Administrators say a new school at Marywood University will allow students and faculty to collaborate and prepare for a changing media landscape, but students worry about the how the changes will affect them.
Officials announced the creation of the School of Communication this week. It encompasses the multimedia communication, theater and music production majors and extracurricular activities.
In addition, the university’s music education program moved from the Music, Theatre and Dance Department into the School of Education. The other music majors — music performance and music therapy — and the dance minor will remain in the renamed Department of Music, under the Insalaco School of Visual and Performing Arts.
Students will still use the existing theaters in the Sette LaVerghetta Center for Performing Arts, and the multimedia communication program will remain in its current location in the lower level of the Learning Commons, but officials will revamp the space to accommodate theater students and the Marywood Players, the student-run theater club, and a new recording studio.
Officials began discussing the reorganization in March, when a theater faculty position opened up. Before initiating the search, officials decided to take a look at how the theater department will look in the future and accepted proposals for a reimagined department. They selected one created by Lindsey Wotanis, associate professor of multimedia communication and the school’s new director, which combined the multimedia communication and theater departments under one school. Officials decided to enact the changes last month and informed faculty members about them earlier this month; students learned about them this week.
Including the new theater faculty member, which officials plan to post for this summer, there will be three full-time faculty members, three full-time staff and 10 adjunct instructors in the School of Communication, she said.
Opportunities for collaboration
Wotanis said this week her department has expanded in recent years to include a concentration in film, television and digital production, and a film club, Marywood Films, which has produced films that included communications and theater students. Having them in one school prepares students for a variety of careers, she said.
“We really have an opportunity to transition this program, to think about it more broadly, to prepare students not just for acting on stage, but for acting on screen and for producing on screen and directing on screen,” Wotanis said. “The marriage of these programs is really going to allow both groups of students to kind of flex in each direction so that they can be even more well-rounded and prepared for whatever kind of career they will pursue after graduation.”
Having the theater and multimedia communication programs under one school isn’t new at Marywood, university President Lisa Lori said this week, as they were in the same department from the time the university was founded in 1915 until 2009, when the Theater Department moved to the Music Department.
Lori said the decision was made to move music education into the School of Education after evaluating the program and deciding that as a teacher-preparation program, it made sense if it was overseen by that school. She emphasized the curriculum isn’t changing — rather, students will be primarily advised by faculty in the School of Education, with music faculty being their secondary advisers. Students studying music education previously had music faculty as their main advisers and education faculty as their secondary advisers.
It also provides the university a chance to expand the performing arts opportunities, Lori said.
Wotanis said the university’s administration has invested in hiring an additional full-time faculty member for the school and the new recording studio. Lori said administrators have implemented improvements to the performing arts center, including heating and air conditioning, and structural upgrades, and are planning to renovate the main theater next summer.
Wotanis said the new school emphasizes performance, which is at the heart of theater and communication and allows students expanded opportunities and chances to work together. Lori said performance is at the heart of many professions.
“I think that those theater students coming in are going to bring a whole new creative energy,” Wotanis said. “There’s going to be amazing new collaborations and opportunities.”
Changes spark concerns
The changes have sparked concerns among students, who have taken to social media to voice them. They maily include the current state of the performing arts building and the curriculum, credits and course load in the music programs.
School officials acknowledged the concerns in a statement issued earlier this week on their social media pages before the announcement.
“We recognize that change can generate uncertainty, and we are committed to being transparent, listening carefully, and ensuring that every student has the opportunity to ask questions and receive accurate information directly from University leadership,” it reads.
Officials said students are free to take applied music lessons beyond what is required for their degree once they have completed the academic requirements necessary for graduation.
They said moving the music education program into the School of Education strengthens “advising, certification support and professional preparation while preserving the outstanding musical instruction, ensembles, lessons, and faculty mentorship that students value.”
Officials emphasized this week that there are no changes to the curriculum or credits in the theater, music and multimedia communications programs, nor are those programs being eliminated. Students still also have the opportunity to collaborate with their peers in programs outside the School of Communication and in the Department of Music.
Despite assurances from administrators, students remain concerned about the changes. Some said this week the announcement came suddenly and they worry about how the new landscape will affect their programs.
Hudson Malinowski, a rising senior majoring in music education, said she understands the university’s reasoning for moving her program into the School of Education, as there have been communication issues between the school and the program. But she worries that her degree will lose value with the reorganization, and their sense of camaraderie will be lost.
“The degree that Marywood offers for music education is a Bachelor of Music … and the implication with that is that, first and foremost, you come out of the school being a competent musician and you have a rigorous musical background, and on top of that, you have the teacher certification that you need to be able to teach,” she said. “Moving the music education program within the School of Education I think sort of lessens the meaning of the degree in that aspect that it’ll function much less like a Bachelor of Music.”
Fellow music education major Emma Renard, a rising junior, expressed concern that having her program in a new school will make collaboration harder for students.
“They’re kind of breaking us up,” she said.
Rowan Slannery, a rising senior majoring in music education and minoring in theater, is concerned about how rehearsals will be conducted with some theater components moving from the performing arts center.
Malinowski said she and her fellow students have informed university administrators about their concerns but say they haven’t been answered.
Students plan to hold a demonstration supporting the music, theater and dance programs at 4 p.m. on Aug. 24 — the first day of fall semester classes — in the center of campus. Renard said the date was chosen to allow students and the community to participate.
Officials said they’re looking forward to the possibilities and opportunities for collaboration the reorganized programs present.
“We’re really excited,” Lori said. “We’re looking forward to all the possibilities ahead for the arts. We are a university founded and known for (the arts) in the community and we want to make sure that we uphold that reputation.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.thetimes-tribune.com ’
