The School of Theatre decided Thursday to keep its popular theatre minor, though changes will be made.

"[Faculty, staff and administration at all levels] are working in good faith to come up with a good solution," Dan Carter, director of the School of Theatre said. "We are probably going to ultimately have to propose changes to the curriculum."

The school does not want to eliminate the minor and cause problems for students, Carter said, adding that the school's No. 1 priority is that no one's graduation is held up.

The school has made some tentative changes to deal with the issues that have arisen from an overcrowded minor, Carter said.

The problem with the program's popularity is upperclassmen are registering for lower-level theatre courses, prohibiting underclassmen students pursuing a theatre major from getting into those courses, Carter said earlier this week.

"Right now we are looking at a combination of temporary control of courses to ensure majors can get into their necessary classes," Carter said. "Then we will open the courses to minors, giving special care to seniors who need the minor to graduate."

Carter said these "admission-control" provisions are in the short-term to guarantee priority to theatre majors.

While theatre majors are benefiting, some students planning to minor in theatre are concerned that they may not be able to register for the classes they want.

"I'm very worried at this point," Steph Burke (junior-film) said. "They really just sent us out an e-mail saying we may not be able to finish our minor, leaving us no room to prepare."

Another student, Cody Robinson, is a student at Penn State Berks and has been preparing to pursue a minor in theatre when she transfers next year to University Park.

"I already have 6 credits under my belt that are supposed to be able to transfer, but at this point I'm not sure what is going to happen," Robinson (sophomore-broadcast journalism) said.

Robinson said if the theatre courses continue to be admission-controlled, it could set her back a semester or more. As broadcast journalism major, she is required to have a minor to graduate.

"It may cost me extra or I may have to take summer classes, but theatre is such a big passion of mine," Robinson said.

In the long-term plans, other changes are being considered.

"We want to keep a liberal eye on appropriate substitutions for theatre classes," Carter said.

One example of a course substitution for minors could be to take a comparative literature or Shakespeare class in exchange for a theatre course that was full.

"We will look favorably on any appropriate substitution and not be restrictive as long as it is reasonable," Carter said. "However, we don't want to cause problems for colleagues in other units."

Ultimately, the short-term goal for the school is to take out the sense of anxiety from students, Carter said.

"We try not to be dramatic unintentionally," Carter said.By Leslie Finlay

COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER | ljf5017@psu.edu

The School of Theatre decided Thursday to keep its popular theatre minor, though changes will be made.

"[Faculty, staff and administration at all levels] are working in good faith to come up with a good solution," Dan Carter, director of the School of Theatre said. "We are probably going to ultimately have to propose changes to the curriculum."

The school does not want to eliminate the minor and cause problems for students, Carter said, adding that the school's No. 1 priority is that no one's graduation is held up.

The school has made some tentative changes to deal with the issues that have arisen from an overcrowded minor, Carter said.

The problem with the program's popularity is upperclassmen are registering for lower-level theatre courses, prohibiting underclassmen students pursuing a theatre major from getting into those courses, Carter said earlier this week.

"Right now we are looking at a combination of temporary control of courses to ensure majors can get into their necessary classes," Carter said. "Then we will open the courses to minors, giving special care to seniors who need the minor to graduate."

Carter said these "admission-control" provisions are in the short-term to guarantee priority to theatre majors.

While theatre majors are benefiting, some students planning to minor in theatre are concerned that they may not be able to register for the classes they want.

"I'm very worried at this point," Steph Burke (junior-film) said. "They really just sent us out an e-mail saying we may not be able to finish our minor, leaving us no room to prepare."

Another student, Cody Robinson, is a student at Penn State Berks and has been preparing to pursue a minor in theatre when she transfers next year to University Park.

"I already have 6 credits under my belt that are supposed to be able to transfer, but at this point I'm not sure what is going to happen," Robinson (sophomore-broadcast journalism) said.

Robinson said if the theatre courses continue to be admission-controlled, it could set her back a semester or more. As broadcast journalism major, she is required to have a minor to graduate.

"It may cost me extra or I may have to take summer classes, but theatre is such a big passion of mine," Robinson said.

In the long-term plans, other changes are being considered.

"We want to keep a liberal eye on appropriate substitutions for theatre classes," Carter said.

One example of a course substitution for minors could be to take a comparative literature or Shakespeare class in exchange for a theatre course that was full.

"We will look favorably on any appropriate substitution and not be restrictive as long as it is reasonable," Carter said. "However, we don't want to cause problems for colleagues in other units."

Ultimately, the short-term goal for the school is to take out the sense of anxiety from students, Carter said.

"We try not to be dramatic unintentionally," Carter said.