Academic Information and Policies

There may be occasions where a student must arrive on campus after fall or spring classes begin due to extenuating circumstances or professional contractual obligations. Students who wish to petition that absences from their theatre classes and/or auditions be excused because of those obligations must provide their degree coordinator and the department chair with a copy of their contract with the ending date of employment clearly indicated or a written statement of those extenuating circumstances. If approved, the student is also responsible for contacting each of their professors and notifying them of their late arrival. Performers must also inform the stage management coordinator of their absence from auditions. These arrangements must be accomplished no later than two weeks prior to the beginning of classes.

It is the policy of the Center for Theatre and Dance that students contemplating accepting a commitment to a theatre or film project outside the theatre arts season (i.e. any project for which a student may receive a grade is considered part of the season) must process a Request to Participate in a Non-CTD Production form. This form must be filled out, signed by all appropriate parties, and be put on file in the CTD Dean's Office. Since permission is not automatically granted, the form needs to be on file by no later than the first day of rehearsal for the project. Please understand that failure to comply with this rule not only violates policy but represents unprofessional behavior, because it jeopardizes the project by risking the possible untimely loss of your participation in it and the need to find a replacement.

Each degree program has specific procedures on the back of the form where signatures must be obtained.

Please note that any student on departmental probation/Notice of Concern may not request to participate in any production outside the main stage season. Performance majors must use a hard copy to garner signatures. This can be found in Dillingham's main office.

REQUEST TO PARTICIPATE FORM

Technical Theatre Practicum (THEA 10200) is a practical application course, designed to expose students to the crews necessary to support production activity. It is a one-credit course that may be repeated for credit eight times. All majors, minus B.F.A. Theatre Production and Design, are required to take the course two times, for two credits. All students enrolled in the course must complete the following requirements each semester in order to receive credit for Technical Theatre Practicum:

1. Each student will receive a crew assignment at the beginning of each semester. Students will not ordinarily be assigned to crew a CTD production in which they have been cast.
2. In addition, students will usher at one performance. The house manager will turn in attendance records of ushers to the faculty member assigning Technical Theatre Practicum grades. Failure to complete the ushering assignment will reduce the students’ final grade by one letter grade.

Credit will be allowed for CTD productions only.  See Crew Member Evaluation for evaluation criteria.

Theatre Projects (THEA 49000) are a practical, hands-on exploration of applied methods or techniques. The normal result is a performance or a tangible product.

Independent Studies (THEA 49900) are independent research and reading guided by a faculty member normally resulting in a paper.

Proposals for Theatre Projects and Independent Studies must be approved by the Center for Theatre and Dance Curriculum Committee prior to registration for the semester in which the study is to be undertaken.

Eligibility

Only juniors and seniors having an overall G.P.A. of 2.3 with 3.0 in the major may apply.

Limitations

Theatre Projects and Independent Studies may not duplicate or substitute for standard course work within the Center for Theatre and Dance. No retroactive credit will be granted by the Center for Theatre and Dance. Students should refer to the Ithaca College Undergraduate Catalog for credit hour limitations.

Procedures

1. Discuss idea for the study/project with the department faculty member qualified to supervise.
2. Write a detailed proposal in the form of a design statement using the following prompts:
   1. Student's Name
   2. Faculty Sponsor's Name
   3. Project Title
   4. A description of the learning objectives of the Theatre Project. This should identify the specific outcomes the student is expected to achieve. (i.e. What specific skills, knowledge or capacities is the student expected to attain?)
   5. The student’s background preparation for the undertaking of the study and project creation. (Such as previous course work, performance, internships.)
   6. Reading List, which is sufficient to provide focus and stimulate research and investigation.
   7. Form, size and scope of the results, such as a working model, computer program, performance, stage design, etc. 5. Method and amount of ongoing interaction with faculty supervisor. (Such as periodic discussion of reading, discussion of outlines, paper drafts, viewing of progress on the project, discussion of journal or rehearsals.)
   8. Breakdown of time to be spent on each area of the process involved in the project; described as hours per week. (Such as time spent with supervisor, reading time, design work, writing time, rehearsal time, presentation period preparation.) This should be total hour per week and total hours per semester.
   9. Evaluation: Note the method of Grading as P/F or A-F. Include percentages of weight given to various elements of the project. (e.g. Research and Journal 20%, Rehearsals and meetings with faculty 20%, Project Presentation/Application 60%.)
   10. Course Number and Amount of Credit. The rule of thumb to use is that 1 credit represents 40-45 hours of student learning. This is based on 1 hour of student-teacher contact and 2 additional hours of preparation for each of 14-15 weeks.
3. Complete the workflow form found at the bottom of this page and attached a PDF of the design statement.
4. The workflow form will route to the proposer's academic advisor’s for approval.
5. The form will then be reviewed to assess academic and/or creative value, and confirms the appropriate number of credits for the study. This process might involve some back and forth with the proposer for clarification and a revised design statement may be requested.
6. Once approved - the proposer will engage in the study conforming to the design statement.

CTD INDEPENDENT STUDY AND THEATRE PROJECT FORM

A few local internships are available during the school year at the Hangar, State and Kitchen Theatres and with the Cornell Concert Series. A wide variety of internship opportunities are available to Ithaca College students. Summer internships at stock or regional theaters, at casting and talent agencies in large cities, and in commercial and nonprofit theater offices are among the most popular internships. However, some of our students take advantage of full-semester, 12-credit internships as well. Management students frequently find placements for themselves, often in New York City, and B.A. drama students have the time to take a full semester away from the home campus as well. Most of the latter have taken stage management internships at the McCarter and George Street Playhouse, and one senior B.A. student recently interned at the Vineyard Theatre in Manhattan, reading new scripts.  

Internships are available at the College’s London Center as well, in areas from set construction to casting, from management to dramaturgy. Students usually sign on for three-credit internships during the London semester.

For information regarding internships, please consult the Ithaca College Undergraduate Catalog. Credit for internships cannot be received retroactively. 

INTERNSHIP LEARNING CONTRACT

This invaluable week in Manhattan, conducted for seniors the week before spring break, has grown in recent years. It is a vital link in the students’ transition to the “real world” of theater. During the week, seniors meet in small groups with alumni to learn more about such diverse areas as performance (in film and TV as well as on stage), agency and casting work, technical and design opportunities, management work available in Manhattan, and so on.

In addition, theatre production and design students are taken on backstage tours of theaters; B.A. theatre studies students, and in some cases management and design students, take tours of the downtown and uptown theater scene. In the last few years, students have had the opportunity to tour the Public Theatre, the Irish Rep, and the New York Theatre Workshop.

Seniors see a variety of productions during the week as well, and some of the students have an opportunity to see readings of new work, in addition to seeing Broadway and off-Broadway productions.