Media and Performing Arts Center

Academic Facilities Master Plan Proposal

Executive Summary

The Media and Performing Arts Center will be a two-story building facing Stockdale Highway with a state-of-the-

art Communications facility on the second floor and multiple performance spaces on the first floor. The facilities

in the Center will support the Public Relations, Journalism, Digital Media, Film, General Education, Theatre,

Music, and Liberal Studies programs. The Media and Performing Arts Center will enrich university excellence by

greatly expanding our ability to serve our students, support our faculty, and create beneficial partnerships with

community stakeholders.

Student-run media is essential to the vitality of a university. It provides news, information, and entertainment to

a campus community, engages students in their university experience, and gives real-world training to students

planning media careers. Many universities have student-run radio stations, television programs, newspapers,

magazines, news websites, filmmaking studios, advertising firms, and more. The Media and Performing Arts

Center enables a converged student media operation that will house our Communications faculty and

incorporate all platforms under one roof.

Highlights of the second floor Media operations include a 30-station computer lab that functions as a classroom

and production lab, a video studio classroom, a business office for The Runner Media Group (newspaper,

website, online radio station, and online news video), and a business office for the student-run public relations

firm. It also will house the radio station’s studio, a sound recording room, equipment storage room, and offices

for faculty. In this experiential learning environment, students will gain a variety of skills across platforms as they

train to enter media-related careers. The entire CSUB campus and the surrounding community will also benefit

from the variety of media opportunities provided by this operation.

The first floor of the Media and Performing Arts Center includes a black box theatre, film screening room,

concession area, practice rooms, and an 800-seat concert hall, which could be expanded to 1400 seats with

additional private funding. The State University Administrative Manual (SUAM) under Section VI - Standards

for Campus Development Programs specifies two performance space requirements/entitlements. This new

facility will allow us to achieve the vision set forth in CSU Auditorium Standards and Board of Trustees

policy on the Provision of Large Auditoria on CSU Campuses, which states that CSU campuses should have a

1200 seat large auditorium. The CSU Facilities guidelines also lists five performance/rehearsal spaces for

campuses over 5000 FTE which maintain fine arts programs, and the Media and Performing Arts Center

will make this vision a reality.

The Center will allow CSUB to become a beacon for the arts and humanities in this area of the Central Valley. This building is necessary to accomplish our mission of providing excellence, creating partnerships, and building community by providing facilities of the highest quality to train a new generation of performers (artists & musicians) and teachers, and to satisfy the current and future demands in our region and throughout the state. The Media and Performing Arts Center will help us raise our profile in the entire region and help us attract, retain, and graduate talented students from Kern County and beyond.

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Media and Performing Arts Center - Justification1

Enrollment Growth and FTES support

CSUB has outgrown its extant facilities for Communications and the Performing Arts and cannot adequately support either the general education or major program curricula in the disciplines that would be served by the Media and Performing Arts Center. The space and facilities situation has deteriorated further since the abysmal state of affairs described in the 2009 Humanities Complex Proposal. We still have virtually no facilities suitable for Communications with Digital Media in the basement of the library, Journalism in a modular building possibly scheduled for removal, and Communications faculty relegated to the Business and Development Center. In comparison to the conditions in Communications, the 2009 proposal described CSUB’s Performing Arts facilities as “equally if not more stifling.” We are still limited to Dore Theatre, which was designed for theatre and not music, and is our only location for larger performances from either discipline. While our insufficient facilities have remained the same, a significant difference between 2009 and 2017 is the growth of the general student population by almost 15%, and we expect to more than double the size of the 2009 enrollments within the next ten years. A review of the Standards for Campus Development Programs is helpful for assessing our Performing Arts needs:

THEATER STANDARDS Each campus is entitled to: Type of theater Stations - Black box theater 250 (multi-purpose); Little theater 500 (when campus reaches 5000 FTE.) (Including fully-rigged stage)

Campuses with a fine arts program are also allowed the following theaters: Type of theater Stations - Choral rehearsal hall 100-125; Orchestra rehearsal hall 100-125; Music recital hall 200 Auxiliary facilities for the stage, such as dressing rooms, makeup rooms, scene shop, and costume-design rooms, will be evaluated in terms of the approved academic program and campus enrollment.

AUDITORIUM STANDARDS Each campus requires a large auditorium with a minimum seating capacity of 1,200. Auditoriums may be converted to a performing arts center with private donations.

