OU musical theater gets upgrade

By Julianna Parker

December 03, 2008 01:13 am

— The musical theater program at the University of Oklahoma was upgraded from a department to a school Tuesday when the OU Board of Regents held its regular meeting on the Norman campus.
The Weitzenhoffer School of Musical Theatre is the only musical theater school in the country, said A. Max Weitzenhoffer, vice chairman of the OU Board of Regents, a 1962 OU School of Drama alumnus and an award-winning independent producer of New York and London theater productions. Weitzenhoffer and his family donated the naming gift for the department of musical theatre.
Musical theater is a very selective program, and changing the title from department to school shows the emphasis that OU places on the program, Weitzenhoffer said.
"We're at the top of the list for musical theater programs," he said.
The program's change is primarily in name. Elevation to school status will not change the program's philosophy of trying to keep enrollment around the current goal of 50, said Catherine Bishop, vice president of public affairs.
The school has seven full-time faculty and one adjunct faculty member, two full-time office staff and various accompanists. This fall the program has 52 students, two above the department's self-imposed cap.
The elevation to school status would help in musical theater's national student recruitment efforts, Weitzenhoffer said.
In addition, the change will help with the national search for a new head of the school, he said.
"To look for the head of a school versus a department head will get a much better applicant pool," Weitzenhoffer said.
Gregory D. Kunesh became the interim chair and Regents' Professor of the OU department of musical theatre this summer when Rich Taylor vacated the post to become interim dean of the Weitzenhoffer College of Fine Arts.
The final decision of who should be dean of the college has not been made. At the meeting Tuesday, the regents also voted to approve the creation of a search committee for the fine arts dean.
The committee will search internally from among the fine arts faculty. Taylor also will be considered for the position.
By executing an official search committee, the person eventually chosen for the position will gain credibility, OU President David Boren said.
The Board of Regents finalized other personnel changes at the meeting Tuesday.
Anil Gollahalli was named vice president and general counsel to the Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma. He has been interim general counsel in addition to his position as vice president for technology development since August when former General Counsel Joseph Harroz Jr. resigned. Gollahalli received a pay raise from $225,420 per year to $260,000 per year effective Jan. 1.
Daniel W. Pullin was promoted from associate vice president and executive director of the Center for Creation of Economic Wealth to vice president for technology development and business development. He will get a pay increase from $139,600 per year to $215,000 per year effective Jan. 1.
Both Gollahalli and Pullin attended OU for their undergraduate degrees.
"This is something that is very encouraging to us, when we can grow our own" to come back and serve the university, Boren said.
Julianna Parker 366-3541 jparker@normantranscript.com