The following minutes were unanimously approved as submitted on May 16, 2017.

Opening

The regular meeting of the DTSA was called to order at 3:20 pm on Apr 4 in Thesis Room by Phoebe Rumsey.

Present

Jennifer Thompson (President), Phoebe Rumsey (1st Vice President), Elyse Singer (2nd Vice President), Hansol Oh (Secretary-Treasurer), Sarah Lucie (Admissions & Awards), Jared Pike (Graduate Council & Alumni Engagement Rep), Joseph Paul Hill (Curriculum & Exams Representative), Janet Werther (DSC Program Rep)

Absent

Margit Edwards (Professionalization Representative), Kalle Westerling (Digital Initiatives Officer)

Approval of Agenda

JT motioned to approve agenda. JPH seconded. Agenda was unanimously approved as submitted.

Approval of Minutes

JT motioned to approve the minutes. HO seconded. Minutes unanimously approved as submitted.

Reports

President, Jennifer Thompson

Thanks to Phoebe and everyone who came to Trivia night. We had a few issues with seating and the bar, but I think overall the event was a success-and we made $170.00, which is great.

As a reminder, the big dates coming up are the booth award on April 28, and the conference on May 11—we will be soliciting help for the conference soon, so do consider doing that.

The end of semester party and open executive committee meeting will be Wednesday, May 17 (Open Exec at 4:00, party around 5:30)—I will be circulating a list for folks to sign up to help before and after the party shortly.

Elections are underway. All nominees have been notified, and have until Friday to decline or accept their nominations. Please encourage folks to accept their nominations if the conversation comes up. Our next meeting (May 16) will be the transitional meeting for the new officers. Some of the program awards have been announced and are open for application, with May 1 deadlines.

First Vice President, Phoebe Rumsey

Huge thank you to Jennifer for trivia night amazingness! We had over 20 people, plus 4 faculty, which I think was a great showing. Definitely should continue to do for following years. Also I think it was great that student from many cohorts came. Looking forward to Year End party.

Second Vice President, Elyse Singer

Booth Award planning is moving along. I have been in touch with artists and speakers, coordinating with Taylor regarding the order of performers and what they will perform. Cory is helping to format bios for the program, and Kyueun and Mayu are working on the award itself, and Mayu and Christine offered to act as stage managers during the awards. Next week, will reach out to students to see who else might wish to introduce or speak. The Twitter (@BoothAwards) and Facebook pages (/boothawards) are active, using hashtag #Booth17. Biggest concern right now is additional fundraising; I am sending out emails to folks who might wish to purchase program ads.

Secretary-Treasurer, Hansol Oh

I met with Peter about hosting Elinor Fuchs lecture on “EF’s Visit to a Small Planet,” and Peter is very supportive about the idea and has offered help too. Will draft an email to Elinor soon about the dates, etc.

Admission and Awards Representative, Sarah Lucie

Thank you to everyone who welcomed visiting prospective students on March 21. We had 4 prospective students attend, and the day was a success, including a meeting with Peter, Jean, and Erika, a quick tour, lunch with students, classes with Erika and Peter, and happy hour drinks with those who were still around.

We currently have 5 official acceptances, and the deadline is right around the corner (April 15). The professors and I are doing what we can to answer questions and move along the process, while also keeping the wait-list interested. Once I know the cohort, I will be reaching out to the DTSA for mentors.

Curriculum and Exams Representative, Joseph Paul Hill

The Curriculum Committee met on March 28 to review and approve courses for spring 2018. At the committee meeting, I presented the results of the Curriculum and Exams Survey. I’m also pleased to announce that the committee approved the student handbook emendations that I submitted last fall. These minor changes, all in regards to examinations, will be forwarded onto the Executive Committee for their approval before official implementation.

The annual Curriculum and Exams Survey was administered during March. We had 22 responses, with Level II students having the highest response-rate. As it’s become apparent that many members of the DTSA are unclear about the purpose and usefulness of the survey, I hope to make the actions of the Curriculum Committee more transparent. In accordance with this, I will be distributing the survey results to the students. We might also consider reframing and restructuring the survey in future years so as to facilitate more direct student-faculty conversation. We will definitely need to consider how the survey can be adjusted to account for the new demands of year-long planning. As the Curriculum Committee must now plan for courses an entire year in advance, students are not likely to see any quick turn-around in response to their feedback regarding curricular concerns.

Professionalization Representative, Margit Edwards

Nothing to report.

Digital Initiatives Officer, Kalle Westerling

Nothing to report.

DSC Program Representative, Janet Werther

Nothing to report.

Graduate Council Rep and Alumni Engagement, Jared R. Pike

The Graduate Council met at 3pm on March 15, 2017. President Chase Robinson informed the Council that the Graduate Center’s 2017-2022 Strategic Plan has been completed and in published on the Graduate Center’s website and has been sent to the presses for the hard copy. The President also updated the Council on the progress of the State budget which, at the time of the meeting, was scheduled to be approved by April 1. The New York State government was not able to agree upon a new budget; they passed a two-month extension on the current budget while they negotiate the final budget. The Graduate Council will be discussing the implications of the new budget throughout April and May.

Following the President’s opening comments, the Council voted to approve the granting of degrees and approved President Robinson’s recommendations for nomination of four honorary degrees to be granted at the Commencement in May. These individuals are: Vanita Gupta, Wael Shawky, Lord Nicholas Stern.

The Graduate Council approved the Theatre department’s request to change the name of the program. We will now officially be known as the Department of Theatre and Performance.

The Council also approved the creation of two new master’s programs: M.A. International Migration Studies, M.S. Data Science.

At the conclusion of the meeting, Professor Conway, Chair of the University Faculty Senate, was given the floor to discuss ways that the UFS is working with CUNY Central on the following issues: budget transparency, CUNY’s push for more online education following the Chancellor’s Strategic. Plan; developmental education, faculty diversity, shared governance, student credit accumulation.

New Business

Discussion of dissertation proposals in curriculum

JPH reviewed conversations regarding dissertation proposal from Curriculum Committee meeting

JT led discussion regarding student feedback about suggestion for additional 1-unit course based entirely on the dissertation proposal

JPH suggested the creation of a degree timeline for students not transferring 30 units

General desire for restructuring of Advanced Theatre Research to meet the needs of students writing their dissertation proposal

Clear need to have language about proposals in the Student Handbook—need to have faculty agreement about components and what constitutes a passing proposal

Report on International Students Rep preparations

Ad hoc committee met and is preparing the international student handbook

Upcoming Events

Brief discussion about end-of-semester party

Next meeting: May 16

Adjournment

JT motion to adjourn. SL seconded.

All in favor.