BFA Acting Emphasis

Program Overview

2017 BFA Acting Assessment

Acting students receive comprehensive, progressive training in all areas of theatre with a specific focus on acting. The curriculum is a pre-professional pathway for those who desire a career in the performing arts and/or graduate studies in the performing arts.

Acceptance into the Acting Program is by application, audition, and interview. Retention is earned by personal growth, commitment, and faculty evaluation of satisfactory progress in end-of-semester evaluations and annual juries.

This is an undergraduate program in which students earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts. There is currently no graduate program in this area.

The curriculum is designed to reflect the standards mandated by the National Association of Schools of Theatre (NAST) as well as professional practices common in the fields of theatre, television, and film.

Standards for Professional Baccalaureate Degree in Acting - BFA

Per the National Association of Schools of Theatre (NAST – accrediting body): “Students enrolled in professional undergraduate degrees in theatre are expected to develop the knowledge, skills, concepts, and sensitivities essential to the life of the theatre professional. In any of many possible roles, the theatre professional must exhibit not only technical competence, but also broad knowledge of theatre, sensitivity to artistic style, and an insight into the role of theatre in the life of humankind.”

Acting requires mastery of an extremely diverse skill set. Actors must juggle the skills of performance, direction, movement, voice, and an academic’s awareness of literature, criticism, and history in order to create a believable character. To effectively engage with the theatrical ensemble actors must also have an acute awareness of and respect for all aspects of production, enabling them to effectively engage with and enhance the contributions of the technical and design team. Thus the actor must integrate (juggle) disparate skills at all levels of rehearsal and performance.

Actors are evaluated on their ability to seamlessly integrate the skills presented by their discrete and combined curriculum. Mastery signifies an integrated/holistic process, i.e. the work does not show, the result is believable because it is logical and skillful. Levels of acceptable skill competency toward the BFA Acting degree are:

• Integrated – Grade of A, 90%-100% of total points possible earned.
• United – Grade of B, 80%-89% of total points possible earned.

Unacceptable levels of skill competency toward the BFA Acting degree are:

• Combined – Grade of C, 70%-79% of total point possible earned.
  Disintigrated – Grade of D or lower, 0%-69% of total point possible earned.

Unacceptable progress in one or more courses during a semester will result in a warning and probation. Continued lack of acceptable progress will result in dismissal from the course of study.

Degree Requirements

Learning Objectives / Assessment Plan

Learning objectives are achieved via readings of dramatic literature, criticism, history, scene and monologue assignments, improvisations, and specific skills exercises. Evaluation is based on written and oral examination, written evidence of research and role preparation, and performance assignments.

Students are expected to develop and demonstrate competencies in:

1. Acting - the ability to live truthfully in imaginary circumstances, generated by dramatic literature or improvisation. This includes mastery of the following:
   
   • Projecting one’s self believably in text and action into imaginary circumstances.
   • Solo and ensemble improvisations.
   • Ability to create convincing characters from all genres/styles studied.
   • Script analysis techniques and generation of given circumstances, resulting in logical and complete generation of character.
   • Specific demands of the styles demanded by majors periods and genres of dramatic literature.
   • Script analysis for actors; i.e: scoring a script for objectives, tactics, obastacles, and units of theatrical action (beats).
   • Adaptation, concentration of attention, circle of attention, the inner- and outer-creative states, emotion and sense memory, the process of experiencing, Magic If, mental images, subtext, supertask, and throughaction.
2. Voice/Speech - knowledge, flexibility, strength, and control of the vocal apparatus. This includes mastery of the following:
   
   • Vocal flexibility, control, breath support, range, and freedom from tension in rehearsal and performance.
   • Clear, articulate, and expressive speech.
   • Ability to use appropriate tools and systems to learn and perform dialects.
   • Ability to perform in verse plays.
   • Effective vocal choices for a variety of performance spaces and media types.
3. Movement/Dance - strong, flexible, and controlled use of the body. This includes mastery of the following:
   • Flexible, relaxed, strong, and controlled body for a range of stage movement disciplines (e.g., dance, mime, mask work, combat).
   • Basic armed and unarmed stage combat.
   • Use of the body as an instrument for characterization.
   • Use of the body for changing time/rhythm demands and spatial relationships.
4. Literature/History - knowledge script analysis and major literary and artistic genres of the past, the 20th and 21st Centuries, as well as acquaintance with World/non-Western theatre. This includes mastery of the following:
   
