Jump to main content

Performing and Visual Arts Student Open Forum

Transcript:

Pam Meadows (00:00:00):
Hello and welcome to the College of Performing and Visual Arts Forum. My name is Pam Meadows and I am the gallery director within the School of Art and Design. We are here today to answer your questions about returning to UNC this fall. During the program, you can ask questions using the Q&A button. Feel free to start submitting questions now. We will attempt to have all questions answered either in the Q&A, live via our panelists or through a follow-up email once the program concludes. Now, we'd like to begin with a special address from our provost, Dr. Mark Anderson.

Pam Meadows (00:00:35):
Dr. Anderson joined UNC as the provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs in the spring of 2019. As provost, Dr. Anderson oversees everything from enrollment management to advising. Thank you for being here today, Provost.

Mark Anderson (00:00:52):
Thanks for having me. Thanks for the kind introduction, Pam. I'd like to welcome everybody who's joining us today. I am Mark Anderson, the provost here at the university. We've been holding a number of open forums to answer a lot of questions. This is the first forum that's specifically geared towards answering questions from returning students. Returning students experience the shift in instruction during the spring semester and we have been working hard since the end of the spring semester to get ready for the fall semester.

Mark Anderson (00:01:30):
A lot of what we've been doing has been following the guidance coming from the Governor's Office, coming from the Colorado Department of Higher Education, but especially from the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment. First and foremost in any consideration is the health and safety of our community. One of the things that we have had to do is look at our capacity for our instruction and our instructional facility and one of the challenges that we've been faced with is that our instructional facility, the classrooms had to decrease from about 11,000 seats to roughly 3,000 seats in order to assure at least a six-foot spacing between students.

Mark Anderson (00:02:17):
We also are going to be mandating that students wear masks, but being reasonable to recognize that some disciplines such as music, such as theater really are very difficult to have with when you're wearing a mask. Importantly, as we've been looking at the fall semester schedule, we've really been working with our professional communities as well, the professional communities that provide guidance with respect to, "How can we meet the learning outcomes of our courses, but how can we do so in a safe environment?"

Mark Anderson (00:02:52):
As you're asking a lot of questions, keep in mind that we have some restrictions. Governor Polis, just this past week, mandated mask wearing in the State of Colorado. We've mandated six feet of separation. That really imposes some new restrictions on how we can instruct our courses. Our faculty have been working diligently on ensuring that the experience that you have at the university will be a good one this fall. We're happy that you're here. We're looking forward to the beginning of the fall semester and having you on campus. With that, I'd like to thank you for coming, but introduce the Dean of the College of Performing and Visual Arts, Kiki Gilderhus. Kiki.

Kiki Gilderhus (00:03:40):
Thank you, Mark. Welcome, everyone. Mark, I appreciate you providing the context for PVA especially because so much of the work that we do is materially based. It's about physical experience. I think that's raised many, many questions that we have moving forward. I hope that today we can reassure you and answer questions that you have about how this year is going to look. I'd also like to say that as an art historian, I believe firmly that these kinds of challenges make good art, whether that be music, theater, visual arts. Keep that in mind. I can't wait to see what you all will be doing as we move towards the fall and into the spring.

Kiki Gilderhus (00:04:31):
We have a robust panel of people to answer questions today, so I'd briefly like to run through who is here from PVA. Lynn Cornelius is the interim director of the School of Art and Design. Chuck Hansen is the interim director of the School of Music. Shelly Gaza is the interim director of School of Theatre and Dance. Justin Kravitz is also representing the Dean's Office. He is the interim associate dean. We have Anne Toewe who is a professor of theater. Katie Runkel who is our music business and retention coordinator.

Kiki Gilderhus (00:05:20):
Kate Pettersen is our interim academic advisor for theater and art and design. Jennifer Knock is also here. She is our student faculty and advising specialist. I also believe that Carissa Reddick, associate director of School of Music is on the line as well on our virtual call. I am going to say welcome, thank you and I look forward to hearing the discussion.

Pam Meadows (00:06:07):
I'm grateful to have these panelists with us today and to be joined by all of you. We have over 100 current and future Bears joining us. We will now start to answer your questions. As we mentioned, some questions will be answered live and others will be answered via the Q&A. Our first question is in relationship to social distancing, health and safety procedures. "In terms of music, will plexiglass shields be used for professors and students?"

Charles Hansen (00:06:35):
Right now, we are planning to have students, especially applied faculty and students in separate rooms to do private study. There will be social distancing within Campus Commons for rehearsals. There will be some plexiglass shielding within the office spaces in Frasier Hall.

Pam Meadows (00:07:15):
Our next question is, "Will we be able to use the practice rooms?"

Charles Hansen (00:07:21):
That question hasn't been fully answered yet. There are a number of issues with respect to practice rooms and it's something that the Music Leadership Council and I will be working on this week in terms of reaching a conclusion about that. I believe that the practice rooms are critical for students who wish to continue their study and are trying to work in their applied studios as well as on ensembles. I do know that sometimes it is difficult for students to practice in their apartments or in their dorm rooms. It's not convenient. Occasionally, they don't have a keyboard available to them as well. We're working diligently to try to find a safe and effective method for the students to use the practice rooms in Frasier.

Pam Meadows (00:08:13):
Thank you, Chuck. The next question is in relationship to the general classroom topics. "Do you feel like our educational benefit will still be the same?"

Lynn Cornelius (00:08:31):
I'm happy to field that question. I think, as far as the School of Art and Design, we have a plan to move forward with our studio classes as face to face with a reduced capacity at any given time to allow for social distancing. I feel strongly that professors are working very hard to make sure that students will have a really robust experience in the classroom. I also think that for our online classes, the faculty are working hard to provide excellent educational opportunities online. They're often classes that in our shop, the art history classes often are taught online. The leap to online I don't think is very great. Absolutely, I feel completely confident in the quality of education for the fall in terms of what we've got untapped for the School of Art and Design.