The following section reviews the FTES support the Media and Performing Arts Center will provide for each curricular area served in the new facility: Public Relations, Journalism, Digital Media, Film Studies, General Education, Theatre, Music, and Liberal Studies. FTES support for Communications Department needs. The Communications Department is home to

approximately one-third of the majors in Arts and Humanities, and ranks fifth in the university in terms

of FTES.

1 Liora Gubkin, Interim Dean for the School of Arts and Humanities, would like to thank the many people whose insight into our campus needs contributed to this justification: Kamala Boeck, Jennifer Burger, Emerson Case, Janine Cornelison, Carol Dell’Amico, James Dethlefson, Dina Ebeling, Katy Hanson, Cheryl Holsonbake, Debra Jackson, Sara Lemme, Matt McClellan, Robert Provencio, Mandy Rees, Donna Simmons, Mary Slaughter, and Angel Vasquez-Ramos.

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Steady interest in the Communications field continues with more than 200 majors distributed among

three concentrations. The Media and Performing Arts Center will serve the unique curricular needs of

each specialty, house the faculty, and encourage creative, cutting-edge collaborations. Community

engagement is a hallmark of several curricula transformed for the semester calendar, and the Media

and Performing Arts Center will be an integral part of developing a community-engagement centered

Public Relations concentration. Students will be able to use the center as a professional setting for

meeting and working with clients on campus and from the community. Students will use the business

office, production lab and studios to develop and implement public relations projects, such as printed

materials, public service announcements, and multimedia campaigns.

For Communications students with a concentration in journalism, the Media and Performing Arts

Center will provide a converged newsroom experience for students to produce written, visual, audio,

and video content for the student newspaper, its website, the online radio station, and the online

video broadcast program. Currently, Journalism facilities are housed in a modular building on a site

needed by the University Police Department to serve as major incident headquarters. The Runner

newspaper and The Runner Online website give students experience in editorial journalism (writing,

editing, photography, news design, multimedia reporting, website development) and business

management (advertising sales, marketing, product distribution, accounting, billing). Runner Radio, the

online radio station, will provide local music, news and talk programming and give experience in areas

such as public speaking, broadcast journalism, DJing, radio public service announcements, and social

media marketing. The video broadcast program gives students experience in television broadcast

production and videography. Even with our limited facilities, our current program is winning accolades

and interest continues to grow as students are now being encouraged to transfer to CSUB for our

award-winning journalism program. Just this March, The Runner received 14 awards at the California

College Media Association Banquet, including a third-place for best newspaper for a four-year

university, less than 10,000 students, and best website in the Associated Collegiate Press Best of Show

Awards.

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For students in the Digital Media concentration, the computer lab classroom will provide regular access to computers equipped with the specialized software needed for producing their work. Currently, film and digital media students have very limited access to the tools they need. The software programs are available primarily in a teaching lab located in the basement of the library. Students can only work on projects when a class is not scheduled, which typically means before 9 a.m. or after 7 p.m., and computer lab usage has steadily increased over the past three years. Furthermore, there is no studio for students to work on to develop their lighting and videography skills. Collaboration, a hallmark of professional filmmaking, is also very difficult, for lack of a space in which students could work together outside of class time. Finally, the video, audio, and lighting equipment that is available to students is only available for checkout during instructors' office hours. In the Media and Performing Arts Center, class time will be limited to essential courses that require the very expensive software, maximizing students’ lab time to work on editing. The studio classroom will provide students with a place to learn the craft of video production. For these aspiring filmmakers, editors, cinematographers, and producers, it is critical that they have access to a “dark” studio, to develop their lighting skills. Regular white-walled classrooms do not work for this; when a set light is turned on, the white walls and ceiling “bounce” the light all over, limiting students’ control over lighting a scene. The equipment storage room will offer students consistent access to video and audio equipment to shoot and record their projects. They will be able to check out equipment five days a week, to accommodate their schedules and project deadlines. FTES support for Film Studies Interdisciplinary Program and General Education needs. The Media and

Performing Arts Center will include a 100-seat screening room for use by the seven departments that offer film

classes as part of the Interdisciplinary BA in Film Studies (Anthropology, Communications, English, History,

Philosophy, Religious Studies, and Sociology). Film courses, where students tackle complex issues, are also

integral to the new general education program with several large sections of these courses offered each

semester. To take just one example, In RS 1118 “Screening the Sacred,” class topics engaged through film

include women's rights and autonomy, racism, religious exclusivism, and LGBTQIA+ issues. Film is a particularly

effective medium to explore issues of diversity (university learning objective VI) because, during communal class

viewings, students become immersed in someone else's world for an hour or two and have the opportunity to

stand in the shoes of others.

