North Dakota State University
Report date
May 2017
What has been most instrumental to your progress?
Opportunities that just arise have an energy of their own that needs to be acknowledged and carefully directed.
It is one of our goals to create partnerships within our community. Working with partners not only helps us reach our goals; community partners often bring additional resources to the table.
However, projects that 'arrive' at your doorstep must already have a certain amount of energy and momentum behind them. When forming the partnership , it is essential that everyone acknowledge the investment that has already been made and address the resulting feelings of ownership. The energy of a motivated partner can be very attractive, but if the goals of the project are not clear and mutually held, the end result will likely be the dissipation of the energy and a loss of resources.
It is one of our goals to create partnerships within our community. Working with partners not only helps us reach our goals; community partners often bring additional resources to the table.
However, projects that 'arrive' at your doorstep must already have a certain amount of energy and momentum behind them. When forming the partnership , it is essential that everyone acknowledge the investment that has already been made and address the resulting feelings of ownership. The energy of a motivated partner can be very attractive, but if the goals of the project are not clear and mutually held, the end result will likely be the dissipation of the energy and a loss of resources.
Significant progress was also made through the process of creating a strategic plan. The discussions about how to integrate this work into our curriculum were very important. We thought we knew how to make this happen, that it was just a matter of getting everyone on board. But it turned out that the solution was quite different than we had imagined.
The obligation of the grant motivated us to make the time to discuss a strategic plan. The discussions which were moderately enthusiastic, led to the creation of strategic plan which, in all honesty, had really been pre-imagined. That proposal led to more discussion. Deeply held concerns were voiced and we realized that we were holding too tightly to a plan that wasn't going to work. The second strategic plan was a stronger reflection of the will of the department.
The obligation of the grant motivated us to make the time to discuss a strategic plan. The discussions which were moderately enthusiastic, led to the creation of strategic plan which, in all honesty, had really been pre-imagined. That proposal led to more discussion. Deeply held concerns were voiced and we realized that we were holding too tightly to a plan that wasn't going to work. The second strategic plan was a stronger reflection of the will of the department.
The strategic plan: an exciting plan for diversifying our students' skill sets and building community relationships. The plan calls for numerous smaller projects tied to course work and scheduled on a semesterly basis, instead of large intermittent, special projects. The projects will make use of skills in performing, designing, directing, writing, and producing.
This plan generated a high level of buy-in and became our way forward. Eventually we may build our capacity to enable engaging in larger scale projects but for the time being we will focus on multiple smaller projects.
This plan generated a high level of buy-in and became our way forward. Eventually we may build our capacity to enable engaging in larger scale projects but for the time being we will focus on multiple smaller projects.
Key lessons learned
Opportunities that just arise have an energy of their own that needs to be acknowledged and carefully directed.
It is one of our goals to create partnerships within our community. Working with partners not only helps us reach our goals; community partners often bring additional resources to the table.
However, projects that 'arrive' at your doorstep must already have a certain amount of energy and momentum behind them. When forming the partnership, it is essential that everyone acknowledge the investment that has already been made and address the resulting feelings of ownership. The energy of a motivated partner can be very attractive, but if the goals of the project are not clear and mutually held, the end of result will likely be a dissipation of the energy and a loss of resources.
It is one of our goals to create partnerships within our community. Working with partners not only helps us reach our goals; community partners often bring additional resources to the table.
However, projects that 'arrive' at your doorstep must already have a certain amount of energy and momentum behind them. When forming the partnership, it is essential that everyone acknowledge the investment that has already been made and address the resulting feelings of ownership. The energy of a motivated partner can be very attractive, but if the goals of the project are not clear and mutually held, the end of result will likely be a dissipation of the energy and a loss of resources.
There will not be a shortage of opportunity!
Students and community members respond to projects they see or hear about with project proposals of their own. We have been approached many times over and have had to develop ways of saying 'no thank you' without destroying relationships.
In the long run, success will be based in part on discretion. It will require carefully matching resources and projects
At the start, every project seems unique, but soon we hope we will be able to harvest the learning that will help us to be discerning in our choices. This is difficult when even the small projects are complex.
Frankly, we need lots of small iterations to develop our knowledge base. The more proposals to choose from, the better. Furthermore, it is always our hope to work from the outside in, letting the ideas initiate with our partners. Informed partners are key to the success. We have tried to provide some guidance through our web page and the content of that page will continue to evolve as we learn what works.
Students and community members respond to projects they see or hear about with project proposals of their own. We have been approached many times over and have had to develop ways of saying 'no thank you' without destroying relationships.