Shelly Gaza (00:09:40):
I can chime in a bit for theater and dance. I agree with Lynn that I feel confident that it's going to be a very strong fall semester. It will certainly look differently than we are used to, but I've been working with the faculty and staff all summer. We've got a lot of great plans for how we're going to work this semester. We still have a lot of meetings, still have. Things are changing. We're coming up with new ideas day by day. While it's going to look different, we all know that, I'm confident that it's going to be a good semester. I do hope our theater and dance students choose to join us in this weird space as we experience it all together.

Charles Hansen (00:10:33):
Shelly, that's really great. I'd love to add, especially about ensembles in School of Music, we have some issues with that right now. [inaudible 00:10:45] number of national studies which are still coming out bit by bit that are going to help to guide not only University of Northern Colorado School of Music, but institutions nationally about how we manage to provide an opportunity for our students. I think I want all the students that are on, listening today, to know that whenever condition changes, and especially for the positive, we're ready in the School of Music and in the whole college to pivot right to that.

Charles Hansen (00:11:16):
I'm a lifelong musician and I can't wait to get back into an orchestra. Believe me, that's something that we know deep down inside of us. As soon as we're able to pivot to that normal way of being, we're going to get there.

Pam Meadows (00:11:40):
Thank you. This is another question in regards to social distancing, health and safety procedures. "Is there any required quarantine for traveling to Colorado from another state, mainly Oklahoma? I've been checking the official Colorado website, but I would like to know if there's anything more specific."

Charles Hansen (00:12:12):
I'll speak in here. I was communicating with one of our colleagues, Cindy Vetter, this morning and she's been checking on quarantine mandates for anyone coming to Colorado from high-incidence states, and so far, had not found any requirements for quarantine or travelers coming from Canada. Now, it could be that some people who are going out of the United States might have a problem. I think this is something we're still working with and trying to get clarity, not only regionally but nationally.

Pam Meadows (00:13:05):
Thank you. Our next question, "Will the university be open for the entire fall semester or go completely online later in the year?"

Charles Hansen (00:13:23):
Well, I will speak up again and say that we are planning on having a full complement of coursework and everything as we go online, I mean, as we go into session on August 24th. I'm sure everybody in this webinar is keeping track daily as I am of what is going on, nationally, regionally, especially with institutions of higher education. We desperately want to have our students on campus engaging in learning and everything that goes along with being co-located together in an institution like this. Conditions seem to be changing rapidly all over the place. I believe that what we've done so far has allowed us to prepare for a consistent sort of semester as long as we go.

Charles Hansen (00:14:18):
I hope that as we move through the semester that we will see a relaxation of the protocols that we have going on, but it's important to remember that it is your safety and your health that we care deeply about. That's just my two cents about that. Kiki?

Kiki Gilderhus (00:14:42):
Correct and I would just chime in that that decision to move everything online would also come from the state level and from the CDAG. In many ways, it's very difficult for us to forecast what that looks like, but our plan is to be on campus and through the entire semester without shifting to online and as we did, as we had to do in March.

Pam Meadows (00:15:17):
Thank you, Kiki. Our next question continues with social distancing, health and safety procedures. "Are there any procedures in place for when professors or students test positive for COVID-19?"

Jenna Finley (00:15:42):
Can you repeat the question, please?

Pam Meadows (00:15:47):
Sure. "Are there any procedures in place for when professors or students test positive for COVID-19?"

Jenna Finley (00:15:55):
Yes, there are going to be procedures in place for when faculty, staff or students test positive for COVID-19. We will be requiring that all members of our community report if they are positive. For those who are living on campus, we have quarantine and self-isolation rooms. Quarantine is if you have been exposed to someone with a virus or have symptoms and are waiting for test results. Isolation is if you actually become sick. Meals are delivered to those students. They're expected to stay in their rooms, but except for when they're seeking medical care or other essential services. Those who live off campus will be expected to quarantine or isolate in their homes and their healthcare provider will provide guidance on how to do this.

Pam Meadows (00:16:48):
Thank you. I believe this question would be directed at Shelly as it relates to STAT. "STAT has announced that they will still be doing shows. Can you talk a little bit about how acting and being close together will be safe?"

Shelly Gaza (00:17:14):
Sure. We have a plan to move forward with the three-fall mainstage shows, two plays and a musical. I'm working with the directors and the other faculty and design team to talk about the adjustments that we need to make and we certainly need to make adjustments. The first one is that we will be doing small cast sizes. We will be limiting the number of people that are in a rehearsal room at one time in order to meet the guidelines for COVID caps on our rehearsal spaces. We will be blocking in such a way and this is new for us, but we will be learning how to block in a way that maintain social distance. We've also decided to move all three of those productions onto the Langworthy stage as opposed to the original plan of having two other productions in the small Norton space. All three of them will be on the Langworthy stage which gives us much more ability to socially distance as we explore the place.

Shelly Gaza (00:18:15):
We've also decided to change the title of the fall musical. The original title that we had chosen Once Upon a Mattress really we've found is impractical and we're talking about social distancing and all of that. I'm not quite ready to announce the new title. We're still seeking licensing for it, but the new title will be one that we feel confident we can execute in that socially distanced manner. We're working really hard to make sure that we have a production experience for our students, we understand how much that is wanted.

Shelly Gaza (00:18:48):
I also think it's important to point out that we're not going to compel any students to participate in productions that don't feel that's the right choice for them. We want to make sure that students feel that they can participate in whatever activities feel right for them, but many of our students expressed that they want a production experience. We're working really hard to still have that, but in a way that follows all of the guidelines that we've been given. We also are making that plan B in case which I know we've already talked about. Chuck and Kiki said, we hope not to have to go into 100% online, but we are thinking about a plan B in that case as well and moving to an online or streaming production experience.