Currently most faculty and students make do with classrooms in the Music Building, which are

problematic: there is usually, well, music in the hallways of that building, which is disruptive. In

addition, it's not possible to make the rooms dark, some students’ views are obstructed, and the

projection/audio systems in these classrooms are not reliable. The Media and Performing Arts Center

will include a true screening-space more appropriate to students’ educational goals.

FTES support for Theatre Program needs. Moving the majority of music performances into the Media

and Performing Arts Center will have a dramatic impact on the Theatre program. Theatre

performances require two weeks of technical preparation (hanging lights, installing the set, running

technical rehearsals, all of which involve students in applied learning courses) and then two weekends

of shows. That is a four-week block. Unfortunately, due to the current lack of space, rehearsals and

Tech weeks are truncated due to scheduling conflicts; performance runs are shortened due to

weekend availability; and classes need to relocate for performances. In spring 2017, six classes have

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been relocated for four weeks, with three of those classes displaced to a third location during the

Bakersfield City School District Music Standards Festival. Most all Theatre programs in the CSUs have at

least two weekends for their shows. This is standard. We have not been able to have a two-weekend

run for the fall show for more than 25 years in order to share space equitably with the Music program.

Of the four shows per year, we are only able to schedule one per year with a two-weekend run. Thus,

the new Media and Performing Arts Center provides crucial pedagogical value. The multiplication of

performances spaces opens much-needed time. There will be time for processing the theatre

experience and the maturation of artistic choices. Students will be able to develop a deeper

understanding of their role when they have performances over an extended time. Furthermore,

students attending productions as a required assignment will also benefit from the new facility as two

weekends of performances allow for more options, especially for students with work and family

obligations.

FTES support for Music Program needs. Clearly, the increase in performance space will alleviate

pressure on existing performance space Music and Theatre share. In addition, the Media and

Performing Arts Center will provide critical practice spaces. Even a cursory review of practice spaces in

the Music Building illustrates the dire need. In Music 128, the Band Room, seven percussionists must

squeeze over 70 hours of practice time into 17 hours of room availability. (No wonder one hears them

practicing in the hallways!) Providing room availability where students never have to wonder whether

or not they will be able to find a space to practice should be a primary concern of Performing Arts

departments. Pianists and Percussionists at CSUB are each asked to practice 12hrs./wk. Our remaining

50 majors are each asked to practice 10hrs./wk. Taking every space currently under Music’s purview,

small classrooms (2), large class room (1), large rehearsal rooms (2), and the practice room suite (8)

and adding up the remaining room availability the department is currently short 30hrs./wk in room

availability. Students do their best by practicing outside when the weather is appropriate and in the

hallways of the Music Building. Looking forward, it’s difficult to imagine how Music can accept more

students in good faith when it cannot provide adequate capacity once those students enroll.

FTES support for Liberal Studies and Teacher Education needs. A primary charge for CSUB is the

education of future teachers, especially K-8. Liberal Studies is one of the largest majors on campus,

serving more than 600 students. These students have lower- and upper-division requirements in Music

and Theatre that would be housed in the Media and Performing Arts Center. The Central Valley

currently suffers from a shortage of teachers with a music credential. Our faculty are ready to assist in

training future teachers as well as performers; the Media and Performing Arts Center will situate CSUB

for growth in this vibrant department. Theatre is one of the smaller majors, but we expect an

enrollment increase in Theatre courses with the development of a new Theatre Education single

subject credential in the state of California.

Student Success Enhancement

We know that students who are actively engaged in their university are more likely to stay and

graduate. In addition to the multiple curricular elements described above, the Media and Performing

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Arts Center makes at least three additional contributions toward improving graduation and retention

rates at CSU, Bakersfield.

First, a dramatic increase in Applied Experience opportunities, a key high-impact practice for student success, will accompany the opening of the Media and Performing Arts Center. Music students will have the benefit of a true performance space rather than performing in the same space they take class, receive studio lessons, and practice. In addition to the Music and Theatre performances themselves, the augmented time for the applied learning involved in technical preparation for a major performance will increase student engagement as well as preparation for post-graduation employment. In Communications, all the activities offered through the Media portion of the Center would actively engage our students to join the PR firm, the student newspaper, the broadcast program, the radio station, the film and digital media program, and more. We envision benefits for the entire campus as Communications students can lead workshops for students and faculty of all disciplines to teach them how to edit photos and video, design websites, etc. The real-world experience students will gain will prepare them for jobs in those fields once they graduate. Second, student engagement through extracurricular activities supports retention and graduation.

