Credits ?

Just because more than one school has these limitations doesn't mean that it's legal.

No it is legal, you willfully consent to be a apart of the program so you play by their rules while you do. If you don't like it you can leave the program. I am willing to bet to even bet that somewhere there is a signed document where you said you wouldn't.
 
I doubt it considering they just implimented the policy last year and I can't remember signing anything
 
It is actually pretty common here in Australia too. When I went back to Uni at 38 it was a policy in my course whch I simply ignored (I had to earn a living) and no-one ever had the nerve to mention it to me. I have heard of people being graded out of courses because of outside productions though.
In the UK it was standard policy pretty well everywhere at one point.

The argument goes that as you have committed to doing the course for x years it must be treated as being similar to the commitment to an emeployer and must be exclusive. Most employers have a no second job in the same area of employment policy. (It is a bit different with us I guess. Most people I have worked full time for have been happy with letting me do outside contracts as the credit to them was worth it.) The other argument is that working outside in the area in which you are being trained can teach you bad habits that are not good practice.

I would like to stress here that I am only quoting these policies and I may or may not agree with them but that I refuse at this point to make my own specific feelings clear.
 
At calarts they have the same policy you are supposed to have out side projects aproved by your mentor.

JH

ps. I signed some admissions doc sayin that i agreed to that.
 
Am I misunderstanding the comments or are you saying that students doing a technical theatre course are not allowed to go out and work real shows and different venues?
 
Am I misunderstanding the comments or are you saying that students doing a technical theatre course are not allowed to go out and work real shows and different venues?

This is pretty much the way it's been in most top end tertiary courses I've known about. What happens at WAAPA do you know? AC Arts seems to have a similar policy in Adelaide.
 
This explains why technicians coming out of these institutions are prone to "tunnel vision"They learn one way, on one range of equipment and in the method of their teachers, who may be good or useless.I used to teach occasionally at the predecessor of WAAPA, which had very little equipment but a tough teacher who taught on jobs often with my company.It was considered a pass if a student was employed in the industry and the course had 100% employment rate at the end because all the students had worked many venues and styles, TV, theatre, corporate, festival,etc. and could choose the field they liked and potential employers got to see the students in action.Nowadays WAAPA has its own theatres and the students never have to leave the campus.Now I may have been unlucky but my interfaces with these students has been less than positive,as they are not familiar with much of the older gear and different gear to that which they learned on.
 
I tend to agree with you. The graduates I have worked with who have never worked off campus tend to show up with heaps of attitude and missing knowledge. AC Arts in Adelaide teaches board ops Strand 500 series boards because that is what the Festival Centre uses. They produce some very good operators, I've worked with one or two, but they tend to get lost away from their comfort zone. They learn pretty quick though.
 
This is the reason why i am happy that i am at a HS where we are under equipped. This has taught me to use outside the box thinking. I have been thrown up against a lot of situations and i have managed to come out of them okay.

In the future i will be more capable then the average "always had the best equipment" techie when stepping foot into a underequipped venue.

I am not saying that i am the best lighting designer in the world. Rather I just want to share my experience. I just feel that starting off the way i have will make my future a lot easier.
 
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