Shelly Gaza (00:19:35):
We've got multiple scenarios going on right now, all of them keeping in mind the guidance that we've been getting from upper administration, which as Mark said, has been coming down from the state agencies and such. That's how we're doing that. I also want to let everybody know all current students and incoming students, you'll be receiving an email from me in August as you always do from the director of the school which gives you all the information about auditions and all of those things, so that you can prepare accordingly if you do choose to audition for the productions. You'll be getting email an email from me in early August with all of that information as well. I know you're all anxious for that too. I hope that helps.

Pam Meadows (00:20:27):
Thanks, Shelly. This next question is for Chuck in the School of Music. "Will percussion and grand piano practice rooms be available and will the instruments be cleaned? Will there be wipes available in the rooms for students to use?"

Charles Hansen (00:20:44):
Yes. What we are planning on doing for percussion is going to be expanding the number of spaces that percussions are able to use because we have a great number of our classes being taught online this semester, we're hoping to use those vacated spaces to house grand pianos and percussion equipment. For example, the Green Room and Campus Commons decided to dedicate that to percussion practice. There will still need to be limits with number of people who will be able to be in that room all at one time, but we are trying our best to accommodate that.

Charles Hansen (00:21:26):
All across the university, and especially in School of Music, we don't have a giant amount of staff. For faculty and for students going forward is going to be important and critical for all of us to take a measure of personal responsibility with respect to keeping surfaces clean. I know that I've asked for a large amount of cleaning wipes, disinfectant, all these other bits and pieces and I'm hoping that we will have this available in each of the different areas that the students will be using for the fall semester.

Charles Hansen (00:22:04):
I know that we've already got some signage within Frasier hall that talks about COVID capacity for certain classrooms. There'll be other kinds of informational signage in the building, which will help us all, help guide us through all of this. The answer for both of those is yes.

Pam Meadows (00:22:28):
Thank you. On a similar topic to practice rooms, "Will the recording studios, Frasier 93A and C be open to students? If so, what precautions are being taken, given they are small and intimate spaces?"

Charles Hansen (00:22:43):
Yes, we've cautiously opened up a little bit of work going on in the larger recording studio right now. I've been working with our engineer, Greg Heimbecker on trying to make sure that we really are being very careful about how we use that space. The smaller recording booths, mixing booths that I believe whoever asked the question was talking about, that's going to be a lot similar to what we're thinking about in terms of how we treat percussion practice rooms, grand piano practice rooms, or any of the other spaces.

Charles Hansen (00:23:21):
It is going to be incumbent on the student to have a degree of responsibility for being careful in those spaces, maintaining the cleanliness by using wipes. Students who are using those spaces are going to have a certain level of technical knowledge and will know not to throw disinfectant in the middle of an electronic gadget, but it's going to be important for us all to be mindful of what's going on. I believe in the evenings, that the custodial services here at UNC will be trying to enact the cleaning through the facility. I believe that we are well prepared going forward.

Charles Hansen (00:24:06):
I know that when I walk back into Frasier hall come August, based on what I know now, I'm feeling safe about going into there. I will be wearing a mask and will be keeping myself socially distanced and we are going to have a lot of that we've got to get used to, but I believe that it is really worth the effort to be back in the building and have access to the facilities that we desperately need so.

Pam Meadows (00:24:44):
Thank you, Chuck. This next question is for Lynn Cornelius in the School of Art and Design. "For the visual arts, will students be able to participate in labs where typically much of the artwork equipment is housed?"

Lynn Cornelius (00:24:59):
Yes. So much in the same way that we've had, we're still going to have Monday through Friday classes, so students will have regular hours in the buildings, the same hours that we've had in semesters past. We will still continue to have, as Chuck was mentioning, limited capacity. We're calling it COVID capacities. There will be a limited number of students who can use those labs at any given time, but there will still be equipment that will be available to be used on Fridays and support from the lab coordinator and the students that have been historically supporting those in the past. Yes, absolutely.

Pam Meadows (00:25:54):
Thank you, Lynn. This question is for the School of Theatre Arts and Dance. "How will dance classes look if they are offered as hybrid courses?"

Shelly Gaza (00:26:06):
The first week of school, each dance instructor will let the students know what they can expect from the course, things like if part of the course is being held online or if students are asked to be present on one day, but then log in and do it virtually on another day, what space they'll be required to have. You'll get a sense for if you'll be able to execute the class remotely at times if you are. All of the dance studios will be taped out in a nine foot grid. That's the guidance that we've been getting for dance spaces, dance and movement spaces. The studios will be gridded out so that students and the instructors can make sure that we're practicing the right social distance as the class is proceeding.

Shelly Gaza (00:26:56):
We're also moving some of the classes, we've moved as many of the dance classes into our largest space and to Gray Gym as we could, so that we have more space to move. Also, a lot of you are familiar with Gunter Gym. That's another space that we use for the dance classes and we're going to again this semester, so we have more space to social distance. Then for some of the classes that will be in a mixed face-to-face mode where the students won't participate in the studio for every class, the instructors can let you know what all of that looks like the first week of school.

Shelly Gaza (00:27:27):
As each instructor is going to have a slightly different way that they're going to manage their course, you can get all of your questions answered specifically by that instructor, so that you make sure that it's a fit for you. If it feels like maybe a different dance class, you want to try to swap it out for something else or whatever, we just want to make sure that the students know exactly what it's going to look like, what they can expect, what kind of space they're going to have to have in their rooms if some of the classes being offered mixed face to face and all of that. It's a little bit different for each course, but each faculty member will make sure to get all of your questions answered in that first week of class, so that you know what to expect.

Pam Meadows (00:28:10):
Thank you. This next question is in regard to auditions. "Are you limiting auditions to majors only or can anyone audition?"

Shelly Gaza (00:28:22):
As always, any UNC student is welcome to audition for any of the mainstage productions. That's always been our policy and will continue to be. The only adjustment really to the audition policy is that we are relaxing the required auditions. For some students who just feel that this isn't going to be the right semester for them to participate in productions, we're going to loosen those restrictions and not require auditions, but certainly any UNC student is always welcome at our auditions.

