Friday, August 7, 2020
Dear DFPA Faculty & Staff,
It’s hard to think of welcoming you back to the community for the Fall semester when I know most all of you haven’t left the community at all for our normal summer break—in the sense that we’ve all been preoccupied with logistics, schedules, navigation of access to spaces and resources for ourselves and our students, assembling resources (both digital and analog) for our courses to maximize the effectiveness of the online format we’re facing. Let me take this moment to thank you all for your intense commitment and dedication to this process, and I hope you will receive the recognition for many of your efforts, which are indeed going “above and beyond.” I also thank you for your patience as I navigate the transition to Chair during this period that’s filled with ambiguity and evolving information. Know that I will continue to operate with as much transparency and urgency in communicating with the Division Directors and with you, as is possible.
The Fall 2020 semester is just around the corner. What follows is important information to get you started in the new academic year. The DFPA Administrative staff has worked to compile a body of links to information that will help support you in the next week as you prepare for classes. The three most significant to us now look to be the Required Personal Safety Practices, the Workplace Guidelines and the Office of Online Learning. Many issues will become clearer between now and our opening DFPA meeting on Monday, August 17, and I anticipate providing you with updated information at that time. We will continue to provide monthly DFPA Newsletters on the first Friday of each month with revised policies and plans, at least through the period that we work remotely.
If you are a non-tenure track faculty member, full or part-time, you must be a part of the SIEU union. There are several policies and procedures pertaining to non-tenured faculty. You can find a copy of the ratified contract as well as our departmental area representatives here.
To assist you in planning your classes and creating syllabi, please consult pertinent information on our DFPA website home page under Faculty and Staff Resources. Should you have questions throughout the semester and cannot find what you need, contact Patricia Moore, DFPA Administrative Assistant at pmoore2@luc.edu for assistance.
Contact the Division Director for all curriculum questions:
If you have not done so already, you may order books or materials through Loyola University’s bookstore.
We are still awaiting delivery of some part-time contracts, and will turn them around to you as soon as we receive them. It is imperative that part-time faculty sign their contracts as soon as they receive them so that stipends can be awarded in a timely manner. Faculty teaching applied lessons will receive those contracts after the first week of class, once enrollment is finalized.
The first full DFPA Faculty and Staff meeting of the year is on August 17th at 1:30 PM via ZOOM. Please look for an invitation from Patricia Moore between now and then. Division Directors will contact full and part time faculty about their specific division meetings.
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Faculty Access to Office and Academic Spaces
An email was recently sent to all faculty regarding pre-semester campus access. In conjunction with the Mundelein access dates of August 13th, 18th, & 21st a staff member will be stationed in the DFPA Main Office on those dates from 11:00am – 2:00pm so that faculty can pick-up mail, packages, etc. All employees are expected to follow these protocols when visiting campus: Required Personal Safety Practices and Workplace Guidelines.
We are still awaiting feedback from the Campus Continuity Group as to whether or not faculty can access their offices and academic spaces during the fall semester. If approved, all access will be limited and will need to be scheduled in advance with the Operations and Concert Manager.
Over the course of the semester, it is our intent to have limited hours that the DFPA Main Office (Suite 1200) would have a staff member present. If we receive approval for our plans, we’ll communicate out those details as it relates to potential support and access to printing, scanning and other office resources. If you have any immediate concerns please feel free to reach out to Patricia Moore at pmoore2@luc.edu.
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Syllabi & Office Hours
Our department is required to have a copy of each of the syllabi of courses being taught at the beginning of the semester. We have prepared some guidance on assembling your syllabi here. Additionally all faculty are expected to post and hold office hours weekly. If you are teaching less than 3 credits, it should be one hour a week, more than three credits at least two hours a week. Please submit both your syllabi and office hours by September 6, using this form.
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Teaching Resources
As you have heard from the Dean and CFO of the University, there is a predicted budget shortfall of over 50 million dollars this year. As a result all of our operating budgets have been reduced by 50%, we are also working with the Finance Office to work through eliminating or reducing our lab fees on courses for this semester. This is to say that resources are very limited this year, for a variety of reasons, but if you are in need of materials or equipment to appropriately support the teaching of your courses, we want to try and supply those materials if possible. If there is still some shortfall in your needs, please submit the following request form, it is suggested you do so as soon as possible to anticipate supply chain interruptions and increased delivery times. In almost all cases, materials would be shipped directly to your homes.
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Engaging Guest Artists
While resources are constrained this year, if you have a desire to bring a guest to your class or have masterclass programming you would like to develop, it is encouraged you reach out to discuss with your division director first. After you have been approved, please complete the Guest Artist Payment Form.
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Adobe Creative Suite "at home"
If you are teaching a class that requires Adobe Creative Cloud access, note that we are centrally coordinating that access for students with ITS. You do not need to contact them directly; rosters are being sent and individual students will be issued an “at home” license through this program for the semester.
- Initial rosters have been communicated to ITS and will be re-sent at the beginning of the semester to address registration changes. If you have questions about whether your class is included, please reach out to April Browning at abrowni@luc.edu.
- If you need personal access to Adobe Creative Cloud, you should complete a service request through the ITS Service Portal, search “Adobe Creative Cloud Access” is the search bar.
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Music Studio Access & Instrument Storage
We are still awaiting a final decision regarding student and faculty access to the first floor Music Studios and Instrument Storage in Mundelein. If access is granted, we will develop a process for reserving practice space and instrumental storage that will be shared with faculty and all eligible students.
