Schools with Cut Policies

College Majors Musical Theater Major
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<p>I just posted this on another thread (and it reinforces what Johanna's mom just posted):</p>

<p>I'll speak to what I know personally: both CMU and UMich have jury-type formal evaluations, but neither school cuts.</p>

<p>(Note: I say “jury-type” evals b/c I’m not sure what they are called at CMU – although I do know their general process, as I will describe in a sec – and b/c at UM, they are called Sophomore Evals.)</p>

<p>CMU: At the end of each semester, students have conferences with each of their faculty people in which their work is analyzed and recommendations made. If a student has been doing very poorly in classwork, he or she may be asked to leave (freshmen) or to take a semester off (upperclassmen). I don’t know what the returning process is for those who are asked to take a semester off, but I do know that students can refuse to leave as long as they aren’t failing any requirements and that this must be, and has been, honored in the very recent past. (In other words, a student refused to leave and stayed, got cast, graduated…) In addition, I hear a great deal about this process from my former students who are at CMU, and the students who are “on the bubble” are almost always bringing it upon themselves through dumb lifestyle choices like too much partying and then skipping a lot of class. Believe me, the CMU faculty acts as compassionate educators to try to ease especially the younger students through such “normal” college transitions, giving them chances to redeem themselves and bring their work up to speed. (I have at least one current example in mind.) This situation is VERY different from the old, infamous cut system employed by CMU up until about the early 90’s (maybe mid-90’s?), when they admitted a freshmen class intending to cut half of them at the end of sophomore year.</p>

<p>UMich: I refrained from posting yesterday in response to goldfiftyone’s implication that UMich employs a kind of "secret" cut policy – but I did verify what I thought to be true: in the last 7 years at least (this is as far back as I could verify for certain), no student has left UMich because he or she was asked to do so. (A few have left to work or b/c of personal circumstances and decisions.) UMich has a very rigorous evaluation process at the end of sophomore year which culminates in conferences in which each student is told his strengths and weaknesses. Faculty may recommend that a student pursue another field, but they do not ask people to leave the program, and the choice of how to proceed is the student's choice alone.
One reason I am such a staunch supporter of the UMich program is because I have watched closely what fantastic and holistic EDUCATORS make up that program. They instill the highest degree of professional behavior and certainly artistic skill, but they also hold strongly to the idea that the environment be a nurturing place for true personal and professional GROWTH. This is the very first thing students hear Brent Wagner, the head of the program, say on the day of their audition, and I have watched it be totally true with my students who are going through and have gone through that program. I will never forget the very first time I saw this nurturing philosophy in action, up-close-and-personal: I was attending a production at the end of a year and saw a young woman crying and being hugged by students. Turns out she was a freshman who had been accepted as an MT but also had other academic interests, and at the end of 1st semester, she dropped out of the MT program to pursue these (still at UM). I saw her at the end of that semester away from MT, and she was heartbroken b/c she realized how much she missed it. (I got all of the details of this story later). She later formally approached Brent Wagner for reentry into the program, and after much rigorous talking with her, he recognized her passion and in essence told her, “That kind of exploration is what college is for.” She returned to the program, graduated, and landed a HUGE professional gig immediately!!! </p>

<p>As goldfiftyone has stated, some people prefer a more “rigorous” environment – but UM and CMU are both environments where personal “rigor” and professional/artistic rigor are clearly separated, and as a longtime educator, I find that model absolutely as valid as any other.</p>

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<p>Bravo! College is still about education in my book and honing your skills. MT is not the only program that "cuts" - I was an engineering student (many moons ago) and I watched folks who couldn't make the grade, get asked to change majors. Some did, some did not - some succeeded and some failed. BUt help was there, we did not live in FEAR and our professors were educators who cared about us and our learning. FIrst and foremost, it has to be about STUDENTS and LEARNING!</p>

<p>MikksMom</p>

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<h2>This passage is from materials from a leadership class(Kouzes and Posner) which I teach. When I posted last night, this is what I had in mind.</h2>

<p>There’s a scene in the film adaptation of Muriel Spark’s classic, The
Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, during which Headmistress McKay calls
Miss Brodie to her office to chastise Miss Brodie for her somewhat
unorthodox teaching methods. Headmistress McKay comments on
the precocity of Miss Brodie’s students. Miss Brodie accepts this as a
compliment, not a criticism, and says:</p>

<p>“To me education is a leading out. The word education comes
from the root ‘ex,’ meaning ‘out,’ and ‘duco,’ ‘I lead.’ To me
education is simply a leading out of what is already there.”</p>

<p>To this Headmistress McKay responds rather haughtily, saying,</p>

<p>“I had hoped there might also be a certain amount of putting in.”</p>

<p>Miss Brodie laughs at this notion and replies, </p>

<p>“That would not be education, but intrusion.”</p>

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<p>It is all about education, isn't it? After all, that is why we are sending our children to college...to acquire an education! In my field there were those "weed out" classes. In some cases it lowered the precious GPA, but for others it made students pursue other avenues. But, even if you did not pass, you had the opporunity to turn around, go back and do it all over again. (Very few chose this route!) You see, options in education, and it was the choice of the student. I think it took more to go back and take these courses KNOWING what was ahead. It proved that this is what they wanted to do. I won't even bring up outside circumstances that come into lives making it impossible to do your best. (I do hope that ANY program would work with a student who is dealing with a tragedy!) Anyway, I still stand by accepting what you can handle. If a school can train and teach 60 students in a class, then Bravo!! If the other school's numbers are 10, then that should be the accepting number. I do not like taking students, knowing that this is more than the program can handle. I am for re-directing if this is not the path they should choose, but it sounds as if some programs cut very talented students that WANT this as their life. But, I still stand by saying if you select a program (school) knowing there is a cut after fresh or soph year, then YOU should always have that plan B in your pocket. We were well aware of the schools that did an obvious "cut" after a year or two-we had to ask questions-but we knew their policy.</p>

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<p>bumping for rachelle</p>