Charles Hansen (00:28:55):
Same for School of Music. Anyone can audition for any of our groups and it's been that way for years and years and years. That audition information and how that's going to be handled will be posted on our website.

Pam Meadows (00:29:15):
Thank you We have a question about private lessons in regards to how they will work. "Is there a chance to have these done in person if they are done using proper social distancing measures in a large room?"

Charles Hansen (00:29:30):
For some faculty, they will be doing some number of in-person lessons. That's largely up to the faculty member of that given instrument. Some faculty are choosing to do a situation I described earlier where maybe you have the student in one room connected to video of the professor and another one or perhaps the student is actually taking their lesson on trombone in the trombone studio and the professor is at their house or in a different office or something like that. We've found that the internet capability within the building is perhaps better than what some students may have available to them at home. We're going to try to offer that option to students.

Shelly Gaza (00:30:27):
For private voice lessons in theater and dance, we have two voice instructors and they've chosen to take their private voice lessons 100% online this fall semester. We're following guidelines from NATS, the National Association of Teachers of Singing and the size of our voice studios aren't large enough to accommodate what NATS is recommending. We are doing our private voice lessons online. The good news is that we've had some really good experience with that. Our voice faculty transitioned to that last spring, obviously, and also have been continuing to give private voice lessons all summer, many of them.

Shelly Gaza (00:31:11):
I think they're feeling pretty confident in their ability to still give a great private voice lesson. We'll do that for the fall semester, and then of course, assess things as the year goes on and make changes if and when we can.

Pam Meadows (00:31:30):
Thank you. Continuing with some general classroom topics, "For students whose courses are all online, will there be any opportunity for at least a few in-person classes and interactions? What measures are faculty taking to create a successful classroom environment?"

Katie Runkel (00:31:51):
Pam, I'm happy to help field that question. Can you just read it one more time for us here?

Pam Meadows (00:32:00):
Sure. "For students whose courses are all online, will there be any opportunity for at least a couple in-person classes and interactions? What measures are faculty taking to create a successful classroom environment?"

Katie Runkel (00:32:16):
I'm going to answer that a few ways, and just if you don't know me, if you're part of one of the other schools, my name is Katie Runkel. I'm the music advisor for the School of Music. I just want to say that if you've checked your schedule post July 15th and you have all online courses and you're interested in receiving some hybrid courses, the institution has made it a commitment to offer a large percentage of their courses as hybrid or mixed face to face. With that being said, myself and Kate Pettersen are happy to assist you in transitioning some of your courses to hybrid if you would like an in-person experience for some of your courses.

Katie Runkel (00:32:59):
We're also happy in the School of Music to rework your graduation plan and move some [inaudible 00:33:07] courses to another semester if you want that specific course down the road. We can then get you into a hybrid course. If there's classes that you're in currently that are online only, we cannot anticipate that they'll have in-person experiences for those courses, but if that's something you're really passionate about and want at for connection, then work with one of us to get some mixed face-to-face classes.

Pam Meadows (00:33:44):
Thank you, Katie. This is a followup about advising. "Will students be able to make appointments to meet with their advisors face to face or will they be all online?"

Katie Runkel (00:33:54):
Sure, I'm happy to answer that. As of now, the advising centers across campus have been communicating through our Teams network and communicating what our plan of action is per college. I can anticipate that most of our interactions will be in an online format through a Zoom call or through a Teams call, but as restrictions potentially relax a bit, we're hoping to have more face-to-face interactions with students, but I do believe that that is based on the comfortability of each advisor to determine their schedule and whether or not they'll be in person or through online.

Katie Runkel (00:34:43):
I do know that we will have an in-person presence. It's just a matter of how many in-person hours we communicate for four public walk-ins and such. We are working right now with the health and safety officers on campus to understand the capacities of our offices to ensure safety but also to ensure an in-person experience with students.

Pam Meadows (00:35:17):
Thank you. This next question is for Lynn Cornelius. "For art education majors, how will distance learning art classes work?"

Lynn Cornelius (00:35:29):
Art education, I've worked a lot with a faculty in terms of the art education classes. It was really important for both Connie Stewart and Donna Goodwin to have a mixed face-to-face experience, so that those classes will be again socially distanced, and typically, how that's going to work for the on campus component is that the class will be split up into smaller cohorts, maybe half the class meets on one day a week and the other meets on the other day of the week. However, if you are really wanting to have an online experience and do not wish to be face to face, there will be accommodations for you as well. Did that address the question, Pam? I want to make sure that I got it.

Pam Meadows (00:36:27):
Yeah, I think so. Thank you.

Lynn Cornelius (00:36:30):
Great. Thanks.

Pam Meadows (00:36:32):
This next question is pretty general for all schools. "What does a quality portfolio consist of? Is this now digital or hardcopy?"

Lynn Cornelius (00:36:48):
I'll speak for this School of Art and Design. One of the classes that I've really been passionate about, well, two of the classes are the working artists' classes and those are classes in which students create their portfolios. Typically, in 2020, even prior to COVID, it's most important to have an online digital portfolio. That's going to continue. Certainly, there's craftsmanship issues that will be covered for physical portfolios in your individual studio classes and you'll still get that experience even as we move into the fall with the configuration of the adjustments that we're making based on COVID capacities, but I would say for all School of Art and Design students, having a really strong digital portfolio is important.

Pam Meadows (00:38:04):
Thank you, Lynn. Is there anything Theatre or Music would like to contribute to that question?

Shelly Gaza (00:38:09):
Sure. It's a little out of my area, but I'll give it a shot. Like Lynn was saying, there is definitely a move toward having a digital representation of your portfolio as an addition to hard copies and more of the traditional sense. Our faculty are really great at keeping abreast of those trend changes. A lot of the course components in the design and technology area address a lot of that, how to prepare portfolio, how that's evolved and changed. I would say that, yeah, that's even been evolving and changing pre-COVID for sure.

