| COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES |  |
DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE AND DANCE | |
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Department of Theatre and Dance
In addition to a comprehensive examination in theatre history/criticism and the area of specialty, proficiencies are evaluated and tested on an ongoing basis by classroom training and testing, assistantship work, and practicum work evaluated not only by an instructor or the advisor and Advisory Committee but also by full faculty review. Actors are required to develop proficiencies in the areas of prose acting, verse acting, voice and movement, character analysis, and theatre history and criticism. Directors are required to develop proficiencies in the areas of stage directing, basic scenic, costume, and lighting design; communication skills with actors and designers; text analysis and interpretation; theatre history and criticism and conceptual skills. Designers are required to develop proficiencies in general design skills such as script analysis, collaborative techniques, historical style, theatre history and criticism, and a basic proficiency in all design and technical areas. In addition to these general skills, the scene design candidate is expected to have proficiencies in rendering, drafting, scene painting, scene construction, and props/crafts. The lighting design candidate is expected to develop proficiencies in lighting technology, control systems, drafting and paperwork, electronics and computer literacy. The costume design candidate is expected to develop proficiencies in rendering, draping/pattern making, costume construction, fabric treatment, and crafts. The lighting design/technology candidate is expected to develop those proficiencies expected of lighting designers as well as rigging, welding, advanced scenic construction techniques, technical problem solving, and technical direction. Toward the end of achieving proficiency in portfolio presentation, design candidates are required to present portfolios to the faculty at the beginning of their first year and at the end of each semester during their residency. Practica Each student is responsible for calling an Advisory Committee meeting at the beginning of each semester to establish goals, scheduling, and deadlines for practicum projects. Upon the completion of each practicum, the student should call a meeting of the Advisory Committee within one week after the show closes. A practicum paper and other appropriate material should be presented to the Committee members at least twenty-four (24) hours prior to the scheduled meeting. Failure to adhere to this policy may result in the lowering of a practicum grade. A grade of "Incomplete" will be recorded if the paper is not submitted in a timely fashion. For explanation of the practicum paper, please see section entitled "The Thesis." Practicum papers form the basis of the thesis. Directors must undertake four practicum experiences and earn at least twelve units of practicum credit. At least three such projects must be the direction of a full-length play. The choice of play, theatre, time of performance, and scope of production must be approved in advance by the Advisory Committee. Credit may be awarded for off-campus directing projects; however, permission must be granted in advance by the Advisory Committee before the director commits to the project. The Advisory Committee will not grant practicum credit for non-University directing experiences without this prior approval. Options in lieu of directing a fourth play are to *Act a major role (or several smaller roles) in a full-length play produced by the Department *Stage manage a faculty-directed play or *Assistant direct for a faculty member Actors must earn at least one practicum credit each semester during residency. A minimum of four practicum credits is required. The Advisory Committee will approve, evaluate and grade each project. Unified auditions are held each semester. All MFA candidates must participate in these auditions. The first obligation of MFA actors is to major productions and MFA Directing practica. If the student is not cast in these shows, credit may be granted for acting elsewhere with prior approval by the student's Advisory Committee. Designers are expected to complete six practicum credits. There are a variety of methods to accumulate this credit, to be determined in consultation with the student's Advisory Committee. Some flexibility is maintained to accommodate the varying needs of the student and the Department. Typical production assignments might include assisting the designer or technical director of a major Departmental production, serving as head of a production area for a major Departmental production (such as master electrician, master carpenter, scenic artist, etc.), or serving as designer of a major Departmental production. Students in design are not permitted to undertake practicum assignments in their first semester of residence. THE THESIS Practicum papers form the basis of the MFA thesis, an exercise in intellectual inquiry and codification of the preparatory process that leads ultimately to production work. The thesis is a document unique to each student but is created under the supervision of the students MFA advisory committee and in adherence to the framework established by each of the speciality areas (directing, design, and acting). The student is expected to gather in a timely fashion appropriate material that documents the project. Such documentation might include copies of the program, production photographs, reviews, renderings, drawings, and other material suggested by the Advisory Committee. Each candidate for the MFA degree will be expected to complete practicum projects consisting of theatre work in the area of specialty. The student will deposit a collective record of these projects in the Graduate School after it has been approved and accepted by the student's Advisory Committee. The record will ultimately be deposited in the University libraries in accordance with regulations relating to other theses and dissertations. The documentation becomes the property of the Department of Theatre, Speech and Dance. The work of art, if accessible thereafter, remains the property of the student. The Advisory Committee for each student serves as the thesis committee. Three basic steps to completing a thesis are: 1. Work with the Committee (or its Chair) throughout the period of artistic or scholarly preparation. 2. Submit the thesis to the Committee for approval in a timely manner. 