A&L Productions is primarily staffed by formal Technical Staff employed by the College of Arts and Letters and advised by Production/Technical Support Faculty in MTD—with faculty supervising all instructional activity (events) and professional staff supervising the performance and performance-related university facilities and support equipment. A&L Productions works in conjunction and collaboratively with Faculty Directors and college departments to enhance the educational experiences of students.

Definitions:

Use of University Facilities

The correlation between the Use of University Facilities and the description of Instructional Events in the mission of A&L ProductionS helps to begin to establish a collaborative and cooperative working relationship between contributing Professional Staff and Faculty, including all creative personnel including visiting Artists, concert and production “directors”

ROLES

FACULTY:   “Instructional Events” are within the appropriate domain of the faculty and thus require a faculty member’s supervision of the “instructional” component of the activity.  

·       Faculty directors should be present during all stages of an instructional event for which they are assigned within a performance season or the execution of an instructional/teaching assignment.  This includes but is not limited to
instructional/staged/lecture/production/performance/recital activities in the performance venues under the supervision and direction of the College of Arts and Letters for concert, musical, operatic, theatrical, and dance events.

·        All stages of the instructional event will include casting, rehearsals (including all technical and rehearsals) and the full run of the show with audience.

·        An engaged presence by faculty ensures the supervision of the complete student experience and fulfills the instructional role of the faculty member through fruition of the staged experience.  The instructional and supervisory role responsibilities reside with the faculty/instructor of record or appropriate faculty proxy.

·        Artistic Directing Faculty, (a term used only to distinguish faculty who are directing a show/event, but who are not formerly considered in the A&L Productions Workgroup) lead the artistic decisions of their own production. Their voice and vision will guide the processes of production, within the practical constraints of safety, budget and standards of technical execution.

·        Production/Technical Support Faculty are members of the A&L Productions unit because they have particular academic training and professional experiences in the areas of their operations.

·        Production/Technical Support Faculty engage both an advisory role to Technical Staff and will serve in appropriate assigned roles for the execution of instructional and practical aspects of the A&L Productions operation.

 

TECHNICAL STAFF: “Use of University Facilities,” including all activities that use performance facilities and/or equipment is in the appropriate domain and requires supervision by professional staff.

·        Technical Staff should be present during the primary stages of an instructional event within designated performance venues for which they are assigned within a performance season or which is part of support for an instructional/teaching activity.  This includes but is not limited to instructional/ staged/ lecture/
production/performance/recital activities in the performance venues under the supervision and direction of the College of Arts and Letters for concert, musical, operatic, theatrical, and dance events.

Efforts will be made in scheduling Technical Staff hours to align with the operating processes of production to avoid excessive cost to any college sponsored instructional event.

Efforts will also be made to train graduate level (e.g. M.A. and MFA) students to serve as facility or stage managers, production or technical assistants who would be authorized to monitor spaces during hours that the formal Technical Staff may be unavailable, thereby contributing to the professional development of graduate students and defraying production costs.

·        All stages of the instructional event will include casting, rehearsal and the full run of the show with audience.

·        Technical Staff are primarily charged with the use, care, maintenance and immediate supervision of all equipment in the performance venues.

·        Such engaged presence ensures the execution of technical duties to the specifications of the faculty director and creative team within reasonable time and budget constraints, as well as the safety of the participants, the audience and the performance or support facilities.

·        Technical Staff execute and work closely with assigned directors, designers and faculty to build and construct all aspects of technical theatre support for all Arts and Letters sponsored/approved productions in performance venues.

·        All Technical Staff work orders and assignments (hourly, daily, weekly, monthly) will defer to immediate operational needs of A&L Productions as determined by their regular, immediate staff supervisor. All new assignments shall be assigned to Technical Staff by/through their regular, immediate staff supervisor.