Shelly Gaza (00:38:48):
Will it be definitely more important for our graduating seniors to be up to date on this that are entering the job market? Certainly, so we're going to keep our eye on that as the year goes on and make sure that we're preparing those graduating seniors in the right way for entering sort of this, what the industry looks like right now.

Charles Hansen (00:39:15):
Pam, I would only add that certainly within academic studies and music, that's going to be robust. That's going to be really easy to integrate with and nationally we're seeing that really take on a life of its own in an online environment. In terms of performance studies though, even though what we do is really meant to be together close at hand and breathing on each other and all of this other stuff, the kinds of skills that we're going to pick up in the short amount of time, this will not go on forever, are going to be really important for our students in the School of Music to carry with them forward.

Charles Hansen (00:40:00):
Just simply sitting down and sorting out, "How do I communicate online with my professor in terms of how I play the flute? How do I get a bunch of different students together and create a video?" Some of our students in the school of music have done some incredible stuff this past semester in getting together and really sorting out some really marvelous things. I think there's opportunity there to get a skillset that certainly maybe if we weren't compelled to be in an unusual environment that we might not pursue quite as aggressively. I believe there's a lot to be gained from this experience.

Pam Meadows (00:40:45):
Thank you. We'll now move on to some more specific class topic-related questions. This next question is specifically for Shelly Gaza and Anne Toewe, "Are there any updates for how the STAT shops will run and operate under social distancing guidelines?"

Shelly Gaza (00:41:06):
I know that Anne talked to Kimiko a bit in the chat about this, but Anne, there are others on the call that might be interested to know too. Do you want to give it a go for everyone too? I don't know if Anne is still on the call.

Anne Toewe (00:41:33):
Sorry. [inaudible 00:41:34] at the same time, back and forth. I missed the question.

Shelly Gaza (00:41:40):
We're just wondering. They asked, Kimiko's question about shops on the full call. I thought maybe you could just share what you said to Kimiko in the chat?

Anne Toewe (00:41:49):
Sure. This is School of Theatre Arts and Dance, right now, we have mapped all of those shops to figure out exactly what the capacity is and then what the guidelines are based on the square footage of the shop and we are then going to work according to what state guidelines are for capacity size. Obviously, things are changing. That's also why no full finalized hiring has happened for any of our shops. Additionally, we're working on acquiring PPE as we can for those shops based on USITT standards. Mary Houston is heading up one of the committees that's looking at what USITT, United States Institute of Theatre Technology, is recommending for shop work and shop space.

Anne Toewe (00:42:47):
That's kind of where we are. I'm sure there will be more information as we know more information. It was, as I think you all know, looking really positive and these spikes, I would say put us at a, "Let's see where we are," but certainly you will know more as we know more.

Pam Meadows (00:43:08):
Thank you, Anne. This next question is related to music. "Since Jazz Lab 3 and 4 were canceled, is there a chance an incoming freshman could be in a big band this year?"

Charles Hansen (00:43:23):
Well, first of all Jazz ... Say 3 and 4 and 4 and 5?

Pam Meadows (00:43:33):
3 and 4.

Charles Hansen (00:43:35):
Well, Lab 3 is still going, yeah, and as well 4 and 5. 4 and 5 go by two different names, Bob Shop and Funk Soul Band and those will be fully functional. At the beginning, when we put out a communication to the students in the School of Music, we thought those had been canceled, but we actually were able to get them going. Yes, as a first-year student, you could possibly play in one of the jazz bands. It's really important to know that everything is open to everyone. Even though a cello may not belong in a jazz lab band, I would be interested to see what happens if one of our cello students showed up in auditioning for Lab 1. What could happen there? I think that's really interesting.

Charles Hansen (00:44:26):
I had a really good discussion with the euphonium student some couple of weeks ago and I encouraged him to ... He also plays trombone, but I encouraged him to try to break out of a mold on just playing euphonium. It's typically found in a concert band or a marching band. Well, I think in this environment, we owe it to our students to allow them to experience that music making in more than just one narrow of language, so yeah, give it a shot. You got to audition.

Pam Meadows (00:45:05):
Thanks, Chuck. I have another music related question in regards to how class piano will work if it's been moved online.

Charles Hansen (00:45:16):
I'm going to get Katie to speak to that.

Katie Runkel (00:45:20):
I'd be happy to answer that. I've been working directly with Kati Rittner who coordinates our class piano sequence at the moment. That has been moved to full online and we have a statement drafted to send out to all students in the class piano sequence requesting that they purchase a keyboard. They don't need to purchase a large-valued keyboard, but there are a few criteria for the keyboard that we hope that they consider when purchasing something. The class will work as self-paced online, so there will not be time associated per week with the course in which they come to a lecture format.

Katie Runkel (00:46:09):
With the current setup for class piano, it works very much as a lab currently where you attend the class and work independently on your curriculum. It will be similar in format, but there will be timeline, course dates of material that needs to be done at a certain time, and perhaps with online tests, those specific details I do not know, but I do know that it will be self-paced online and we will request the students to purchase a small keyboard.

Charles Hansen (00:46:49):
Thanks, Katie. Pam, I just wanted to make a general comment about some of the ensembles we have going on this this fall. Not every ensemble is going to be, but the ones that will, we're going to have somewhat of a version of normal-ish auditions for them, but what's going to be important for everybody to realize is that we are attempting to go into this environment in a way that allows our students to have some ensemble experience and it's going to take us maybe a little bit of time to really get that dialed in.

Charles Hansen (00:47:31):
In March, when we went underground, we didn't have to worry about how to handle ensembles in a socially distance way because we were all off campus. Now, we're going to start to try to see how that works. I know last week I was over in the Campus Commons Performance Hall with Dana and Eric and we laid out a complete lab and setup on Campus Commons Performance Stage. It is an unusual setup, but what we had to do is we had to take some time and figure out how is this going to work out, how do we get monitors in front of everybody.

