Cover/Signature Page - Full Template

Cover/Signature Page - Full Template

Institution Submitting Request: Utah Valley University

Proposed Title: Associate of Applied Science in Theatre for Children and Youth

School: School of the Arts

Department: Theatrical Arts for Stage and Screen

Recommended Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) Code[1] : 50.0502

Proposed Beginning Date: Fall, 2013

Institutional Board of Trustees’ Approval Date: 09/20/2012

Proposal Type (check all that apply):

R401-4
Items submitted will be reviewed by the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education (OCHE), then forwarded to the Chief Academic Officers (CAO) and Program Review Committee (PRC) before being presented to the Regents. K-12 Personnel Programs are also reviewed by appropriate officials and faculty of the schools and colleges of education. See R401-4.2.2 for all programs requiring specialized reviews.
Section # / Item
4.1.1 / Non-Credit Certificate of Proficiency Eligible for Financial Aid
Credit Certificate of Proficiency Eligible for Financial Aid
4.1.1 / Non-Credit Certificate of Completion
Credit Certificate of Completion
4.1.9 / Fast-Tracked Certificate
4.1.2 / Associate of Applied Science Degree
4.1.3 / Associate of Science Degree
Associate of Arts Degree
4.1.5 / Bachelor’s Degree
4.1.6 / K-12 School Personnel Programs
4.1.7 / Master’s Degree
4.1.8 / Doctoral Degree

Chief Academic Officer (or Designee) Signature:

I certify that all required institutional approvals have been obtained prior to submitting this request to the Office of the Commissioner.

______

Signature Date: 09/24/2012

Printed Name: Ian Wilson

Executive Summary

Utah Valley University

Associate of Applied Science in Theatre for Children and Youth

06/18/2012

Program Description

The Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree would enable UVU graduates to teach theatre and drama in after-school and community theatre settings, to work as teaching artists in the schools, and to create or work with touring theatre companies performing in the schools. The 63 credit program could be completed in two years and would enable UVU students to graduate with an employable degree in less time than is required for completion of a bachelor’s degree. The AAS degree would increase students’ vocational opportunities as theatre artists in areas that often offer work compatible with other job and family responsibilities. The degree program could significantly increase the number and percentage of UVU students who graduate with degrees from the Department of Theatrical Arts for Stage and Screen and help attain the Utah Board of Regent’s Prosperity 2020 goal of 66% of Utah adults holding post-secondary degrees by 2020.

Role and Mission Fit

Utah Board of Regents’ Policy R312.5.2.3 states that Utah Valley University, as a teaching institution, “prepares professionally competent people of integrity who, as lifelong learners and leaders, serve as stewards of a globally interdependent community.” The proposed AAS degree in Theatre for Children and Youth would enable UVU graduates to engage in local community theatres, community organizations, and schools as professionally competent instructors, directors, actors, designers and to create job opportunities for themselves and other theatre artists.

Faculty

Theatre for Children and Youth courses are currently taught by a tenured faculty member, who also serves as the director of UVU’s Noorda Regional Theatre Center for Children and Youth. This individual would teach three additional courses required for the degree (Theatre for Children and Youth II, Theatre for Young Audiences Tour, and Creative Drama) rather than teaching other courses for the Department of Theatrical Arts for Stage and Screen. As a result, there would be no need for additional faculty during the first five years of the program. Students in the proposed AAS program would take their other theatre courses from department faculty members, including five who hold doctorates, three who hold MFA’s, two who hold other masters degrees, and three who hold bachelor degrees.

Market Demand

According to the Utah Department of Workforce Services and the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the 2008 through 2018 employment trends for most theatre arts job categories show increases in both Utah and the nation as a whole.[2] The Department of Theatrical Arts for Stage and Screen prepares students for existing job positions and also cultivates an entrepreneurial ability to create new theatre companies that serve young people. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, Utah Country has one of the fastest growing populations in the United States, growing 40% between 2000 and 2010, and one of the youngest populations in the country, with 35% of its population under the age of 18 and 11% under the age of 5.[3] The AAS degree in Theatre for Children and Youth will prepare UVU graduates to serve as teaching artists and to create and operate new theatre companies that will assist in meeting the needs of its burgeoning youth population.