3. Submit the approved thesis (or a record of it) to the Graduate School before the deadline. A final draft of the thesis in Turabian form or MLA (see below) must be submitted to the student's Advisory Committee fourteen days before the Graduate School deadline. Students are encouraged, however, to have finished the thesis and to have submitted it to the Graduate School by this time. Students who will not be returning to the Columbia campus for further study should complete their thesis work before departing for their internship. The candidates and the Chair of the Advisory Committee will develop a schedule for submitting thesis drafts to the Committee. Candidates are responsible for knowing all relevant deadlines for the submission of their work to the Graduate School and are urged to plan their work with these dates firmly in mind. After approval of the thesis by the Advisory Committee, it must be signed and delivered to the Graduate School. A letter of approval from the Director of Graduate Studies must accompany all thesis submissions to the Graduate School. Because students have a right to careful and thoughtful assistance from their committees at all stages of the project and because careful supervision of a thesis requires a major expenditure of time and effort by the committee members, certain regulations are enforced. First, a faculty member may take one week for the reading and evaluation of any draft or partial draft of a thesis. For the student to request a quicker processing is unfair to the faculty member; for the faculty member to require a longer time is unfair to the student. To expedite the reading and approval of a thesis, copies for each reader should be furnished. The second and/or third reader may choose not to read a paper until the Chair of the Committee has approved the draft. A minimum of three hours of THSP 799 Thesis Preparation must be taken by the student prior to the awarding of an MFA degree. These hours may be taken in any of several combinations: from one to three hours may be taken any semester. There is no maximum number of hours of THSP 799. Any student wishing the input of members of the Advisory Committee while working on the thesis must be enrolled for at least one hour of THSP 799 during that semester. Finally, the student must be enrolled for at least one hour of credit in the Department of Theatre and Dance for the semester in which the degree is awarded. In order to complete a thesis, a student must be enrolled. Students should also be advised that many faculty are unavailable during the summer and should therefore carefully schedule the thesis process with their Advisory Committees. Candidates must accept responsibility for noting the graduate Bulletin or checking with the Graduate School as to deadlines for the submission of theses. Thesis Format In order that all students may proceed to write theses confident of the Department's examination with regard to acceptable scholarly style, the faculty has adopted both Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers. (Chicago: The University of Chicago), or MLA Style as the official guide. Students may chosen either manual but the format must be pre-approved by the advisory committee. All graduate students are urged to familiarize themselves with the contents of Turabian or MLA manual and to refer any questions about its use to the Chair of the Advisory Committee or the Director of Graduate Studies. See the Graduate School guidelines for graduation and submission of thesis at www.gradschool.sc.edu/. STANDARDS OF ACADEMIC INTEGRITY Academic Dishonesty--including cheating and plagiarism--constitutes a serious breach of academic integrity. It is expected that all academic work be the honest product of the student’s own endeavor. Cheating is defined as the giving or receiving of unauthorized information as part of an examination or other academic exercise. Plagiarism is defined as taking and using the writings, creative work, or ideas of another without acknowledging the source. Other forms of academic dishonesty include (but are not limited to) fabrication, or invention of information for an assignment when such is not appropriate for said assignment. Knowingly helping or attempting to help another student to commit an act of academic dishonestly is considered to be an equivalent breach of academic integrity and is treated as such. Cases of academic dishonesty are handled individually and according to the circumstances of the violation; however, students who violate the standards of academic integrity can expect a grade of “F” in the course and possible dismissal from the University. ACADEMIC STANDARDS FOR PROGRESSION Academic Standards The departmental policy is more stringent than The Graduate School Academic suspension policy. Students should consult their advisors to ensure familiarity with the Graduate School and departmental grading and suspension policies. Graduate courses may be passed for degree credit with a grade as low as C, but a student's cumulative grade point average must be at least B (3.00 on a 4.00 scale). Additionally, the student's average on all courses numbered 700 or above must be no less than 3.00 at the time of graduation. Grades earned on credits transferred from other universities do not count in the grade point average. Probation and Termination PolicyAll graduate students are evaluated each semester on the basis of academic progress as well as assistantship responsibilities (when applicable).Probation for Academic Reasons ("3.00 Rule"): Graduate students whose cumulative grade point average drops below 3.00 (B) will be placed on academic probation and allowed one semester in which to raise the grade point average to at least 3.00. Students who do not reach a cumulative 3.00 grade point average during the grace period will not be permitted to enroll for further graduate course work in that degree program. Probation Related to Professionalism/Discipline: A student’s conduct in class, in assistantships, and in production work will be valuated with respect to responsible and disciplined behavior. Habitual lateness, absences, late work submittal, and neglect of assistantship duties all may lead to this probation. Probation for Lack of Artistic Growth: In addition, MFA candidates are evaluated on growth and potential to reach a level of artistic excellence required for success in their field. If the faculty judges the student’s growth as insufficient to achieve the next level of training, the student will be placed on probation for one semester. A student may be placed on probation in more than one area in the same semester. A student will be terminated from the program if probationary status is repeated in the same area/s in a subsequent semester. When a student is placed on probation, it is that student’s responsibility to meet with his/her advisor or Advisory Committee a minimum of one time prior to midterm of the following semester to establish goals and process for being removed from probation. METHODS OF EVALUATION MFA students are evaluated in a meeting at the end of each semester by the MFA Faculty. Letters are then sent to students by the chair of each student’s Advisory Committee. Copies of these letters should be placed in each student’s permanent departmental file. Faculty teachers and supervisors of MA, IMA, and MAT students are to notify the appropriate advisor