To: Hongli Fan, Chair Fine Arts and Humanities Sub School Personnel Committee From : Professor Kevin Halpin, Chair Performing Arts Department
Date: March 4 , 2022
Re: Reappointment recommendation for Scott Holdredge , Assistant Professor Performing Arts Department
I agree with the Performing Arts Personnel Committee on recommending Scott Holdredge for a one-yearreappointment. The creative work, service and teaching contributions Scott has made to the Departmentcertainly merit reappointment.
My own observation of his teaching in Tech Theatre, demonstrated a knowledgeable, passionate instructor, inspriring excitement and passion in his students as well. Students are engrossed in the lecture and deeply immersed in their practical work, applying the concepts and tools to various aspects of theatre construction
Scott’s primary responsibilities are as the Scenic Designer on our Performing Arts Department Productions. His designs are visually arresting and evocative of the show’s themes and atmosphere. Of particular note was his most recent design for our production of the play Possessing Harriet. A visually stunning and beautifulenvironment, that also established the atmosphere of tension and danger woven through the play.
As a director, I have worked with Scott on several productions since his last review. I am pleased to say hisdifficulties in the past concerning the importance of practical function over visual impact and understanding that Scenic design, is not just as a visual work, but a function of realizing the Director’s vision and the needs of the play , have improved significantly. Working on the current production, Company, Scott is also very clearly addressing past concerns of time management and incorporating that into the scope of his design. I am confident Professor Holdredge will continue to improve in finding the balance between artistic vison, and the practical aspects of theatre design.
Professor Holdredge makes significant contributions as a member of the faculty. Passionate about thedepartment’s growth, engaged in finding solutions to various issues, and working on the development of a new Technical Theatre concentration to expand our program.
I do agree with the committee’s assessment that Scott’s portfolio presents beautiful design work, but, there needs to be a more in-depth text regarding concepts, process and how the design relates to the play itself. Ido believe the portfolio does represent creative, educational and service-related work more than sufficient to approve Professor Holdredge’s reappointment
for one year as Assistant Professor in Performing Arts.
Scott Holdredge has been an asset to this institution and the Performing Arts Department . I am confident thatwill continue.
To: Professor Kevin Halpin, Chair, Performing Arts Department
From: Professor Edward Moore, Chair, Personnel Steering Committee
Date: March 2, 2022
Re: Reappointment recommendation for Scott Holdredge, Assistant Professor, Performing Arts Department
The Performing Arts Department Personnel Committee is very pleased to recommend Assistant Professor Scott Holdredge for a one-year reappointment. Professor Holdredge’s strong teaching, productive scholarly work, and fine service to the department and college, clearly establishes him as a valuable asset to the Performing Arts Department and the college.
Professor Holdredge has proven himself to be a strong and effective teacher. Course Teacher Evaluations from a wide variety of courses taught indicate overall favorable scores. In response to his CTE ’since his last reappointment in 2019, Holdredge has made changes in how he organizes his time to allow for grading and returning written assignments to students in a timely manner. He has also made adjustments to his Tech Theatre course, acknowledging the expressions of students wanting more classwork that is directly linked to current stage productions. In doing so, he has more actively involved the students in that process. Professor Holdredge was also observed by several of his colleagues in the classroom. A comment from a colleague observing Holdredge’s Technical Theatre class for majors states, “Throughout the first section/lecture part of the class, Professor Holdredge regularly used various modes of instruction to aid disparate learning styles. He successfully combined verbal, visual, and tactile examples to explain assignments.” In describing Holdredge’s handling of the second section/shop part of the class, the same colleague expresses “Being impressed with Professor Holdredge’s ability to manage both spaces at one time. He fielded questions from students, monitored the progress of all students, regardless of how far along the project was.” Upon my observation of Holdredge’s Technical Theatre class, I too was impressed with how he masterfully explained the steps in creating wooden frames, and the differences in brick designs. He also guided the students through safety measures on how to use various tools such as the staple gun and electric saw. A comment from another colleague who observed Professor Holdredge’s Technical Theatre class states, “It was a pleasure to see Professor Holdredge instruct his course-he is clearly passionate about the subject, and the students willingly accept that energy and return it with their own enthusiasm.”
Professor Holdredge’s work in scholarly ability/creative activities is exemplary. Since his last
Reappointment, Holdredge successfully designed the musical Big Fish and the play Possessing Harriet. A colleague commented on Holdredge’s beautiful set design for Harriet, stating, “Scott married a realistic interior with a symbolic exterior. The visual imagery of the outside world, represented by menacing tree branches, was an evocative image that characterized the fear that the character, Harriet, was experiencing.” While Holdredge’s work as set designer is exemplary, the personnel steering committee, upon review of his portfolio, recommends more careful proofreading, and more written explanation of the images on the site.