Communications, film, and music student groups (e.g. Film Club, Public Relations Student Society,

Runner Journalism Club, University Singers, Jazz Club) will be direct beneficiaries of the new Center.

We envision other student groups will also benefit. Perhaps the History Club will utilize the broadcast

technologies for oral history projects in our community; Mexica Tiahui Ballet Folklorico will perform in

the Black Box Theatre; the Philosophy and Religious Studies Club will host their own version of

“Philosophy Talk.” The possibilities are almost limitless. The screening room will also be a valuable

addition for any student group that screens films on campus. The auditorium space of the Media and

Performing Arts Center could also be utilized to host some of our cultural celebrations and Honor

Society inductions.

Finally, the second floor of the Media and Performing Arts Center will provide office space for all the Communications faculty in one location to support our students. Currently, tenured and tenure-track faculty offices are scattered through Business Development Center; the Journalism instructor is in the modular building; and as many as 11 part-timers share one office. Scholarly and Creative Activity Enhancement

While each arm of the media operation would offer specific services to the students, the university,

and the greater community, they will also support cross-fertilization between concentrations. For

example, a public relations student might ask a digital media student to make, or help make, a

promotional video. Or, a journalism student might work with a digital media student to make a short

documentary. By making these kinds of opportunities available for our majors, it will make them

stronger in their own areas, create a network of connections for the future, and allow them to prepare

even more for the workforce.

For the Music program, Concert Hall space would enable collaboration of choral and orchestral

students and faculty. With recent tenure-track hires in Choral and Orchestral Music, we are poised for

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growth. To give just one example: this past fall, the CSUB Singers, with an ensemble size of 77

members, drew an audience of nearly 300 on a Tuesday evening. The concert hall of the Media and

Performing Arts Center would allow the Music Department to mount large scale vocal works with

orchestral accompaniment, which would provide an important learning opportunity for our students

and enable collaboration for faculty with students and with each other. The combined ensemble would

likely surpass 200 members, and the audience size would also increase accordingly.

External Image Enhancement

The Media and Performing Arts Center, which will face Stockdale Highway, will be THE public face of CSU, Bakersfield. It will greatly enhance the external image of CSUB by providing a state-of-the art facility for student engagement with community and university-sponsored events for the general public. It will also increase access for off-campus groups who rent campus facilities for conferences, performances, festivals, trainings, competitions and ceremonies. The Communications facilities will support our award-winning journalism program, including the Runner Online. With the new facility, we will be able to add a radio station and broadcast program that showcases our students and student work. We are currently working with University Advancement to support a student-led public relations firm for the community. Imagine the impact of concerts and small theatre productions held in a concert hall or black box theatre with a concession stand in the building rather than a classroom! The 800-seat concert hall will also be a venue available for major public events such as the those sponsored by the Kegley Institute of Ethics and the annual One Book, One Bakersfield, One Kern keynote address. We have designed the Media and Performing Arts Center so that we could enlarge the concert hall to 1400, if we choose to enter into a public-private partnership. Preliminary conversations with Executive Director Kari Heilman and Conductor Stilian Kirov from the Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra are promising on this front. BSO currently performs in Rabobank Theatre. They long for a true concert hall space for our community and are willing to partner in securing resources to make it happen. Finally, the Media and Performing Arts Center will increase our connections with the community and our sources of revenue. In the 2016 calendar year, the Dore was host to 77 events, excluding classes and class labs. Of those 77 events, 50 were on-campus related and 27 were off-campus contracts. The estimated revenue from the off-campus events is $20,250.00. The 50 on-campus events broke down into 38 music or theatre related events and 12 other campus events. In total, the Dore was in use for roughly 750 hours for event specific usage. Of the on-campus non-music or theatre related events the rough estimate of revenue is $14,025.00. These prices are based on set rental fees for just the Dore and do not include tech fees, facilities fees, or UPD fees. There are frequent requests for the Dore that are turned away due to the busy schedule. With another space, there could be greater collaboration with the on-campus and local community. With the addition of the Media and Performing Arts Center to our campus, CSU, Bakersfield would extend partnerships with our community, attracting a larger client base and additional revenue sources.

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Revenue Potential The Media and Performing Arts Center would provide revenue from several sources as described in the proposal. These include

1. Student-generated revenue a. Advertising in Runner b. Public Relations Firm c. Ticketed music and theatre performances d. Net income from concessions

2. Potential partnership with Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra for Concert Hall use 3. Rental fees from off-campus groups for speakers, trainings, conferences, etc.

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Media and Performing Arts Center

First Floor

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