Purpose

“Juries” is our term for the process in which you regularly meet with faculty to present your work for feedback. It is intended to:

• Help you prepare for finding employment.
• Support your step-by-step growth by providing continuing feedback, suggestions for next steps, and career guidance.
• Open a dialogue with you. We would like to hear from you about how we can best support you and your evolving needs and goals.
• Provide regular opportunities for you to prepare career-supporting materials (portfolios, monologues, songs, résumés, scripts, etc.) and practice presenting yourself and your materials in a professional setting.
• Assist the faculty in assessing the overall outcomes and effectiveness of the Bachelor of Arts degree.

After each jury, students will receive both aural and written feedback on the work they present, as well as on their interview preparation and professionalism. 

NAST Standards

Arkansas State University is an accredited institution member of the National Association of Schools of Theatre (NAST). Regarding the purpose of a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, NAST standards state:

“Students enrolled in professional undergraduate degrees in theatre are expected to develop the knowledge, skills, concepts, and sensitivities essential to the life of the theatre professional. In any of many possible roles, the theatre professional must exhibit not only technical competence, but also broad knowledge of theatre, sensitivity to artistic style, and an insight into the role of theatre in the life of humankind.” (NAST Handbook 2025-2026, Standards for Accreditation, VIII.A.2.)

Evidence of these characteristics and of their potential for continued development is essential for the award of the Bachelor of Arts degree. The jury process is one way in which the Department of Theatre evaluates the program’s success in developing these characteristics in each student.

Upon completion of the Arkansas State University Bachelor of Arts Theatre degree, students must:

• Demonstrate achievement of professional, entry-level competence in the area of specialization, including significant technical mastery, the capability to produce work and solve professional problems independently, and a coherent set of artistic/intellectual goals that are evident in their work.
• Demonstrate their competence by developing a body of work for evaluation in the central area of study.
• Have the ability to communicate ideas, concepts, and requirements to theatre professionals and laypersons related to the practice of the major field. Such communication may involve oral, written, visual, and musical media.
  (The above competencies reference NAST Handbook 2025-26, Standards for Accreditation, VIII.C.1-3.)

Jury Scheduling

Students will be assessed annually.

• First-year and second-year students will complete juries at the end of the spring semester.
• Third-year students and above will complete juries at the end of the fall semester.

Self-Evaluation Form

When theatre students register for a Jury, they will also complete a self-evaluation form as part of the registration process. The form uses the Start-Stop-Continue method of self-evaluation. You will be asked to consider your past work and answer the following questions:

• What do you need to start doing to improve your work and process?
• What would your work/process benefit from you not doing anymore?
• What is working well in your work and process, so you should continue to include it in the process?