Generations Newsletter February 2023
Dear UArts families,
In preparing for the introduction to this month’s newsletter, I reflected on how compassion is, and has been, a common thread throughout my experience with UArts. This compassion extends from the Core Values of the university through the continuous support of the UArts Cares program and more.
UArts is truly a community of greatness built on the kindness, inclusion, creativity, and passion of its members. It is also built on the generosity of its donors. This is evident through the many initiatives taking place on and around campus. As the UArts community comes together this month for its fourth annual UArtist Day of Giving, I know the compassion will continue.
On Tuesday, Feb. 28, UArts will hold UArtist Day of Giving. On this day, you too will have the opportunity to be a part of something meaningful and personally make an impact on the education of current and future UArtists. Donations can be made to a student’s individual school of study or other important initiatives funded by the university. One of these initiatives is the UArts Cares Fund, which was established to ensure that the most vulnerable members of our student community have access to nutrition, housing, transportation and the supplies necessary to succeed at UArts. The President’s Fund for Excellence is another initiative that supports extraordinary faculty and student project opportunities that would otherwise not be financially possible. It can support travel, research, publication and other creative projects that foster excellence and innovation.
As a token of appreciation, limited-edition UArts socks are back! For donations of $25 and more, donors will receive a one-of-a-kind pair of socks specially designed by UArts student Holly Jansen ’23 (Illustration). We hope that you will be able to join UArts in making a difference in the lives of student artists.
Read on for important information regarding COVID-19 testing; living on campus next year, as well as traveling abroad; what off-campus commuters need to know; and how students can discuss issues of concern with faculty.
Stay great!
Respectfully,
Marian Maier
Academic Concern & Care Reports
UArts uses a reporting system, referred to as Care Reports, as an online case management hub that allows members of the UArts community (faculty, staff and students) to instantly report concerns about a student’s wellbeing. Student Affairs encourages faculty and staff to submit Care Reports as soon as a concern arises, since we have found that early interventions are critical to personal and academic success for students. As part of our faculty and staff training, we say, “Submitting a Care Report is one of the best ways you can support a student,” and it is true.
Your student might have received a Care Report before—most students have. Care Reports are nothing to worry about; they are meant as an intervention tool to help provide clarification for the student about how to move forward with support.
If the concern is related to their progress in a course, they will receive an Academic Notification from their faculty, which alerts them that “something” is not going well in their course. Academic Notifications may be filed for reasons such as excessive absences, late assignment submissions, poorly written assignments, failed exams, etc. Essentially, anything that would obstruct a student’s success in the classroom could warrant an Academic Notification. With student success in mind, we ask faculty to provide concrete examples and specific grade information when filing an Academic Notification report. We also ask faculty to provide information about next steps the student might need to take to remediate the issue. Your student’s academic advisor is aware of any reports filed, so they can reach out to provide resources or help a student process the report’s information.
If there are concerns about personal, financial or basic needs, or physical or mental health issues, we ask our community members to submit a Care Report. The Care Team is the university’s behavioral support team, which provides coordinated support for the entire campus community, including students, faculty and staff. Care Team members are trained to help address concerns about behavior, stressful situations, academic progress and mental health. The team gathers information regarding a community member’s wellbeing from personal interactions with students, faculty, staff and family members, as well as from referrals submitted by other members of the UArts community.
Some students might require both an Academic Alert and a Care Team referral. For example, some students might be experiencing poor academic progress because of a personal issue they have shared with faculty. In that case, a Care Team report would be important, but because it is not directly shared with a student, an Academic Alert would also help inform the student of how they are performing in the course. This helps establish that academic behaviors need to change or additional support needs to be explored for the student to succeed. Once a report is filed with the Care Team, they assess whether the student needs additional support from the Counseling Center, Health Center, UArts Cares, Educational Accessibility, their resident assistant or academic advisor, Title IX, or other departments as necessary.
Housing for 2023–2024
Is your student interested in living in on-campus housing for the 2023–2024 academic year? Housing applications will open March 1 and will be available until April 5. Returning students who apply during this time will be guaranteed housing for next year. If students apply after April 5, they will be added to our housing waitlist, so we encourage students to apply in March if they’d like guaranteed housing next year. Note: When students apply for housing, they sign a housing contract for the entire academic year.
Students may request roommates through our housing portal (up to four) after they have filled out the housing application. Then they will be randomly placed in a housing lottery and in the middle of April, be given the chance to select a room based on their lottery number. We will be sharing more details with students, along with instructions on how to complete the process, as we get closer to our room selection period.
Meet Health Services
Student Health Services is a nurse-based office committed to providing care, treatment and education to keep our students healthy and happy. On-campus health services are provided Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the school year, in Gershman Hall, Room 306.
This semester, we are introducing walk-in hours from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. every weekday. We also take appointments, which can be made up to an hour in advance and are available until 4 p.m. every day. Students can make appointments online at uartshealth.youcanbook.me.
All on-campus healthcare is free of charge and available to all students regardless of insurance status. Following an assessment by our Health Service staff, students are referred to advanced practitioners at Jefferson Family and Community Medicine, if necessary, for no additional charge.
Our staff works to educate, protect and promote health on campus.
Suzanne Scott (she/her), director of Health Services and office nurse, has been overseeing and managing the UArts health office for over 16 years. Her experience in college health and knowledge of the healthcare system in Philadelphia provides our students with a helping hand in all things health and wellness.
Stephanie Sidlow (she/her) is a nurse who recently joined the team from Penn Hospital who brings over 20 years of healthcare experience to her role.