Student Demand

A March 2012 survey of 107 of UVU’s 194 theatre majors indicated that 20 students in the sample (19%) would chose the proposed AAS degree in Theatre for Children and Youth as their first or second degree choice out of the current and proposed degree programs offered within the Department of Theatrical Arts for Stage and Screen. The same survey indicated an even higher level of interest in new classes required for the AAS degree. Forty two percent of current theatre majors expressed interest in taking the Creative Drama course and 47% expressed an interest in the Theatre for Young Audiences Tour course. Student interest is also high for new elective courses being developed along with the AAS degree, with 50% of theatre majors expressing interest in the Puppetry & Mask course and 72% in the Storytelling course. In addition to theatre majors, these courses may be partially filled by elementary education majors, about a quarter of whom now take the Elementary Drama course, as well as in-service elementary teachers, storytellers, and puppeteers from throughout Utah County and the UVU service region.

Statement of Financial Support

Appropriated Fund

Special Legislative Appropriation

Grants and Contracts

Special Fees/Differential Tuition

Other (please describe) Noorda Center endowment at UVU

Similar Programs Already Offered in the USHE

There are currently no other associates degrees in Theatre for Children and Youth in the Utah System of Higher Education. Only UVU and Snow College have retained associates degrees in theatre. While most USHE institutions offer courses in theatre for young audiences, the proposed AAS would be the only degree program in the state system focused on theatre performed for and with children and youth in school, after school, and in community settings.

Program Description - Full Template

Utah Valley University

Associates of Applied Science in Theatre for Children and Youth

06/18/2012

Section I: The Request

Utah Valley University requests approval to offer the Associate of Applied Science degree in Theatre for Children and Youth effective Fall 2013.

Section II: Program Description

Complete Program Description

Purpose of Degree

The purpose of the AAS degree in Theatre for Children and Youth is to train versatile theatre artists to teach theatre and drama in community and after-school settings; to serve as teaching artists in schools; to create and manage companies and groups that present theatre productions in the schools; and to direct, act, write, and design plays for and with young people. Students will graduate from the program with demonstrated skills in acting, script analysis, stagecraft, devised theatre, scriptwriting, creative drama, and directing with an understanding and working knowledge of child and adolescent development, the state drama core curriculum, and specialties such as puppetry or storytelling.

Institutional Readiness

In 2007, Utah Valley University established the Noorda Regional Theatre Center for Children and Youth, housed within the UVU Department of Theatrical Arts for Stage and Screen and supported by an endowment from the Noorda Foundation. The Center has a staff of three full-time employees: a director who is also a tenured professor in the department, an outreach and workshop coordinator, and a media coordinator. The Center supports theatre productions specifically for young audiences, a summer theatre camp, school matinee performances of department productions, touring productions in elementary and secondary schools, and outreach activities with area schools. The Noorda Foundation’s original gift helped fund the Noorda Theatre, constructed in 2009 to facilitate the needs of the Noorda Center programs.

Part of the Noorda Endowment is designated specifically for the support of a degree program and courses related to theatre for children and youth. The Noorda Center director teaches the Theatre for Children and Youth I course, as well as other theatre department classes, and would teach the proposed Theatre for Young Audiences II, Creative Drama I, and Theatre for Young Audience Tour classes. The Theatre and Drama for Elementary Schools course is taught either by the Center director or by a qualified adjunct instructor.

The AAS degree would include three new required semester courses: Theatre for Children and Youth II, Theatre for Young Audiences Tour, and Creative Drama I. It would be strengthened by two new elective courses: Storytelling I and Puppetry and Mask I. These courses would be taught by qualified adjunct instructors paid for with funds from the Noorda Endowment at UVU, designated for the instruction of courses on theatre for children and youth.

Faculty

The faculty of the UVU Department of Theatrical Arts for Stage and Screen is committed to producing theatre for children and youth and to teaching about young people’s theatre in each of their subject areas. The faculty directs and supports two touring productions a year that are presented in Utah Valley schools, as well as a main-stage show for elementary school audiences.