 

Faculty monitor the instructional component of all production activities while the Technical Staff execute and monitor the technical craft, equipment, supplies and performance venues at large.  Technical Staff are engaged in the supervision of students in the shop, and supports a student work force of students learning technical theatre. The combination of the these efforts helps to fulfill the mission of the Department of Music, Theatre, Dance, the College of Arts and Letters, and the university in ways that heighten the educational experience of students while providing a safe and professional environment.

 

Whereas there are spaces within the College of Arts and Letters that have dual purposes (e.g. MUS 115, MUS 149 and MUS 101) the primary use of the space at any given time will dictate the need to have the co-presence of faculty and staff representation; such determination should be based on the overall use of technology, equipment, and resources normally under the supervision of the Professional Staff  (e.g. in the Music Hall and State Playhouse, the technical support equipment requires additional expertise when the nature of the activity moves from a classroom instructional moment using the teacher’s console (in the Music Hall) or a work light rehearsal (in the Playhouse) into an event that includes staging, lights, audio support, and/or audience management.) Exceptions can be made in order to facilitate the ease and execution of the engagement, but never at the cost of safety and equipment operations.

 

All other activities that are not “instructional events” directly tied to coursework and particular faculty-- as a required activity such as cultural activities, club sponsored activities, guest recitals, poetry readings, film screenings, certain concerts and festivals, college and university events could be supervised solely by support staff, even though many would continue to have department sponsor presence as well.

 

NOTE:  The Performing Arts Facilities Coordinator will work with both internal and external constituents in scheduling venues—working with the University Facilities Coordinator as appropriate for external clients.  All previous priorities will be given in the use of university facilities as per Administrative Procedure 505).  All funds garnered through external contracts will be appropriately processed through University policies and procedures with remaining revenues deposited in appropriate A&L PTS accounts for facility maintenance, and the discretion of the Dean in consultation with the Chair of MTD.

 

COMPOSITION OF A&L Productions

 

The Arts and Letters Productions unit is composed of Technical Staff hired to work in the technical areas of scenic, lighting, sound, and costume construction/support (as these individual positions and services are required and provided); as well as Production/Technical Support Faculty, who have or represent technical support expertise, in the Department of Music, Theatre, Dance--who are full-time tenure track faculty with academic and professional experiences in their particular areas.  There is at least one representative from each area in the Department of Music, Theatre and Dance.

 

Decisions are made cooperatively and through consensus whenever possible; a majority rule decision-making process is never acceptable—especially if the decision is intended to override the professional opinions of either the Technical Staff or the Production/ Technical Support Faculty.

 

RELATIONSHIP

 

The relationship between Technical Staff and  Production/Technical Support Faculty in A&L Productions is essentially complex, yet simplistic in its basic orientation. The following principles apply:

 

·        The relationship is one of mutual respect for the expertise and the function that each (faculty and staff member) performs in the overall instructional experience of students and fulfilling the mission of MTD and the college.

·        The relationship is collaborative, transparent, and cordial in nature with the creative team in order for all to contribute to a series of successful, educationally grounded and enriching events for students, the university community, and invited audiences.

·        The relationship is grounded in the acknowledgement that the role of the Faculty (Production/Technical Support Faculty in Productions and the Artistic Directing Faculty of a particular production) works with the Technical Staff in the execution of a particular set of tasks to fulfill the goals of the instructional event with the acknowledgment that the relationship is collaborative not supervisory.

·        The relationship is not hierarchical; the Production/Technical Support Faculty in A&L Productions are not elevated above staff, and Professional Staff do not take orders from Faculty—instead the two work towards common goals, with mutually beneficial outcomes.

·        Each party in the creative endeavor should work to provide all participants with the skills, knowledge, and supplies to empower student success.

 

 

By virtue of our joint commitments to ethical and professional behaviors, all faculty and staff will be committed to the highest standards of professionalism and excellence—while modeling and encouraging that behavior in students.

 

A&L Productions as a unit reports directly to the Office of the Dean. The Staff Technical Director works to finalize all decisions relative to Productions through a direct reporting line to the Dean and a dotted line relationship with the Chair, Department of Music Theatre, Dance.