January & February 2019 College News

- – COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS AND COMMUNICATION JANUARY AND FEBRUARY ISSUE SPRING 2019 LETTER FROM THE DEAN DR. JOHN FLEMING While College News mostly focuses on individual accolades earned by faculty, students, and alumni, the reputation of the College rests on a concerted team efort towards sustained excellence. One benchmark of student success is retention, and in Fall 2018, on its largest freshman class ever, the College sported its highest retention rate ever at 84.8%; this was led by Journalism and Mass Communication (87.4%), Teatre (86%), Dance (83.9%), Art and Design (83.8%), Music (83.3%), and Communication Studies (73.2%). In addition, for the academic year that ended in August, we awarded 92 master’s degrees, our highest number ever. Even as the university increases its research profle, teaching remains at the forefront of our mission and in the realm of online teaching Tricia Burke (p. 4) earned recognition for her class COMM 4326 Health Communication, the ffth straight year a professor from our College has placed in the top three for online teaching. Te College of Fine Arts and Communication was also well represented on various Best of 2018 lists: the Austin American Statesman cited theatre’s Cabaret as the #10 production of 2018, while Ragtime earned their #2 production; Broadway World Austin gave its #4 slot to both Cabaret and Ragtime (p.17); in Washington D.C., Eugene Lee earned a Helen Hayes Award Best Lead Actor nomination for his role in August Wilson’s Two Trains Running (p.14), while the Chicago Tribune cited Craig Hella Johnson and Conspirare’s Considering Matthew Shepard as one of the ten best classical music concerts of 2018. Craig is also receiving a Medal of Arts award from the Texas Cultural Trust; there he will be recognized alongside Matthew McConaughey, Boz Scaggs, and Broadway legend Jennifer Holliday (p.12). Tat is but a small glimpse of the accolades inside. My congratulations and gratitude to all! FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA! f inearts.t xstate.edu facebook.com/t xstcollegefac instagram.com/t xstfac twitter.com/t xstfac youtube.com/t xstatecollegefac COVER PHOTO: Te Eddie Durham Jazz Celebration marked its 15th Anniversary while the Hill Country Jazz Festival marked its 30th Anniversary. Te weekend was capped with a performance by the Count Basie Orchestra. [ P G . 1 3] (Photo Credit: Erik Fossum, Fossum Studios)