Faculty Category / Faculty Headcount – Prior to Program Implementation / Faculty Additions to Support Program / Faculty Headcount at Full Program Implementation
With Doctoral Degrees (Including MFA and other terminal degrees, as specified by the institution) / 15 / 0 / 15
Full-time Tenured / 2 / 0 / 2
Full-time Non-Tenured / 6 / 0 / 6
Part-time Tenured / 0 / 0 / 0
Part-time Non-Tenured / 7 / 0 / 7
With Master’s Degrees / 2 / 0 / 2
Full-time Tenured / 1 / 0 / 1
Full-time Non-Tenured / 1 / 0 / 1
Part-time Tenured / 0 / 0 / 0
Part-time Non-Tenured / 0 / 0 / 0
With Bachelor’s Degrees / 5 / 0 / 5
Full-time Tenured / 0 / 0 / 0
Full-time Non-Tenured / 3 / 0 / 3
Part-time Tenured / 0 / 0 / 0
Part-time Non-Tenured / 2 / 0 / 2
Other / 1 / 0 / 1
Full-time Tenured / 0 / 0 / 0
Full-time Non-Tenured / 0 / 0 / 0
Part-time Tenured / 0 / 0 / 0
Part-time Non-Tenured / 1 / 0 / 1
Total Headcount Faculty / 23 / 0 / 23
Full-time Tenured / 3 / 0 / 3
Full-time Non-Tenured / 10 / 0 / 10
Part-time Tenured / 0 / 0 / 0
Part-time Non-Tenured / 10 / 0 / 10
Total Department Faculty FTE (As reported in the most recent A-1/S-11 Institutional Cost Study for “prior to program implementation” and using the A-1/S-11 Cost Study Definition for the projected “at full program implementation.”) / 15.56 / 0.46 / 16.02

Staff

The Noorda Center includes two staff members in addition to the Center director: an outreach and workshop coordinator and a media coordinator. Productions and other Center activities are also supported by costume and scene shop staff. No additional staff will be required to support this degree program.

Library and Information Resources

Theatre, as with other subject areas, is assigned its own separate, annual library budget. Collections are housed primarily in the PN 1991-2300 area using the Library of Congress classification system, including resources in areas related to the specific subject area such as drama, acting, directing, production, history, etc. The Noorda Center Director will work with the library specialist assigned to theatre to augment the current collection with additional books on creative drama, puppetry, mask, storytelling, and other areas as needed.

Books

Books are selected in collaboration with faculty to best support current and future classes at UVU, and are updated with peer-recommended lists and other review sources. Because of the relatively new age of the holdings, students have access to books of quality and currency. Books accessible to UVU theatre students expand dramatically with access to all other Utah higher education institution libraries and the library’s Interlibrary Loan (ILL) service (see Other Library Resources, below).

Audio Visual Items

The UVU Library has one of the largest video collections in the state higher educational system with close to 18,000 video recordings on the main campus alone. Of UVU’s main campus holdings, over 5,700 of these titles are related to Theatre and Film Studies, with over 330 filmed stage productions including the “Broadway Theatre Archive.”

Periodicals Indexes

Currently, the UVU Library provides access to over 136 periodical indexes. Major indexes, including a film database, covering theatre, include:

Index / Coverage /
Academic Search Premier / Some full text, coverage=1975+
Art Abstracts Full Text / Some full text, coverage=1984+
Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) / Full text, coverage varies.
International Index to the Performing Arts Full Text (IIPA) / Full Text (IIPA). Some full text, coverage=1864+
JSTOR / Full Text coverage
LexisNexis Academic / Full text, coverage= 1970+
MasterFILE Premier / Some full text, coverage=1984
MLA International Bibliography / No full text, coverage=1963+
National Film Board of Canada Films / Hundreds of searchable film clips and complete films
Project Muse / Some full text coverage dates vary
Video Librarian / Full text coverage

The Noorda Center director will work with the library specialist assigned to the theatre area to ensure that students in the AAS program have access to periodicals from professional associations in the field including the American Alliance for Theatre and Education, Theatre for Young Audiences USA, and ASSITEJ International.