka asked his students to read the 2015 Report. He asks the Dean how are excellence, signature and distinct defined? The Dean assures the group that quantitative data is not the only indicator. He is interested in innovative programs. For example the BFA Acting program draws students from across the country. NRC Rankings. The PhD program . . . Michal Kobialka will present information later.

Carl Flink asks about facilities. The Dean is interested in hearing more. The environment is bad. The Dean is interested in an Arts Center. He knows the facilities are poor. The Regents will be discussing Northrop at the December meeting. Carl expresses the importance of locating this node of collaborative space on the West Bank. The Northrop project must contain an educational component; the region does not need another performance venue only. The Rarig Center is historic. Joanie Smith says that her dance composition students are using the Northrop. Also she suggests the space could be appropriate for a new MFA in Dance. Carl Flink returns to the I-3 "collaboratory" which the Northrop will not provide. It is important for the West Bank.

Next meeting: Thursday December 16, 10:00 - 11:30 AM, Studio A, Rarig Center
Respectfully submitted by Jessica Crary on November 23, 2010.

Winter Closure
Have you heard? The University of Minnesota is closed from Friday December 24, 2010 through Sunday January 2, 2011, reopening Monday January 3, 2011. Here is helpful information for faculty and staff: http://www1.umn.edu/twincities/faculty-staff/closure/UR_ARTICLE_272234.html

Mark your calendar
Wednesday November 24
Student Technology Fee Grant Proposals notification due to Chair
http://infotechfees.cla.umn.edu/faculty/smallgrantproposal.php

Thursday November 25 and Friday November 26
University is closed

Friday December 3
Student Technology Fee Grant Proposals due to CLA
Spring 2011 registration begins for non-degree seeking students

Friday December 10
Probationary faculty annual review files due to the Chair

Wednesday December 15
Last day of Fall Semester instruction

Thursday December 16
TAD All Faculty and Staff Meeting, 10:00 - 11:30, Rarig Studio A

Tuesday January 4
Deadline for Fall 2010 grades to be entered

The University of Minnesota is closed from Friday December 24, 2010 through Sunday January 2, 2011, reopening Monday January 3, 2011. More info: http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/economyandu/qanda/closure/index.html

Reference past TAD Administrative News email messages online: http://blog.lib.umn.edu/crar0009/tadadministration/