Charles Hansen (00:48:11):
I think even with small groups like string quartets or brass quartets or something like that, it's going to take, number one, making sure that we have a large enough space to actually house that activity, right? That's going to be not so much the call of a faculty member or a student. That's going to be really a thing that is in following Colorado's guidelines with respect to how many people we have in a given space. That will be a little bit of a challenge and then how do you actually get everybody playing. One of the most inconvenient things about playing a brass instrument is the little water key that's on the end of it and all of our trombone players already know that they have to have puppy pads when they come to school in August to make sure that they take care of little things like that.

Charles Hansen (00:49:03):
I would advise everybody, who's connected to music, on this to come, integrate yourself into these ensembles and then be curious about how is this going to actually work. I think it's going to take a little bit of a teamwork between the faculty member who's never done this and maybe the students who've never done this as well. I just want everybody to know that you can't make a plan for everything, but we're really paying attention to what's going on locally, regionally and particularly nationally in terms of how schools of music are going to move through this time.

Pam Meadows (00:49:41):
Thank you. "If a student's instrument lesson is online, are they expected to do this from their dorm room or what spaces can be utilized on campus?"

Charles Hansen (00:50:01):
Yeah, it depends on whatever situation you find yourself in. If you can do it from your dorm, great. If you can do it from maybe a room somewhere in the dormitory, that's also good. In some cases, we may be able to have students working in a classroom and their professors in a different spot. It just depends on what kind of space really the student can find to do that. Doing applied lessons online is going to demand a certain level of internet connectivity. It's going to have to be somehow or another close to something where you can actually get stuff going. Jennifer?

Jennifer Knock (00:50:44):
In addition, I think it's important to mention that you'll want to work with whoever your lesson instructor is to figure out a plan. If you are needing a space on campus, it will be important to make sure that you're communicating either with your professor, if you're utilizing their studio space for those lessons or if you are needing to use a classroom space or something, it's going to be important to reserve that room before you use it so that the room is available and it will be reserved for you to be able to use for your lessons.

Jenna Finley (00:51:26):
We're also as at the campus identifying some other spaces across the campus that can be used by students that haven't been particularly uses labs in the past. For example, we have some empty residence hall space that we may use where the students can check out an individual room and then log in. This is particularly, I think, targeted towards students who aren't residence hall students.

Pam Meadows (00:51:57):
Thank you. Chuck, I know you were talking a little bit about music ensembles. I just wanted to circle back and make sure that this question was answered. "Do you know specifically when audition materials will be available for the music ensembles that have not been suspended?"

Charles Hansen (00:52:16):
I suspect that those will be able to be accessed by students on our website probably not before the end of this week. It could be maybe the beginning of next week. We're actually working on that right now. Mark [Oline 00:52:32] has built some really, really informative and beautiful web pages to help with that process. We haven't published them yet and we hope we'll have all of that information up really soon.

Pam Meadows (00:52:47):
Thank you. This next question is, "What will Music 100 requirements look like for next semester?"

Charles Hansen (00:53:04):
Katie?

Katie Runkel (00:53:07):
I'm happy to answer and Chuck can chime in as well, please. We have done a lot of work reformatting the Music 100 course and you may have seen some changes to your Music 100 course. The title now states concerts, productions and common hour, I believe is the way it's phrased, and so, recital hours have been pulled off of Music 100. The only time associated to Music 100 currently is the common hour, Monday at 12:20. Our hope is to offer multiple lectures at 12:20, whether it be guests that we bring in to speak and then utilize university components such as Panopto as a live streaming service that the university subscribes to through the hall onto the Canvas shell for Music 100 so students can view it in a social distance way.

Katie Runkel (00:54:08):
Down the road I envision, I hope, that we can have students in the hall in a social distanced manner. That's something that we need to work out the logistics for. The other requirement in Music 100 is attending recitals or viewing recitals. We've envisioned this a few ways. We've built a school of music recital Canvas shell. This is a supplemental shell, so students that have come in in the last few years have utilized supplemental shells for their theory assessment. It's something that you get invited to, but it's zero credits, zero cost and something that we can enroll you in.

Katie Runkel (00:54:47):
Our hope and what we've worked out logistics for is to have a library of all of the recitals that are occurring in fall and in spring if it needs to occur that way in this School of Music recital shell. You can view the recital for your Music 100 requirement. You can also view the recital to participate and to support your colleagues during this time. We are retrofitting multiple rooms in Frasier with software needed to view and to have quality audio on these recitals. We're also ensuring that [Milne 00:55:27] has that material and the rehearsal hall in Campus Commons. Chuck?

Charles Hansen (00:55:37):
Katie, that's absolutely true. A couple of weeks ago, I assembled my team and we really went through these spaces. This would include Milan. What was it? 24990, the rehearsal room, Campus Commons Performance and really look at what we've got in there in terms of technology. In the Campus Commons Performance Hall for example, we've been struggling with some streaming because just simply the microphones weren't really the kind of quality we needed for that space. We've really gone and found the budget to take care of that. In the rehearsal room in Campus Commons, we're going to be redoing lighting. There'll be cameras moved into that facility that are going to allow for some of the things like this.

Charles Hansen (00:56:27):
I'm really excited about students being able to access other students recitals anytime through this Canvas shell that Katie's talking about. We will be able to have recitals, live recitals in the Campus Commons rehearsal room, Milan Auditorium 90 and other spaces. They will be limited in terms of the audience that can be in those spaces, but we will have that going forward. I'm looking actually forward to having a lot more of an invigorated online presence and students being able to see what other colleagues are doing.

Katie Runkel (00:57:16):
Our hope is that this depository or library of recitals that we're creating can just continue growing so that we're able to be a full community and always be able to then access recitals across all the areas. Some students are busy in times where they cannot go to a brass recital or a voice recital or a percussion recital or whatever it is. This gives us a new opportunity to always be able to view your colleagues' recitals.