Our office coordinator, Kel Fleming (they/them) BFA ’21 (Directing, Playwriting and Production), works with students to assist in personal health education and navigate health insurance and ensures that the office runs smoothly.
Physical therapy (PT) and sports medicine appointments are also available for all students, regardless of major or program. PT is on campus in Terra Hall every week Monday, Wednesday and Thursday during the school year. Our PT providers, Julie Green and Tahira Collier, have been working with our students for more than 10 years. When they are not at UArts’ campus, they are supporting sports medicine physicians from Jefferson Sports Medicine and are available on Friday mornings for UArts students. All services in these offices are free of charge and available to all students regardless of insurance status. Appointments are required for all PT and sports medicine services and can be made online at uarts-pt.youcanbook.me.
Rapid COVID-19 testing continues on campus for students who are either symptomatic or a confirmed close contact of a UArts case. All COVID-19 test appointments must be made in advance via uarts-covid-testing.youcanbook.me and require evaluation from a nurse with the test. For more information on isolation, close contacts and COVID-19 policies at UArts, visit uarts.edu/covidresources or email healthservices@uarts.edu.
Health Services provides students with supplies and over-the-counter medicine, to help them feel their best for issues big and small. Students can come into the health office anytime during our office hours to get menstrual supplies, condoms, cough drops, ice, etc., all free of charge. With office visits, students are sent home with at-home care supplies to get them back on their feet as soon as possible. Students may also come to our office or send us an email to get connected with specialists and other medical providers in the area. We’re your hub for health and wellness in Philadelphia!
Travel Courses: It’s a UArts World!
Over 100 UArts students lived their best lives in Europe and the United Kingdom during summer 2022—and summer 2023 is moving in the same exciting direction. We are committed to developing artists who engage with different cultures through creativity and critical thinking, in order to be more culturally active and aware citizens and artists. We are very grateful to have had the opportunity to provide scholarship funds for many students in financial need who were able to study internationally because of funding efforts, across many university departments and generous donor support. Overall, UArts students enthusiastically participated in seven Short Travel Courses in summer 2022 and winter 2023!
School of Art students experienced both the rich urban culture of Athens and the bucolic beauty of the Greek island of Skopelos, where students spent time at an art residency creating works in response to all they experienced in Greece. France was the destination for UArts School of Dance in summer 2022, as it will continue to be for summer 2023, with the School of Dance returning for the CAMPING festival—a series of international contemporary dance workshops and performances in Paris. They will also return for the Dance MFA residency program in Montpelier.
Students had such a great time in London and Italy in summer 2022, we felt compelled to host additional courses in both locations for winter 2023 Short Travel Course sessions. The group of Theater students visiting London had an enriching and inspiring time in London, with workshops at the renowned Globe Theatre and opportunities to experience the outstanding theater productions London has to offer at night. Meanwhile, in Italy, a group of multidisciplinary UArts students traveled to Florence, Naples, Arezzo and Rome. Students participated in an innovative program where they responded to Renaissance and contemporary art, culture and Italian experiential cooking workshops through a critical visual and performance lens. They created site-specific performance art pieces based on their experiences and the relationships they built with each other and Italy. This program will run again in summer 2023.
Summer 2023 will also see our students creating art in the South of France at LaNapoul, an art residency in a castle overlooking the Mediterranean. UArts students are incredibly excited to experience Prague at the Prague Quadrennial, an international performance and design festival that offers workshops, performances, lectures and events that bring together artists from all over the world.
In 2024, in addition to our European adventures, we are so excited to host short travel programs in Japan and Kenya! Students can learn about these outstanding opportunities through international programs announcements in the Keepin’ Up With Campus Life newsletter, meetings throughout the semester, fliers posted around campus, departmental announcements, individual faculty and our Instagram account, @uartsworld_intlprograms. Students are also welcome to email Mara Flamm, director for international programs, at mflamm@uarts.edu for more information and to schedule a meeting.
UArtist Day of Giving: Feb. 28, 2023
The fourth annual UArtist Day of Giving will be held Feb. 28, 2023. In addition to your contribution making a difference in the lives of your artists, donors who make a gift of $25 or more will receive custom UArtist socks designed by student Holly Jansen ’23 (Illustration)! More information will be emailed to you leading up to the event. There are several surprises in store this year!
Philadelphia Art Alliance: The Searchers
Through March 16
Philadelphia Art Alliance
The Philadelphia Art Alliance at University of the Arts is pleased to present an exciting group exhibition comprising works by 32 New York School artists entitled The Searchers. Centered around the associates of Thomas Nozkowski, The Searchers is named after the film classic by John Ford, which was Nozkowski’s favorite. The exhibition celebrates every included artist, each of whom searches for their own way into the visual world as an investigation of cross references and styles. It is a kind of snapshot of a cultural period and group interactions.
School of Music: Freshman Voice Department Concert
Wednesday, Feb. 8, 7 p.m.
Terra Hall, Caplan Recital Hall
211 S. Broad St.
Ira Brind School of Theater Arts: Equinox 2023
Thursday, Feb. 9–Sunday, Feb. 12, various times
Terra Hall, Caplan Studio Theater
211 S. Broad St.
Equinox is UArts’ annual student-produced festival of new work. Works to be performed in the 2023 edition of the Equinox festival include
- Delivery Boy by Jaden Gines,
- Family Undone by E. Quinn and
- Esther’s Play About Esther’s Play by Amy Chen.