   • Application of Aristotelean literary analysis methods and basic analysis of given circumstances allowing for believable character creation.
   • Professional standards of rehearsal and performance (e.g., preparation, creativity/freedom, commitment to ensemble, flexibility of process).
   • History of global performance traditions and dramatic literature from theatrical origins through the present.
   • Basic elements of Shakespeare as literature (e.g., tragedy, comedy, history, classical structure, verse, prose, scansion).
5. Professional Practice - practical skills to achieve and continue meaningful employment in the field. This includes mastery of the following:
   
   • Basic business procedures of the actors profession (e.g., auditions, resumes, agents, unions, etc.).
   • Strategizing and implementing ongoing professional development for actors.
   • Role preparation (rehearsal and performance) for production casting.
   • Elements for producing, preparing, and mounting a professional showcase in a professional venue in a major-market city.

Developmental progress on the above competencies is assessed by program faculty via mentorship, advising, and feedback in the classroom and the rehearsal hall.

Learning objectives for the majority of the BFA Acting courses are designated asː

• Developing specific skills, competencies, and points of view needed by professionals in the field.
• Developing creative capacities.
• Gaining a basic understanding of the subject.

Other objectives spread across the BFA Acting courses addressː

• Developing skill in expressing oneself orally or in writing.
• Learning to apply course material to improve thinking, problem solving, and decisions.
• Acquiring skills in working with others as a member of a team.
• Gaining a broader understanding and appreciation of intellectual/cultural activity.
• Learning how to find, evaluate, and use resources to explore a topic in depth.
• Learning to analyze and critically evaluate ideas, arguments, and points of view
• Learning to apply knowledge and skills to benefit others or serve the public good.
• Developing knowledge and understanding of diverse perspectives, global awareness, or other cultures.

Formal Assessment

Formal assessment takes place via three categories.

The completion of required acting program courses with a minimum grade of B in all required acting courses.

Students complete 20 credits of course work within the prescribed theatre core curriculum, and an additional 60 units of course work in the acting emphasis; designed to guarantee a thorough knowledge of the discrete areas of performance: acting, voice, movement, literature and history. All courses must be completed with a strong, B or better, final grade.

End-of-the-Semester Evaluations

Students meet individually with all members of the performance faculty to assess progress in studio courses. Students receive a written evaluation from each faculty prior to the meeting. During the meeting discrete and overall achievement is evaluated and the student advised, if necessary, on further actions to achieve excellence in technique and artistry.

Annual Juries

Juries are conducted during the spring semester to assess student progress toward desired competencies in the performance capacity. Students receive written evaluations and ratings subsequent to the jury performance. The jury is comprised of the elements of a “general audition,” which includes the preparation and performance of two contrasting monologues and 16-bars of a musical number.

Rubrics

Students are assessed as either Excellent, Strong, Acceptable, Marginal, or Poor in their progress towards integrating the discrete areas of technique into a seamless whole. The acting curriculum is presented as a sequence of courses. One course builds upon another and the skills and techniques presented in one course are required in subsequent courses. Thus, continuance in the program is dependent upon a student earning a minimum rank of strong each semester.

BFA Acting Student Assessment Rubric

Outcomes Data

Enrollment & Graduates

Evaluations

BFA Acting students are evaluated on their demonstrated performance (through auditions, classwork, and productions) in the areas of Acting, Voice, Movement, and Professionalism. Points are out of 100 in each area for a possibility of 400 total points.

Acting Evaluations Over Time

Annual Breakdowns

Data-Based Decisions

Data for assessing outcomes is collected formallyː course grades, graduation rates, end-of-the-semester evaluations, annual juries, earned performance opportunities; and informally, coaching sessions, directing of UST productions, during twice-monthly performance faculty meetings where students progress and concerns are discussed, and, finally, professional employment. Acting students are evaluated on demonstration of skills in Acting, Voice, Movement, and Professionalism.

Performance faculty routinely discuss program efficacy and opportunities for growth. The curriculum progression has remained constantː 10 acting courses, 6 dance & movement courses, 4 voice & text courses, 5 theatre core courses, 2 literature & history courses, and 1 capstone course. Course content continually evolves to meet the changing needs of the profession (e.g. camera work including video submits and vertical videos, voice & text work to include audio-book and voice-acting skills). 98% of BFA Acting graduates complete their course of study in four years.

Since the pandemic, 75% of graduates have gained meaningful employment in the profession, a significant statistic when – under pre-pandemic conditions – the profession routinely employs 13-14% of professionals (union members) at any given time.