Presented by: President Michelle Kokal
August 25th, 2011
Philanthropy
Service
Advocacy
Social Activities
Fundraising
Annual Conference
Other Activities
Conclusion
Introduction and Review
The 2011-2012 school year was an extremely productive and successful year for our USITT student chapter. The executive board achieved many goals that will help us to start this academic year in a great position, both financially and socially. Also, we once again had a lot of help from our immediate past President in achieving these goals. Our Fall apparel sale was very profitable and made it possible for us to fund numerous events and projects throughout the rest of the school year. In the beginning of the spring semester, we hosted our first High School Outreach program, which was extremely fun and successful. The USITT National Conference was held in March in Houston, TX. Once again, our chapter held a great presence with over 30 students in attendance. We also had the UPAC travel allocation of $5000 to help each student pay for the costs of a hotel for the week. Our chapter organized and hosted a successful Penn State Alumni reception at the Hard Rock Café in Houston. We also presented a check for $1000 to Behind the Scenes. This really helped to show everyone else at conference all of the hard work we spent fundraising for the charity over the year. For our own organization we continued to fundraise by selling concessions at all of our shows.
Although it is always fun to try new things, I really want to use this year to focus on building upon what has already been successful for us. I want to continue to raise money for Behind the Scenes as well as our own organization. We will host another High School Outreach Program, and I plan on it being even more successful that it was last year. I also would like to take advantage of this year’s conference being in Cincinnati by networking with other schools in the Ohio Valley Region.
In the coming academic year, we need to build upon the successes of last year and maintain our chapter’s excellent reputation. As always, it is important to focus our activities on philanthropy, service, advocacy, and social events.
Philanthropy
This past year we put the most of our philanthropic efforts towards Behind the Scenes. Through events such as the Coldstone Creamery fundraiser and the magazine sale, we were able to raise $750 for the organization. We then donated $250 of our own funds to give Behind the Scenes a grand total of $1000. Although we still didn’t host a THON team of our own, we remained supportive the School of Theatre and their THON team by going on several canning trips throughout the year.. I would like to continue to support THON as well as Behind the Scenes this year. I plan to find more innovative and successful ways to raise money, and my ultimate goal is to see us donate more than $1000 to Behind the Scenes. Aside from these two groups, I would also like to see us support other charities, such as Habitat for Humanity or Relay for Life.
Service
Last year, one of our main goals was to host a successful High School Outreach program. After two years of careful planning and hard work, we reached that goal in February of 2008. The theater department welcomed 53 students from 8 different high schools, and the response we received at the end of the day was extremely positive. The day started with an introduction of what our program is about and continued with a tour of the Playhouse Theater. After lunch, the students went to two classes of their choice, which were taught by members of our student chapter. The five classes that we offered focused on the basics of scenic painting, lighting design, sound design, costume design, and properties design. The day ended with a feedback session, where we learned from the students what they liked most and what they thought we could improve on. I plan on taking all of their feedback into consideration as we prepare for our 2nd annual High School Outreach program, and expect it to be an even bigger success this year.
Advocacy
Out of all the organizations within the School of Theatre, our student chapter is the largest and most active. This allows us to represent student needs and wants as a group in many different ways. This year, we have two students that are a part of the School of Theatre Student Advisory Board – Emily Reeder and myself. This is a great way for us to give input to those who make the decisions that affect our education and future careers. Thanks to this, the BFA Design and Technology and Stage Management should be able to use our organization as an outlet to discuss any issues that they feel are affecting their experience with the School of Theatre.
Also, it is very important that we educate the rest of the university and its surrounding community as to what our organization is all about. We display design work and information boards at concessions sales, which is an effective way to reach the general public at our mainstage shows. I hope that through doing this, we can encourage more members to be vocal about our efforts as a student chapter and USITT as a national organization.
Social Activities
A main focus of our organization is socializing. Unfortunately, this focus can often be overlooked due to the fact that we all get so bogged down by our work. It is important to remember that we are a group of people with common interests, and we should take the time to enjoy that commonality as we work towards our goals. Every year we host social events such as bowling nights and picnics. I feel that these events are very popular and should continue to happen. I also feel that we should try to find new successful social events. Last year the ideas of a trip to New York and a School of Theater ‘Night Out’ were tossed around but never brought to fruition. It would be nice to possibly try these ideas again, or maybe even try something that no one has thought about before. Regardless of whether or not something new works out, I definitely feel that we should continue to have group dinners, movie nights, and the annual trip to Harner Farms.
Fundraising
This past year our organization was had more financial stability than any other previous year. We worked with a new company, Custom Stuff, for the Fall Apparel Sale. This worked out so well that we held another one in the spring semester, which was also very successful. Another major fundraising activity was the selling of concessions at our mainstage shows. This is always very profitable for us, and combined with the apparel sales, it allowed us to end the year in an extremely sturdy financial state. I plan on continuing these two fundraisers, so that we can easily host and pay for more social events. My ultimate goal, however, is to raise enough money to help pay for a percentage of everyone’s conference dues, even if it a small percentage. I am also interested in acting on new fundraising ideas from our members.
Annual Conference
Last year, the annual USITT conference in Houston, TX was extremely successful. With over 30 undergraduate students in attendance, we held a greater presence that we have ever held in any previous year. We gained the financial support of $5000 – the highest amount possible – through UPAC, which was very exciting and beneficial. Even though last year’s conference was challenged my many weather and flight difficulties, everyone made it to Houston safely. I think everyone should take advantage of the fact that this year’s conference will be held in Cincinnati, and therefore we can travel to the conference on a bus. This form of transportation will be cheaper and far less stressful, and I highly encourage everyone to participate in this year’s conference. It is a fantastic opportunity, and like every other year, we will do our best as an organization to help out with the planning and lower the cost of conference. Also, UPAC has raised their available amount of funding to $7500 and I hope to once again earn as much of their support as possible.
Other Activities
Constitution Update/Website Growth
A main goal for last year was to update and rewrite the Constitution and Bylaws. The officers worked very hard on this, and the rest of the members approved all of the changes they made. In addition to updating the Constitution, our Webmaster and Historian spent a lot of time updating the USITT@PSU website. Since we live in a world that is so technology-dependent, I feel that our website is a very important way to let others know who we are and what we do. I plan on continuing to think of new and exciting ways to update and improve our website.
Ohio Valley Section
I would like to take as much advantage as possible of this year’s conference, knowing that it will be held in Cincinnati. I want to build a network where all student chapters within the Ohio Valley Region can communicate and build relationships with one another. I would also like to see us help out theater students start their own chapters if their school doesn’t already have one.
Public Relations
Last year, we built a Penn State School of Theater Alumni Network. We also hosted a very successful reception at the Hard Rock Café in Houston, where our current students were able to meet and spend some time with a good amount of the alumni. I plan on finding new ways to make an even stronger connection with our alumni.
Conclusion
This year is sure to be exciting and eventful. This plan of action is merely a basis for us to build upon as the year progresses. I encourage all of you to share your ideas with me at any time, and to be an active part of this organization. I truly feel that if we all work together, we can make it the best and most productive year yet.