Beginning in Fall 2022, the USC School of Dramatic Arts is converting 18 theater classes from two units to four units.
The unit conversion will align the hours of classroom and rehearsal time with the unit value for the course. The courses that are being changed from two to four units are courses that require roughly four hours of classroom instruction and rehearsal per week.
The unit conversion was announced in a memo to SDA students from Dean Emily Roxworthy on March 7, 2022. In the memo, Dean Roxworthy said the change was being made because “the unit amounts were dramatically out of compliance with the amount of time and labor we were requiring of students who enrolled in them.”
Dean Roxbury acknowledged in the memo that the changes were inconvenient, but affirmed that the change was necessary to promote student health, wellness and work-life balance.
“The factor that motivated [this policy] was the imbalance between the number of hours a student is expected to work in a class versus the unit value. It was really affecting the health and wellness of our students.” SDA Vice Dean Lori Ray Fisher said in an interview with Annenberg Media.
Fisher also noted that a lot of courses within the acting track had a four-unit time commitment of in-class instruction, although the course was only two units. This resulted in students putting a greater amount of courses in their course plan, but they did not receive adequate academic credit for the amount of time they were putting in.
Shaina Franks, a sophomore double-majoring in theatre and business administration, said that so far, she hasn’t taken any theater classes where she felt that the workload was too much for the academic credit she was receiving.
“The only classes that I feel like that might apply to are the classes where you’re required to crew for a show,” Franks said.
Although 18 courses are shifting to four units, the overall units required to obtain a Bachelor of Arts or a Bachelor of Fine Arts in either musical theatre or acting for stage, screen and new media remain the same. SDA’s policy ensures that no student that started at USC in Fall 2021 or earlier should have to stay for any additional semesters nor should it impede any SDA student’s ability to pursue a double major and/or minor.
“If you had to do 20 upper-divisional units when you were admitted, you’re still going to have to do 20 upper-divisional units. It just used to be that maybe that was eight or nine courses for you to get to 20. Right now, it’s going to be five or six. So you can still do the minor that you planned on, you can still do all of those things. It’s just going to be fewer courses.” Fisher added.
Since the policy decreases the amount of courses students can take per semester, many SDA students are seeing changes in their four-year course plans. Students will not be able to take as many elective courses as they did in years past, and those who choose to take more courses may have to pay extra tuition if they exceed 18 units.
One SDA student who anticipates exceeding 18 units next semester is Woohyun Suh, a sophomore majoring in theatre with an emphasis in acting. Suh said he plans to apply for the Academic Achievement Award, which rewards students with three more free units per semester. Prior to the unit conversion, Suh did not plan on applying for this award.
In addition to having to pay more to take the classes in their original course plans, some students also feel like they are missing out on opportunities to network and build connections with professors due to the reduced capacity to take elective courses.
“The whole point of coming to SDA is to work with the amazing professors that we have at our school. That’s the way you create connections and the way that you build a support system in this industry” Franks said. “Taking away those extra units from us, it feels like I’m going to miss out on working with more professors.”
To combat the concerns Franks described, SDA Dean Roxworthy is planning to institute ”The Multihyphenate Masterclass Series.” The series will consist of different professional artists offering workshops and courses to SDA students covering skill sets such as directing, writing, producing and design. The program is free to all SDA students, but is not eligible for academic credit.
“Our dean wants to make sure that we provide opportunity and exposure and training to our students,” Fischer said. “We think it’ll be great for health and wellness and balance, but we don’t want students to feel like they’re missing out.”
SDA is currently reviewing the entire school’s curriculum across all academic programs, beginning with the acting curriculum. According to Fisher, there will be, “future waves of implementation” and the unit conversion was the first step in SDA’s comprehensive curriculum assessment.
“I understand the reason for it, but I just wish they took in more of the student opinion on it because it feels like from everyone who I’ve talked to, they’re not really too happy about it.” Suh said.
Suh hopes the school will reevaluate its decisions as he feels SDA students’ opportunities, especially those who are double majoring or studying abroad, are becoming restricted. “They just don’t have the freedom to take classes that they actually want. So I just hope they reevaluate it,” he said.
Additionally, students who took the impacted courses in prior semesters will not see any unit adjustments on their transcripts, due to university policy, according to Fisher.
The School of Dramatic Arts is having a Dean’s Forum on Monday, April 4, 2022, from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. in Stauffer Science Lecture Hall (SLH) Room 200 for students who have questions on the unit realignment for performance classes.