Professor Holdredge continues to make contributions in service to his department and to the college as a whole. He has served as chair of the search committee for the Music Director position, and as a member of a very busy School of Arts and Sciences Curriculum Committee. Professor Holdredge also serves as advisor for a large group of advisees.
Lastly, Professor Holdredge’s dedication to strong and effective teaching, exemplary scholarship, and contributions of service to the Department of Performing Arts and college as a whole, warrants his reappointment. The committee unanimously recommends Professor Holdredge for reappointment at SUNY Cortland.
The vote was as follows:
Recommend -4-
Not Recommend -0-
March 1st, 2022
To whom it may concern, It is my pleasure to highly recommend Scott Holdredge for reappointment in his position in the Department of Performing Arts.
I observed Professor Holdredge’s THT 240 Tech Theatre Course on Tuesday, March 1st. At the start of class time, Professor Holdredge introduced that day’s task and goals - the “brick project”. Many students were obviously looking forward to this project, as they responded excitedly at his announcement. The professor brought out a model of the project and explained the procedure as well as the expected order of events. He passed out hand outs with instructions as well, with tasks for students to fill out. While explaining the hand out, he explained the terminology he would be using, and how this type of project would work on a larger scale. He proceeded to give clear instructions on the wood the students should cut, and he asked the class clarifying questions to check for understanding. He also would explain why another answer to his question would be incorrect. Afterwards, he proceeded to explain what materials the students would be using and why. Students had many questions about the measurements needed, and the Professor calmly and clearly explained them in a few different ways - it was clear many students had different learning styles and they were able to understand which explanation made the most sense to them. Professor Holdredge grabbed a Prototype and had the students observe him building the brick project, explaining how to use the Staple Gun safely, and what the risks were. He was able to make the class laugh with jokes, but they also were aware of the safety necessary. The students felt extremely comfortable to ask questions, knowing they would not be judged or made to feel their question didn’t matter. The next step involved students using a table saw, which some were nervous about. Professor Holdredge was able to make them feel calm and focused, and guided them through the process safely. They all had a sense of accomplishment from this task. It was a pleasure to see Professor Holdredge instruct his course - he is clearly passionate about the subject, and the students willingly accept that energy and return it with their own enthusiasm. The students deeply respect him, and are silent whenever he is speaking so that they don’t miss a word. I really appreciated the way that Professor Holdredge explained what the day’s tasks where - it allowed the students (and me) to know exactly what the expectations were for that day so there couldn’t be any confusion about it. I also loved watching him interact with the students while they worked on their brick projects. He was incredibly interested in their processes and how they were doing and was invested in each and every one of them. Professor Holdredge has a very impressive Portfolio website, including 5 years of Design work. Scott and I work on at least two shows per school year, and our collaboration is always respectful and creative. His designs often involved placement of musicians, and we work together to both fulfill both of our requirements. Looking at his Committee work, Scott has been an important addition to the Arts and Science Committee, bringing an important voice from the Department of Performing Arts.
I highly recommend Scott Holdredge for reappointment.
Jacob Carll
TO: Department Personnel Committee
From: Edward Moore, Chair, Personnel Steering Committee
DATE: February 25, 2022
RE: Class Observation of Scott Holdredge, Assistant Professor of Performing Arts
On Thursday February 17, 2022, I observed the Tech class (held in the Lab Theatre/Shop) for majors taught by Professor Scott Holdredge. Professor Holdredge began the class with a discussion about brick scenery. With the use of props from a set, Holdredge explained how bricks are viewed as part of a set design onstage. Holdredge then explained, using pieces of wood, how students should go about selecting appropriate wood to build frames that would support a faux brick design. In using tools such as, staple guns and electric saws to cut the wood for the frames, Professor Holdredge also demonstrated safety measures in how to use the tools. Holdredge also gave the class paper handouts on instructions regarding wood frame construction.
Professor Holdredge then led the class outside of the Dowd Fine Arts Building to view the textures of the bricks, and masterfully explained the different types of bricks (faux and real) on the outside walls of Dowd. Holdredge then led the class to the theatre, main stage to view the beautiful brick design for the set of “Possessing Harriett.”
The class then returned to the shop where they began working on individual projects. Professor Holdredge was attentive to each of the students as they worked on their individual projects, often helping them cut their wood designs with the electric saw, and offering advice on drawings of their projects.
I also had the privilege to view Holdredge’s set design work by attending a performance of the play, “Possessing Harriett.” The set was beautifully designed and inviting to watch.
In all, I found Professor Holdredge’s class to be informative and engaging. Holdredge clearly possesses excellent skills as a set designer, and has a natural, relaxed, and commanding teaching style, he held the attention of the students throughout the entire class.
