Academic Program Review 2004-2005
Executive Summary
Theatre Arts Department
The department of Theatre Arts was included in the third cycle of academic program
review for the 2004-2005 school year. Based upon feedback from the previous cycles, the
contents of the self-study were modified as were some of the implementation details. The
department of Theatre Arts was one of seven programs undergoing this process for this
cycle. Included in the process was the composition of a self-study document based upon
the faculty’s analysis, the visitation of an external reviewer, Professor David Lee-Painter,
associate professor, and chair, Department of Theatre Arts, University of Idaho. Professor
Lee-Painter read the self-study, interviewed faculty, staff, administration, and students,
and submitted his analysis.
The departmental self-study completed by the faculty and staff is the major document for
this program review. This complex document reveals the strengths and challenges
through the departmental perspective and reflects the commitment of the department for
self-analysis, reflection, and evaluation. The institutional expectation is that the
department and college administration will use the self-study document, the dean’s
report, and the executive summary as guides to the faculty, staff and administration for
the next several academic years as the department addresses the recommendations and
continues its record of excellence.
Since this process requires an enormous amount of time and effort from all of the
participants, it is necessary to ensure that the results are used to inform decisions and
future course of actions. Therefore, the department faculty and college administration
will be expected to provide a summary of activities undertaken during the 2005-2006
academic year as a consequence of the program review. This report will be due to the
provost in October, 2006.
Commendations
Clearly expressed by both the dean and the external reviewer are the strengths and
dedication of the departmental faculty and staff. They are committed to their programs
and their students. As the dean notes, “Individual faculty members are extraordinarily
creative and bring to the program a wealth of inventiveness and rich theatrical experience
and know-how.” Quality in marketing and publicity materials was termed as the finest in
the region by Professor Lee-Painter. Assistants running the costume and scene shops
contribute excellence to the program. Also noted were the efforts by the department to
function as a smooth unit under the current leadership of Scott Robinson with the legacy
of past department chairs to guide and assist him.
The department’s involvement in outreach educational programming through its
children’s theatre, summer graduate program, and Central Theatre Ensemble enrich the
local and regional cultural environment. The Master of Arts in Theatre Production is a
unique program that contributes well educated teachers to the public school systems. This
Summer Institute has educated over 500 teachers from around the region and nation. The
children’s theatre program, with the assistance of a grant through Sterling Bank, was able
to travel to rural regions in the state with a production of “Charlotte’s Web” this spring.
Central Theatre Ensemble is designed to combine the professional with the academic in
order to give students opportunities to apply their knowledge and gives the larger
community access to cultural enrichment.
The department’s faculty and students are also professionally active in a variety of
venues including the Northwest Drama Conference. Productions are entered into the
Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, with students being nominated for
the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship program resulting in 25% of the finalists for this
program representing CWU. Other students involved with the technical aspects of the
productions have also been nominated and recognized for their contributions in costume,
light, mask/make-up and scene design. Civic and professional organizations have also
been supported by the faculty and students. Locally, secondary schools, art galleries,
museums, and CWU music, English and Douglas Honors College have benefited through
the theatre arts departmental efforts.
Recommendations
Professor Lee-Painter clearly articulates the challenges the department must address
when he states, “the faculty needs to clearly define program needs in order to best focus
personnel energy and resources both in the present and long-term.” Both the external
reviewer and the dean stress that the department must take a hard look at their
curriculum, within a clear definition of their role, and determine what is the core of the
program, how can courses be structured and sequenced to optimize student learning, and
to keep from further diffusing departmental energy. The department needs to define who
they are and what they want to become with an appropriate balance between the
production side of the program and the academic. These discussions and decisions would
then allow the faculty and administration the clarity to consider the role of the
university’s dance program and the potential to focus on musical theatre. Professor LeePainter emphases what is “needed is a commitment from the continuing faculty toward a
unified vision of the performance curriculum and how to implement it efficiently.” He
also notes that these difficult conversations must occur if the department is to grow.
Dean Armstrong also recommends the department “take a hard, direct look at its
curriculum. This means a holistic review of the program and six major emphases, and a
course-by-course assessment of individual course offerings.” Course offerings may be
too numerous and too many “niche” classes without a sense of the core for the academic
program.
The second recommendation revolves around faculty, their instructional loads, including
their summer responsibilities for the graduate program, with the concomitant inability to
participate in other summer opportunities to expand their professional expertise.
Professor Lee-Painter acknowledges that participating Summer Institute faculty generates
a significant increase in their salary in a short amount of time. However, the downside is
that this limits faculty participation to the confines of Ellensburg and their participation in
creative activity outside “the walls of academe.” Neither Professor Lee-Painter or Dean
Armstrong offer any solutions to the department in addressing these needs but offer
possible suggestions through creating a rotation system, prioritizing the curriculum and
role of the graduate program, and through planning and staggering of reassigned time.
Addressing these challenges will be a major commitment for the faculty and
administration this up coming year.
Finally, it is noted that several renovation, updates and equipment grants for facilities and
the McConnell Theatre have assisted the department. There are still some equipment
needs in the form of restocking the lighting inventory and replacing the Milo Smith
Tower Theatre seats that should be high priority for the university.