Universities 'surprised' by steady enrolment in fine arts amid pandemic
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The fine arts live on.
After two years of the pandemic, it would be fair to assume the arts is a direction most high school graduates would be hesitant to take in their post-secondary studies.
Rarely is it the most profitable, reliable, or accessible industry to find work in — and this is at the best of times. Since March 2020, actors, dancers, musicians, etc., have found themselves in a world where performances are few and far between.
Yet, to the surprise of Edmonton’s two largest universities, the University of Alberta (UofA) and Macewan University, interest in the fine arts persists. Both schools have seen relatively steady enrolment numbers in programs such as music and theatre.
“A lot of people come to university knowing they are interested in the fine arts. You’re talking about a student body that is committed to something they care about. Covid can make life challenging but it’s not going to dramatically change what they’re committed to,” said Steve Patten, the UofA’s Dean of the Faculty of Arts.
At MacEwan, for example, the Bachelor of Music program typically accepts 90 first-year students per academic year. During the pandemic, the program has averaged between 70 and 80. The UofA, on the other hand, has seen its numbers stay the same. The school’s Faculty of Arts as a whole experienced a 15 per cent increase in enrolment between 2019 and 2021. The faculty also witnessed a 35 per cent increase in Indigenous student enrolment during this time.
Patten said it is hard to pinpoint the true impact of the pandemic because his faculty had been planning to see growth anyways in its overall enrolment numbers between 2019 and 2021. He added the number of deferrals (getting accepted but choosing not to enrol) have also been lower than anticipated. Where noticeable drops in enrolment have been witnessed are among international students. Patten attributes this to travel complications arising from COVID-19.
“The fine arts is one of the areas where some of the learning can’t be done effectively online. The real challenge for us has been serving those students who came here to get a fine arts degree by making sure we can ensure the delivery of in-person experiences as safely as possible,” said Patten.
MacEwan’s fine arts programs have tried their best to keep in-person learning at a maximum throughout each wave of the pandemic. Allan Gilliland, MacEwan’s Dean of the Faculty of Arts, said 40 percent of studies in music and nearly 100 per cent of studies in theatre have been able to remain face-to-face between September 2020. The school even managed to host its first live theatre production with an audience since 2019 last month. Other fine arts programs such as art, design, and communications remained nearly all online because they’re course work doesn’t require as much in-person learning.
This semester, there are over 700 students enrolled in fine arts programs at the UofA who are learning in-person. This month alone, while the majority of the school’s students have returned to online studies due to Omicron, Patten estimated there to be roughly 950 people on campus (when taking staff into consideration) participating in face-to-face studies in music, art, design, and drama.
“It’s what we do. I just didn’t feel good as a dean to not fight to keep the arts alive in some way. We worked really hard with the Alberta government and our own health and safety people to make sure we had everything we needed to keep people safe. I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve been able to do all things considered,” said Gilliland.
Last semester, MacEwan’s Faculty of Arts worked hard to slowly return nearly 50 per cent of all studies back to in-person learning. The plan for January was to have all of the faculty’s staff come back to the arts building five days a week with up to 80 per cent of studies being face-to-face. When Omicron put a damper in these plans, Gilliland said it was the first time there was noticeable aggravation amongst students and staff. With that said, he added most students have been very understanding of the fluidity of the situation and appreciative of how hard the faculty has worked to keep in-person learning alive.
“Even thought it’s a dark time for the arts right now. I really hope for a renaissance when we come out the end of this (pandemic) and a renewed appreciation of what it is to engage as an audience with art. It’s so important for people to get in a room together and share an artistic experience, whatever it is,” said Gilliland.
Both schools would agree there have been positives to come out of the pandemic with regards to learning. The most prominent would be the efficiency of ‘hybrid’ or ‘blended’ education. Patten said conducting certain courses online has reinforced the value of being face-to-face in a classroom, but also highlighted the potential for remote learning in the future. He added the UofA will always strive to be a brick and mortar institution, but acknowledged there is no longer a reason to have to do everything in person.
“I think hybrid learning is going to continue in a good way for some material post-pandemic. We didn’t realize how efficient it was until we were pushed to have to do it,” said Gilliland. “The pandemic has shifted some people’s thinking in terms of the role of online and blended learning as a part of our overall delivery approach to education. It’s opened our eyes to the value of thinking about blended learning in the future as a way to bring people together,” said Patten.
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