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Student Instrument Rental
The Department maintains a limited inventory of musical instruments that are rented to music students for $40 per semester on a first-come, first-served basis. Students interested in renting a DFPA-owned wind or string instrument should complete and submit an Instrument Usage Contract. After submitting the Instrument Usage Contract, the Operations and Concert Manager will respond to confirm the availability of the instrument requested and provide instructions for payment and pick-up. Instruments must be returned before students depart campus for the Thanksgiving holiday. The Operations and Concert Manager will contact all renters with instrument return instructions.
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Artist in Residence, Aram Han Sifuentes
The DFPA is most pleased to welcome the most recent of our highly successful Artists in Residence, Aram Han Sifuentes. Please meet her in this introduction on the DFPA page, and her website. We look forward to what she and our community will be able to create in the upcoming year. A Keynote Conversation with Aram will be scheduled for October, details to follow.
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Virtual Performances
This semester all of our public programming will be virtual, primarily over Zoom.
Our ever-evolving listing of events and where tickets can be reserved/purchased is still here: artsevents.luc.edu. Please include this in your syllabi.
Faculty and staff may request comps via the comp request form for events that have a ticket fee.
To increase the accessibilty of our performances we have reduced ticket prices to our Newhart productions and have many free performances as well. Patrons will also be able to choose to pay more for a ticket if they are able.
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Hosting a Virtual Event
It remains important that the coordination of our virtual programming be centralized. To do this, we will need your assistance.
When we hosted events on campus we needed to coordinate spaces, staffing, resources, and publicity to ensure that events were successful and well supported. In our virtual format, while the physical location of events has changed all of the other considerations remain. We have a responsibility to ensure that important events do not conflict, are appropriately supported and staffed, are effectively publicized and presented to our audiences with some measure of consistency.
If you are planning on creating or hosting an event that moves beyond your typical classroom meetings, we ask that you submit the information to us to determine what category it would fall under and the potential support that is needed. In the coming weeks we will be developing a submission form to collect this information on the DFPA Faculty and Staff Resources page. Below is some information to help you discern your type of event. If you have questions please contact Jennie Martin (jmart22@luc.edu).
Private Event (individual meetings with students, colleagues, small group meetings, classes)
- Link is not publicized in any way, only sent directly to those attending the meeting
- No need for a level of formality/control over attendees
- You schedule & send out a zoom meeting link
Large Private/Internal Event (meetings with 10+ people, townhalls, official deparment meetings, committee meetings)
- Link is not publicized outside of the University, but is needed for internal coordinating purposes
- Messages may want to be sent to students or over sakai
- Multiple hosts necessary
- Fill out the form on the DFPA Faculty Staff Resources Page
Semi-Public Event (convocation/orientation, receptions, Second Stage/student led projects)
- There is a very focused, internal audience, but the link to the event wants to be publicized (on our websites)
- To prevent zoom-bombing registration (or a password that is circulated less publicly) is recommended
- Potentially a need for a distinction between audience and presenter (though, not necessarily). This could be that attendees' cameras or mics are muted upon entry or that a waiting room is established where folks are admitted from when the presenters are ready.
- Fill out the form on the DFPA Faculty Staff Resources Page
Public Event (Dance Concert, Scenes from The Odyssey, The Wolves)
- Highly publicized
- Complex technical elements
- High need for control over what the audience sees & how they can/can’t interact
- Charged admission
- Fill out the form on the DFPA Faculty Staff Resources Page
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Telling Our Story & Promoting Our Events
This fall the Marketing & Communications office is seeking to highlight PROCESS and ADAPTATION during this unique Fall semester in a digital environment. We’re putting out on ongoing call for the following items to feature either on the website or on social media:
Student work
As the semester gets under way, keep an eye out for stand-out student work that is either in-progress or finished. We want to feature student process and progress, student research and writing, as well as you and your class topic.
Classroom/studio adaptations
What forms of content delivery are you experimenting with? How are you adapting arts instruction – demos, presentations, technique instruction, feedback/critique structures – in this digital environment? What translates? What does a rehearsal look like now? What does an applied lesson look like now? What unique challenges are you working through in your particular discipline? How are your students embracing or resisting our new online environment? What things are you trying out to sustain a sense of classroom/studio community? How are issues of racial justice, political change, and public health being foregrounded in your classes? How are these conversations intentionally or unintentionally coming up in the online classroom in relation to the fine and performing arts? Please be in touch if you’re interested in inviting us into your online class.
For submissions, ideas, or related questions, please contact Jose Perez at jperez32@luc.edu
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Updated Contact Information
It is important for a variety of reasons that we have your updated home phone and address while we are working remotely, please complete this form to update our records. Thank you!
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Faculty Profile Updates
If you do not currently have a faculty profile on the DFPA website or would like to update your profile, please complete and submit the Biography and Headshot Form. Faculty pages are among the most frequently visited pages on our website. Students often look up faculty when they’re shopping for classes so it is important to keep your profile current.
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Phone and Internet Reimbursement Requests
Due to COVID-19 and needing to teach and work remotely all university employees who incur costs for using personal cell phone and/or home Internet data plans are eligible for reimbursement of such costs up to a total of $50 per month. Faculty are eligible for reimbursement starting September 2020 – December 2020. To request your reimbursement please complete this form. If you have any questions related to Phone/Internet Reimbursement, please reach out to Patricia @ pmoore2@luc.edu.
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Descriptions/Instructions for applications can be found here.
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I look forward to starting the wild ride that Fall 2020 promises to be—I am continually impressed by your creativity, your passion and your commitment to our students. I look forward to facing the current challenges with you.
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Mark E. Lococo, PhD
Professor, Chair
Department of Fine and Performing Arts
Loyola University Chicago
mlococo@luc.edu
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