Pam Meadows (00:57:50):
Great, thank you both so much. The next question asks, "Will there be any opportunities for vocal groups to perform together, for instance, outside in the Garden Theatre or at all during the fall?"

Charles Hansen (00:58:10):
Pam, I bet a lot of people have been reading this. Singing, in particular, is an unusual thing and that we are aerosolizing as we do this in a way that we might not with just normal conversation. Going back to a point that Shelly made earlier, we've been, since May, paying very close attention to what national groups are saying, like MTNA and other things. There's been a lot of research done around this. It is an impractical thing to do. We can't schedule courses outdoors. That might be one way of doing it, but what I've seen is that it is somewhat impractical at this time. Singing through a mask is also perhaps a little bit difficult, although I do know one of our faculty members in the School of Music has come up with a very clever windowed mask.

Charles Hansen (00:59:16):
I believe that we're going to have some real challenges around singing. Casual groups that want to get together in magical outdoors or do something like that, that's going to be probably a choice that students can make, but certainly not something that will be related to a course that is officially offered through the School of Music.

Pam Meadows (00:59:44):
Thank you. This next question, "Will students be able to bring their own kit to the drum set practice rooms?"

Charles Hansen (00:59:54):
Yeah, it's funny. I was trying to answer this and then typing in there. Even in the best of times and I can't remember the student's name who asked the question, even in the best of times, we have been really sorely limited with respect to set practice rooms, okay? It takes a lot of space and it takes a lot of time just to simply set the thing up and then take it back. I believe that you should plan on bringing your set with you and I know that your storage cabinets that are in Frasier 63 that are for that purpose. What the student may have to do is actually check out a room, set up the kit, work, disassemble, return to 63.

Charles Hansen (01:00:42):
I think that's going to be the best solution we can offer there, but even in normal times, we've really struggled with the number of physical spaces that we have available for students to practice set.

Pam Meadows (01:01:05):
Thank you. The next question is, "What will performances look like when it comes to music and especially theater?

Charles Hansen (01:01:17):
You first, Shelly.

Shelly Gaza (01:01:18):
Sure. For theater, we don't know yet. There are two conversations happening simultaneously. One is there's a committee on campus. Chuck and Lynn are a part of it along with Jay Dinges and John Rhodes from ticketing. We're all working together to figure out if we are able to have some public performance, what the capacity would be for those ticket sales. It's another advantage of us moving our theatre productions in the fall to Langworthy stage because, in theory, we might be able to have a performance for as many as, say, 100 audience members. Much reduced from our 520 capacity that Langworthy normally has, but potentially, we might be able to invite a small audience into those performances.

Shelly Gaza (01:02:12):
We're waiting to see because like everything, it's really changing rapidly, but that's one scenario and certainly one that we will do if the state allows, the university allows it, if we feel it's safe. If we aren't able to do actually have a live audience, we're looking at options for streaming performances, so that we can share what's happening live on the stage to a virtual audience instead of an actual in-person audience. Those are the two scenarios that we are exploring in tandem as we get closer to the semester.

Charles Hansen (01:02:51):
It's challenging in terms of the space. It's like, what is it? Norton Theatre over in Gray Hall. I think the capacity there ended up being 11 people in that space including the actors and audience. It's very impractical like that. Shelly mentioned we've been working with Jay and John on planning how to seat people in Campus Commons Performance Hall, including being able to maybe family wants to sit together. It's one thing. You don't just want to take off every fifth seat and that's where you can sit, but we do know that we have some capacity in that facility for performances.

Charles Hansen (01:03:37):
Similarly, in the Campus Commons Rehearsal Hall, Milan auditorium. All of the spaces have been identified with a COVID capacity. What I think is going to be a thing that we need to also think about is how do we get in and out of performance. I'm going to have a combo concert at Campus Commons Performance Hall. How do we steer the audience into it? How do we get them out? What about backstage? How do we do all of that stuff? They're going to be some one way hallways. There'll be ways in and out. We'll have some stanchions up that will try to control how it's doing.

Charles Hansen (01:04:22):
Again, I want to emphasize that certainly in my career, I've never had to control an audience like that, right? You just open the doors, everybody comes in. We're going to have to be thoughtful about that. In Campus Commons, we are a little bit lucky and the balcony and the floor are treated as actually, I think Jay was telling me, two separate rooms with their own capacity levels. We're going to be doing everything we can to accommodate performances, but it's going to be unusual, but I know that a live performance is not only going to be incredible for our students, but you can imagine the whole community and university community is really waiting to see some live music, waiting to hear what's going on. We want to accommodate that in every way we can.

Pam Meadows (01:05:26):
Thank you. That kind of plays into another question we had that you've addressed but, "What measures are being taken to ensure the safety of students and the audience during performances?" Is there anything else you'd like to add in reference to that question?

Charles Hansen (01:05:43):
With respect to the performers, we are diligently following all the guidelines set out by the State of Colorado in terms of spacing between individuals. I think probably six foot or eight foot is what's going on now. If you look at what the International Association of musicians is describing, they're looking at even greater distances up to 10 feet. We are trying to make sure that our setups and everything are accommodating the highest level of standards for those things. The audiences, even back in late May, we started looking at the floor plan for our performance spaces and putting big giant six-foot diameter circles and nine-foot diameter circles inside the drawings to see what we could do.

Charles Hansen (01:06:44):
It is really important that when someone comes to a concert, I want them to be able to focus on what's on stage. I don't want them to worry about their safety within that facility. Certainly everybody's going to have masks on in the audience, but it is going to be spaced and we will have a limited number of people that are able to do this. We are, across all the schools in the institution, trying to really make sure that we think about these kinds of things. In music, it is a particular problem. It just is. Hopefully by the time we have the first concert, I think that's maybe in the beginning of October, we'll have a lot of these details sorted out.

