New financial opportunities are arising for students in the School of Theater.
Theater students will receive more financial assistance for traveling to showcases, which are opportunities to perform for agents in the industry, starting this year. Officials also plan to provide more masterclasses and guest speakers.
These opportunities are due to a slight increase in student fees, said Brian Parsons, associate dean of the school of theater. Student Publications was unable to determine the amount of the fee increase on Monday.
“The main indicator that we needed to revise our fees was when other schools around us were doing the same,” Parsons said. “We took a close look at our fee structure and decided we needed to change some things.”
Parsons said he wanted the fees to help every student gain access to opportunities they may not have been able to afford if they had to pay in one go.
Theater students will receive a complimentary ticket for one mainstage and Stage II show.
These will help students attend more productions, said Hannah Kimball, design and production sophomore.
“It’s a much better way to help students stay involved in the theater community,” she said.
The fee increase will allow students more opportunities for guest artists to visit the school.
“There will be more masterclasses and guest speakers than ever before,” Parsons said. “These things won’t happen straight away, but that will happen during this academic year.”
Theater students also can receive financial support with showcases.
“If someone was to get into the showcase in Chicago, for example, and they didn’t have the funds to fly there, they could apply for a grant,” Parsons said. “If the grant is successful, we would buy your plane ticket.”
Walker Northcutt, acting senior, said he enjoys the new masterclass opportunities.
“It’s been really cool to get more insight from people that aren’t the faculty and see things in a different light,” Northcutt said.
Parsons said the most important part about the fee increase is that it will expand access to bigger and better opportunities.
“Now we have the funds to put our dreams into practice,” Parsons said.
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