Department of Theatre revises courses offered

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A series of revisions to course offerings within the Department of Theatre slated to take effect this fall will allow the department to more effectively use its resources and create more flexibility for students.

The department added 15 courses, made changes to five courses and deleted 19 courses in response to MSU’s Shaping the Future initiative, which called upon the university’s colleges and departments to make changes to become more efficient in the face of economic adversity.

“Especially with these budget times, we’re trying to answer the call … for the university to make it more flexible for students so they can graduate in four years,” said Robert Roznowski, associate chair of the Department of Theatre. “(It’s) also being able to offer more contemporary and up-to-date topics instead of being stuck in the past.”

A main goal of the revisions is to make it possible for students to graduate within four years, said Kirk Domer, acting chairman of the Department of Theatre.

“I want to be able — in this economic hardship — to promise a student that’s paying the bills or a parent that’s paying the bills, ‘You can get out of here in four years, we can make that happen,’” Domer said.

As part of the revisions, the department eliminated topic-based courses and instead created special topics courses, Domer said.

The change benefits both students and faculty by giving them the opportunity to teach and take different classes, said Brian Adams, a teacher in the Department of Theatre. Previously, the department had to offer the topic-based courses every semester, regardless of the level of student interest, Adams said.

“It adds a large degree of flexibility and freedom to the department and instructors to offer the courses that best benefit students at any given time,” he said.

“It doesn’t lock us into a certain schedule.”

The offering of special topics courses will rotate based on student interest, allowing the department more flexibility in course offerings, Domer said. If a visiting professor specializes in a specific area, the department could create a course in that area, he said.

“We can say, ‘What do the students need right now,’ poll the students and find out ‘Oh, we want music theater,’ and excellent, we’ll have a class called ‘musical theater,’” Domer said.

Theater and advertising senior Matthew Kaufmann said the changes will strengthen the department’s curriculum and maximize course offerings as the department continues to grow.

The changes mandated by the Shaping the Future process worked to the department’s benefit, he said.

“It wasn’t until just this year that they were starting to look at the courses and restructuring the courses,” Kaufmann said.

“I think the restructuring process because of the budget really was the gateway to allow that.”

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