The Department of Theater Mini-Fellowship is designed for students with demonstrable financial need who are unable to participate fully in our productions due to the time constraints associated with work study and/or other job obligations. In order to help facilitate student participation in our productions, we are offering term-long fellowships of $1630 each; they will be disbursed in two payments of $815 each over the course of the term. 

For the 2023-24 academic year, we are able to offer fellowships each term (except summer). Note that this is a pilot program that will be reevaluated as needed; future opportunities will be dependent on available funding.

Students who receive the Department of Theater Mini-Fellowship are expected to decrease their work hours accordingly (approximately 10 hours weekly) in order to help free up their schedule for rehearsals and productions. Only students who receive financial aid may apply for this fellowship.

As part of the evaluation process, we will prioritize those students who have demonstrated a sense of commitment and dedication based on their involvement in our classes and/or productions. The applications will be evaluated by the Chair, and the Production Manager, with additional outreach to faculty and staff as necessary. 

We will also take level of financial need (high, medium, or low, as reported by the Financial Aid office) into consideration. A student’s level of financial need will be kept strictly confidential; it will only be shared with the chair and the Department Administrator as part of the decision-making process.

Finally, we will prioritize those students who have not yet received a Mini-Fellowship. The fellowship is designed to facilitate preplanned involvement in the department over the course of the term and thus students must apply for it in advance. Students who wish to act as part of the fellowship term should be aware that a role is not guaranteed; neither is a student production slot. If the audition process does not yield a role, or if your application for a student production slot is not successful, we will work with the student to develop a rewarding alternative that will expand the student’s theatre experience in useful ways. Also, please note that the fellowship is designed to facilitate extracurricular involvement in the department; it is not designed to facilitate credit based or course-based activity, such as those related to an honors thesis, THEA 40, or an independent study. It can, however, facilitate the completion of production credits that are not connected to academic credit.