In the long run, success will be based in part on discretion. It will require carefully matching resources and projects
At the start, every project seems unique, but soon we hope we will be able to harvest the learning that will help us to be discerning in our choices. This is difficult when even the small projects are complex.
Frankly, we need lots of small iterations to develop our knowledge base. The more proposals to choose from, the better. Furthermore, it is always our hope to work from the outside in, letting the ideas initiate with our partners. Informed partners are key to the success. We have tried to provide some guidance through our web page and the content of that page will continue to evolve as we learn what works.
People resources are HUGE. One of our investigating partners moved to the east coast, creating a vacuum not only in our grant plan, but in the Fargo/Moorhead theatre community. Luckily, when we hired two new theatre faculty, the filled that vacuum was partially filled. Still, things took a new direction.
We are a faculty of artists and our personal vision informs/drives our work. Initially there was a concern that the new faculty members would 'get it' and 'get on board'. What became clear was that the 'it' had shifted slightly as the collective viewpoint shifted to include new areas of interest and expertise that had not been available to us before. These areas included a wealth of knowledge in areas of movement, devising, directing, and TYA (Theatre for Young Audiences).
We are a faculty of artists and our personal vision informs/drives our work. Initially there was a concern that the new faculty members would 'get it' and 'get on board'. What became clear was that the 'it' had shifted slightly as the collective viewpoint shifted to include new areas of interest and expertise that had not been available to us before. These areas included a wealth of knowledge in areas of movement, devising, directing, and TYA (Theatre for Young Audiences).
Reflections on the community innovation process
Testing and implementation of solutions – Much of this work is yet to happen. The Theatre Department works by a very tight schedule to maximize our time resources. It was not easy to develop a plan while the work of the department moved ahead with business as usual. Generating support for a plan that would require some disruption of our usual practices was doubly difficult. The initial projects were low-investment in terms of department resources but had a very positive impact on the collective imagination. Faculty and students alike are now more willing to focus energy towards incorporating more of this work into our regular work.
What we learned from those initial tests was that we would need to continue to work with numerous small iterations to build our collective skill set.
What we learned from those initial tests was that we would need to continue to work with numerous small iterations to build our collective skill set.
Progress toward an innovation
College theatre departments across the country are being pushed to have a community engagement component. 'Community engagement' means many different things to different people. Often it is viewed as a burden that detracts from the professional preparation of the students. Many schools view it as a value-added feature that helps to build audiences for traditional performances.
In North Dakota, where there are no professional theatres, it is essential for communities and young theatre artists to think differently about ‘professional’ opportunities for theatre.
We are still in the early steps but the department has established a way for our students to apply their skills alternatively as an integrated component of their academic studio work.
We have also set up a mechanism for creating partners in our community. We see this practice producing a form of theatre that will be a more sustainable option for communities and artists alike. It will foster a of view artists as having a greater creative capacity. And it will provide opportunity for increased equity by bringing theatre artists into rural communities, or allowing theatre artists native to the region to remain.
In North Dakota, where there are no professional theatres, it is essential for communities and young theatre artists to think differently about ‘professional’ opportunities for theatre.
We are still in the early steps but the department has established a way for our students to apply their skills alternatively as an integrated component of their academic studio work.
We have also set up a mechanism for creating partners in our community. We see this practice producing a form of theatre that will be a more sustainable option for communities and artists alike. It will foster a of view artists as having a greater creative capacity. And it will provide opportunity for increased equity by bringing theatre artists into rural communities, or allowing theatre artists native to the region to remain.
What's next?
The next step is integration of community work into our performance or design studio classes. Our studio classes are the classes in which students practice as artists. Beginning next fall, several classes each semester will have a community engagement component as part of the semester’s work. Plans are underway for: The Acting Shakespeare class will be creating a performance of selected scenes of interest to senior citizens. The Story Telling class will be hosting a story slam with a partner. The Makeup Design class will be hosting awareness raising face-painting events with a partner.
Continued involvement in community engagement semester to semester will build the knowledge base and culture within the department. It is our hope that students will be involved in 1or 2 of these projects each semester so that by graduation they will have at least 8 projects.
Small scale projects will build the capacity of our department and our students. We will also build culture outside the department, within the communities on and off campus, increasing awareness of the potential of theatre.
Continued involvement in community engagement semester to semester will build the knowledge base and culture within the department. It is our hope that students will be involved in 1or 2 of these projects each semester so that by graduation they will have at least 8 projects.
Small scale projects will build the capacity of our department and our students. We will also build culture outside the department, within the communities on and off campus, increasing awareness of the potential of theatre.
If you could do it all over again...
To be more aggressive about making the common ground conversations happen in a big way. The final one was very productive, but it had to disrupt things a bit.