in writing by the final week of classes with any concerns, problems, or breakthroughs involving the student each semester. At that point, the advisor writes letters to his or her advisees notifying them of faculty feedback regarding their academic progress or their assistantship evaluations. If on the basis of faculty feedback the advisor believes probation is warranted, that recommendation should be forwarded to the department chair, who will then decide on appropriate action. A copy of the letter to the student should go in the student’s permanent departmental file. APPEALS FOR REINSTATEMENT Appeals for reinstatement from students who have been suspended should be reviewed first by the department and/or college and then may be forwarded to the dean of The Graduate School for review by the Graduate Council if the student requests such action. POLICY REGARDING MUTLI-SECTION COURSES It is the philosophy of the Department of Theatre and Dance that all multi-section courses should give students in each section the same basic educational experience. The Department recognizes that each course has a common core of information that will allow students to move on to advanced classes with equivalent skills and knowledge. Therefore, the multi-section courses have standardized course aims, textbooks, attendance policies, assignments, and grading requirements. Adjustment in the course syllabus, approved by the course director, will be allowed if it does not significantly alter the general thrust of the course. Discussions of grading procedures are held at the beginning of each academic term with all Teaching Assistants responsible for grading. The faculty member charged with supervising that Teaching Assistant or group of Teaching Assistants sees that this discussion is held. The discussion includes the kind, amount, and quality of work expected in the course and the criteria which will be applied in evaluating it. The faculty member should promote reasonably equivalent practices with respect to grading procedures and expectations. The Teaching Assistant is expected to submit final class grades to the supervising faculty member. That faculty member will review the grades and turn the grade forms in to the Department office. ADVISING Each MFA student will have an Advisory Committee of three faculty members appointed by the Director of Graduate Studies. The student may request a change in the composition of the Committee as long as two members are teachers in that student's field of study. The Committee may be convened at the student's request, providing the time is mutually convenient. The Committee approves Practicum projects and awards credit. The Chair of the Advisory Committee usually handles registration, program of study, and other matters that do not require the whole committee. MA students are assigned a primary advisor and subsequently work with that advisor to decide on an appropriate selection of three faculty members to constitute the student’s Thesis Committee. MAT and IMA students are advised by the Director of the MAT / IMA Program. TEACHING ASSISTANTSHIPS The Department tries to give all MFA acting/directing students the opportunity to teach a class in their area of concentration. Most MFA students teach two of the three years of their program. Courses include voice and diction, theatre appreciation, and fundamentals of acting. Those students with special expertise often teach under the 500 designation, a specialized non-repeating class, such as mime, tap dance, stage combat, etc. MA students frequently receive teaching assistantships in the area of Public Communication, serving as teaching assistants in laboratory settings with a supervising faculty professor. In addition to a University-required teaching seminar, faculty supervisors hold workshops for all student instructors the week before each semester begins, during which syllabi are developed, teaching methods are discussed, and class requirements are clarified. There is a standard to which each instructor must adhere for each course. Teaching Assistants are evaluated on paper by their students at the end of each semester. This document is in addition to evaluation by supervising faculty throughout the semester and by the full MFA Faculty Review (in the case of MFA Teaching Assistants). EXCERPT OF GRADUATE SCHOOL REGULATIONS Every graduate student should be familiar with all of the provisions of the graduate Bulletin from which most of the following is summarized. General Information The student's full name and social security number should appear on all correspondence. Notify the Graduate School of any name and/or address changes. Courses at the MFA level must be completed within a six (6) year period. USC courses that are out-of-date must be revalidated before graduation. Forms and instructions for this process may be obtained from the Graduate School. Transfer work applicable to the MFA degree must be completed within the six (6) years prior to degree completion in order to apply toward the degree. The acceptability of specific credits is subject to other provisions. The credits must be: Judged appropriate by the academic committee Listed on an approved program of study Completed with a grade of "B" or better Listed on an official transcript from the awarding institution USC provides no revalidation mechanism for another institution's courses. REGISTRATION Graduate students new to the University will receive in the mail a registration appointment notice. This notice will tell them when and where they will register for courses. If an appointment notice is not received, the student should contact the Registration Center at (803) 777-5141 to confirm the earliest Columbia Campus registration time. Returning graduate students who have not enrolled during the twelve (12) months prior to the returning term must become eligible again before registration. Contact the Graduate School at (803) 777-4243 to avoid computer-registration rejection. Non-degree graduate students are approved for a special number of credit hours depending on the purpose of an individual's enrollment and the decision of the Director of Graduate Studies. Upon completion of the limited course hours recommended by the Department, additional eligibility must be authorized by the Graduate School to avoid computer-registration rejection. Graduate Assistants are required to enroll for at least nine (9) graduate hours during the fall and spring terms. During the summer terms, Graduate Assistants must register for one course if the assistantship continues into the summer. To qualify for the reduced tuition, a Graduate Assistant must be fully admitted into a degree program. Non-degree students are not eligible for reduced tuition. If there are any questions concerning the regulations of graduate assistantships, please refer questions to the Graduate School (777-4243) or the Department's Director of Graduate Studies (777-4288). |
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