School of Dance Awarded 2013 Excellence in Academic Program

Photo courtesy GMU Dance

This spring, the George Mason School of Dance was awarded the 2013 Excellence in Academic Program Review.  The Excellence in Academic Program Review is an award given annually to the department that has an excellent APR report as declared by the Office of Institutional Assessment.  There are five prerequisites that the school departments must show they adhere to and go beyond what is required.  These qualifications include dimensions such as “reflective and meaningful discussion of data and assessment findings” and “well-formed action plans based on evidence”.

Elizabeth Price, Associate Professor of Dance, was the director at the time the faculty submitted the results of their Academic Program Review 

Price said that the award took a lot of hard work.  Surveys are required, and not a lot of schools collect the data that would be needed for the dance department.  However, the department took initiative and created their own surveys to send to other schools.  In return, they received a lot of information that was used in their APR report.

“For the students to know that the faculty is truly invested in their success is the important thing,” Price said. “They don’t need to worry about surveys, but to know that we are learning from them and at the same time hoping to share what we’ve learned in life”.

Performing and creating are part of the requirements for APR in regards to dance, and evidence of their hard work can be seen on stage.  The department just completed Arts by George, and has many more performances lined up for the school year.  Students can find the schedule at dance.gmu.edu and see for themselves what an award winning department looks like.