Pam Meadows (01:07:42):
Thank you. This next question is concerned with marching band. "Could someone please speak to what marching band might look like for new students?"

Charles Hansen (01:07:57):
Well, I have been working with Gary Hall, he's the director of the Pride of the Rockies Marching Band and our director of bands, Wes Broadnax for several weeks on this issue. There is nothing to compare to the Pride of Rockies Marching Band. It is part not only of the School of Music but is a very identifiable presence for the university, right? It is important to our students and is important to the university community. I know that we will have a version of marching band this fall. That's the fact. We will probably end up treating it and I don't want to speak for Gary Hall or Wes here, but I know in conversation, I'm not probably not letting any secrets out here, we will probably have a large socially distanced group.

Charles Hansen (01:08:56):
Maybe they play in the stands. I'm not sure. There'll probably not be any on-field marching, okay? There will likely be an in-field socially distanced concert setup. I believe that Dr. Hall has done some communication to students already with respect to what the schedule is. Yeah, the Marching Band Camp isn't going to be going on this summer, but I expect that we will have a pretty significant presence in marching band. This is going to actually be the largest ensemble that we have going. In fact, the other day Katie and I realized this and we actually opened up a graduate section for marching band.

Charles Hansen (01:09:47):
If you're on online today and you're a graduate student and you want to go below some in the marching band, you can actually sign up for coursework under that.

Pam Meadows (01:10:02):
Thank you. We have a few more questions related to social distancing, health and safety procedures. "Will a cloth covering be required for brass instruments?"

Charles Hansen (01:10:16):
That is going to be dependent on what you're trying to do. If you were taking a private lesson, obviously, it's not going to be problematic. First of all, you can't play any of the brass instruments with face covering. I think I've actually seen some people have little cutouts and stuff like that and it's all good and cute. What I've seen and expressed in some documentation and guidance is that when you are not playing that you replace the mask, okay? That may mean you need to have a little bit more clever design masks than the ones I've got floating around here.

Charles Hansen (01:11:00):
It's going to be a thing where you're going to have to work it out with the ensemble directors and really be mindful. It's important to realize that wearing a mask is not only about keeping other people's stuff away from you, but also keeping your stuff from other people. I believe that the way we've got ensembles plotted out for the semester that we will have a great deal of safety around that, but if you're sitting there counting rests, then it's time to put the mask back on.

Pam Meadows (01:11:42):
Thank you. This next question, "In terms of bathrooms in the PVA academic halls, what changes will take place in regard to health procedures during the pandemic?"

Lynn Cornelius (01:11:58):
I can field this one. One of the things that we've been looking at is all of our spaces, including bathrooms, there are going to be signs posted in every room of every building that have a number of COVID capacity including restrooms. Certainly in the cases of the Arts Annex, Guggenheim Hall and Crabbe Hall, the strategy is to simply tape off the middle stall so that we're limiting in sinks, so that those will be limited capacities and there might be a wait, so that's something that we'll all have to negotiate, but that will be certainly something that'll be taped off.

Shelly Gaza (01:12:53):
I actually haven't received information yet on the theatre buildings as far as what the restroom capacities or cleaning regimens are. Of course, in theatre, we operate in Frasier. Chuck, I don't know if you have any information on Frasier with restrooms. I haven't received any information on Gray Hall restrooms or specifically the third floor of Crabbe yet where we have our dance studios.

Charles Hansen (01:13:18):
I think what we'll find is that restrooms in particular will be what they deep cleaned at night. I don't know what that entails, but that's going to be a lot more than what probably has been done just normally going forward. I suspect that whatever happens in Frasier and Guggenheim and Crabbe is going to be in alignment with what's going on across the university. Facilities doesn't have an army working for them. I think when they get in there in the evenings, they're going to be doing their level best. I know that they spent a lot of time and a lot of manpower and money trying to anticipate and look forward to what we're dealing with when we come back in the fall and make it as safe and practical for students if possible.

Pam Meadows (01:14:16):
Thank you, Chuck. We have a follow-up question in regard to the cloth covering with brass instruments question. The student wanted to clarify that he meant to ask, "Is the covering required over the instrument bell?

Charles Hansen (01:14:33):
That's a great question actually. I don't want to get down into the weeds with this, but I find this interesting. There were some studies done in a couple of European orchestras which measured that vapor transmission. Playing with a covering over the bell might be interesting and all and I think that's going to be something that you just have to talk to your ensemble director about, your private teacher. Putting a cloth covering over the end of a bell will, of course, affect the way the instrument plays. You won't have the same resonance. You won't have the same sort of ... Well, you'll have more resistance against airflow. It's going to affect what you're doing.

Charles Hansen (01:15:28):
I haven't seen that specified in any of the documentation that I've been sort of peeking at as I've gone along trying to figure out what we're going to do. Yeah, you can't play the trombone with a mask on or the trumpet or the horn or the clarinet or the flute or the bassoon, all of these things. That's not going to be the thing. Some people will be clever, will have a mask and they'll play the trumpet through that, but I think it's important to know that when you're not playing that you need to put the mask back on and how do you do that quickly? Do you have a mask that you can do with one hand?

Charles Hansen (01:16:07):
I think as we move into this, we'll see, "Oh, this is what we should be doing, right?" No, there are not going to be any rules that I know about yet with respect to covering the ends or the bells of the instruments.

Pam Meadows (01:16:28):
Thank you. Thanks for the clarification. That's all the questions that we have for today's forum. Thank you all for joining us and asking such great questions. A reminder that each college has a forum this week or next. You can find details at unco.edu/visit. For information regarding UNC's efforts to maintain a healthy campus this fall, please visit unco.edu/returntocampus and unco.edu/coronavirus. I believe the link to both of these websites will be provided to you in the chat. We are happy to welcome you. We are happy to welcome you too or welcome you back to the Bear community. We can't wait to see you in the fall. Thank you again for joining us.