In reviewing Professor Holdredge’s portfolio, while there are excellent visuals of his set design work presented in photos, more descriptive information is needed for the images.
In the area of service, Holdredge served as search committee chair for the Music Director position, and on the campus wide School of Arts and Sciences Curriculum Committee.
Lastly, based on Professor Holdredge’s strong teaching, exemplary scholarly ability, and valuable service to the department and college, I strongly recommend Scott Holdredge for a one-year reappointment.
Scott Holdredge
Teaching evaluation
2/17/22
THT 240
The class I observed consisted of two separate sections.
The first section was mainly a lecture format. The class began in the shop. Professor Holdredge was explaining a future scenic design assignment to the class.
It’s apparent the course is moving into the scenic art/painting portion of the class and Scott discussed brick work and how that would be the next class project. Students will bring in a picture of brick then scenically reproduce it. Professor Holdredge provided handouts, pictures, and samples that the students could feel. Scott then took the class outside to examine the brick structure of the Dowd Fine Arts Center. Having the experience to see and touch the examples of what they would be creating appeared to be very helpful to the students. Professor Holdredge had them stand apart from the brick wall to examine the features from a distance, then closed the physical gap by having students scan the walls up close and tactilely explore the bricks.
The next segment of class section consisted of reviewing the types of flats used in theatre, along with the material used to create flats. Scott discussed the need to begin each project with the best raw materials available; to illustrate this point he produced a piece of warped wood and showed how, if artists begin with inferior pieces, the end product would, inevitably, be substandard. To assist students in building the frame for the flats, Professor Holdredge provided handouts of flat construction.
Throughout the first section/lecture part of the class, Professor Holdredge regularly used various modes of instruction to aid disparate learning styles. He successfully combined verbal, visual, and tactile examples to explain assignments. From hearing the positive responses from the students, it was apparent his variety of diagnostic choices was successful.
The second section of the class was split into two spaces—the Lab Theatre and the shop. The students continued to work on their current projects, which were wood cut-outs. It was obvious that their [students] progress was at varying levels; some students were still drawing on the wood, others were using power tools to cut the wood, and others were sanding their wood creations.
What I found most impressive is that Professor Holdredge had to manage both spaces at one time. He fielded questions from students, monitored the progress of all students, regardless of how far along the project was, and supervised students to ensure that safety guidelines were always followed.
Again, this was a very challenging class, as Scott had to balance lecture and application. He employed various learning patterns and kept the students engaged, regardless of their project level.
Due to not directing during this review period, I did not work with Scott on a production, but I did view his designs throughout the year. Professor Holdredge successfully designed the musical, Big Fish, which required multiple, large scale scenic elements that needed to shift quickly and easily. In Possessing Harriet, Scott married a realistic interior with a symbolic exterior. The visual imagery of the outside world, represented by menacing tree branches, was an evocative image that characterized the fear that the character, Harriet, was experiencing.
Scott’s service was extremely strong during this review period. He served as the Search Chair for the department’s Musical Director position. This particular search had an expediated timeline and occurred while Scott was working on Big Fish. Additionally, he was an active member the School of Arts and Sciences Curriculum Committee. This is a very busy group that reviews an impressive number of proposals. Professor Holdgredge is also a competent advisor and has received more advisees this year.
Considering Professor Holdredge’s notable teaching, compelling designs, and strong service, I very highly recommend him for reappointment.
TO: Edward Moore
Chair, Personnel Steering Committee
FROM: David Neal
DATE: February 28, 2022
RE: Scott Holdredge – One-Year Reappointment
I am writing in support of Scott Holdredge’s application for one-year appointment as Scenic Designer. My recommendation is based on his work in the SUNY Cortland production of Possessing Harriet, his work as Search Committee Chair for a full-time position as Music Director, previous observations of his classes for his 2019 reappointment, and a review of the portfolio on his website.
Scott’s design for Possessing Harriet was ideal for this intense evening of theatre. The platform built out from the stage thrust the action toward the audience, and drew us in to the wrenching emotional situations faced by these characters as they confronted their own fears and inner conflicts. The materials and design of the architectural elements, executed in subdued tones, provided period detail that was enhanced by Joel Pape’s lighting. The set fully supported the drama.
Scott has also been active in department discussions, and did a fine job of heading up the search committee for the Music Director position. Interviews were held in accordance with HR procedures, and the process was completed in a timely fashion, even during a busy production period.
Scott’s visual imagination and artistic sensibility is seen in the various productions featured in his portfolio. A vibrant use of color is seen throughout his designs, as well as a breadth of period and styles. While I would recommend more careful proofreading, and more written explanation of the images on the site, it is an effective representation of his work.
Scott is a valuable member of the department, and I fully support his application for reappointment.
David Neal